Tennessee House Bill HB0566

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/29/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 38; Title 39; Title 47 and Title 68, relative to gun violence.

Summary

HB0566 creates a new section in Tennessee law authorizing the Department of Finance and Administration’s Office of Criminal Justice Programs to design and implement grants aimed at reducing gun violence. The bill defines “gun violence” for purposes of the section as homicide, violent crime, and domestic violence. It does not itself create a new criminal offense or mandate a specific program; instead, it gives the office discretion to use existing resources and to seek federal and state funding to support grant-based violence reduction efforts. The measure is framed as an immediate-effective-date public welfare bill, meaning it would take effect upon becoming law. In practical terms, it would add a state-level grantmaking tool focused on prevention and intervention strategies related to gun violence, with implementation dependent on available resources and outside funding. The bill references multiple titles in the Tennessee Code, but the operative change is the addition of this grant authority in Title 4.

Impact

HB0566 would amend Tennessee Code Annotated by adding a new provision in Title 4 authorizing the Office of Criminal Justice Programs to pursue and administer grants related to gun violence reduction. The bill’s direct legal effect is to expand state administrative authority rather than to regulate firearms, create penalties, or alter criminal procedure. Its impact would be felt by state agencies eligible to design or receive grant funding, and by communities, service providers, and local programs that could benefit from violence-reduction grants.

Sentiment

Based on the limited available context, the bill appears to be presented in a straightforward, policy-oriented way with no recorded committee debate or votes in the provided materials. The text suggests a generally supportive or at least pragmatic approach to addressing gun violence through funding and grant administration rather than through punitive regulation. Because there are no transcripts or vote records, there is no documented opposition or bipartisan split in the supplied record.

Contention

No specific points of contention are documented in the provided committee transcripts or voting history, so any disagreement is not visible in the available record. Potential areas of debate, if raised, would likely concern whether the state should prioritize grant funding for gun violence prevention, how “gun violence” is defined for the program, and whether the Office of Criminal Justice Programs should rely on existing resources versus new appropriations. However, none of those issues are attributed to any named legislator or stakeholder in the materials provided.