AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13, relative to suicide prevention.
SB1094, titled the “Suicide Prevention Act of 2025,” creates a new voluntary program administered by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for people who want to temporarily waive their firearm rights. The bill is aimed at preventing suicide, homicide, and mass shooting by allowing a person who is voluntarily admitted for mental health diagnosis, observation, or treatment, or any person concerned about their mental health, to file a request that places them in a firearms prohibition database. The program is designed to prevent the purchase, possession, and transportation of firearms by enrolled individuals, and it also requires the Department of Safety to revoke any handgun carry permit held by an enrollee.
The bill establishes a detailed process for enrollment and later revocation. Enrollment forms are filed with a circuit court clerk, who verifies identity and forwards the documents to the TBI and the Department of Safety. The form may include up to two designated “guardian angels” who can be notified if the person later revokes enrollment. After at least 14 days, an enrollee may file a revocation form, after which the TBI must remove the person from the program, destroy related records, notify any guardian angels, and remove the person from relevant background-check systems unless another law independently bars firearm possession. The Department of Safety must similarly reinstate the handgun carry permit, if otherwise eligible, and destroy its records.
The bill also makes it a Class C misdemeanor for an enrolled person to purchase, possess, or transport a firearm, and it makes false statements on the enrollment or revocation forms perjury. It directs the TBI to adopt rules to implement the program and requires that records related to enrollment or withdrawal be kept confidential and exempt from public disclosure. The bill further amends Tennessee’s firearm background-check statute so that TBI records can be used to identify people enrolled in this voluntary waiver program as prohibited purchasers.
In terms of state law impact, SB1094 would add a new section to Tennessee’s firearms code and create a new legal mechanism for self-imposed, revocable firearm restrictions tied to mental health concerns. It would affect the TBI, circuit court clerks, the Department of Safety, gun dealers, and individuals seeking to restrict their own access to firearms. It also interacts with handgun carry permit law, criminal law, public records law, and the state’s firearm purchaser screening system.
There is no recorded committee discussion or voting history in the provided materials, so no direct legislative debate or vote sentiment is available. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears to be framed as a public-safety and suicide-prevention tool, with an emphasis on voluntary participation, confidentiality, and the ability to reverse enrollment. Potential points of contention likely include firearm rights, due-process concerns, privacy of mental-health-related records, the role of courts and law enforcement in the process, and the criminal penalty for violating the self-imposed waiver.
SB1094 would create a new statutory program in Title 39 allowing voluntary, revocable firearm-rights waivers for people concerned about their mental health or recently treated for mental illness. It would require the TBI to maintain a prohibited-purchaser record, require the Department of Safety to revoke and later reinstate handgun carry permits tied to enrollment status, and amend the state’s firearm background-check law to include program enrollees. The bill also establishes confidentiality protections, criminal penalties for violations, and rulemaking authority for implementation.
No committee transcripts or votes were provided, so there is no documented legislative sentiment to summarize from debate or roll call. The bill’s stated purpose and structure suggest a generally supportive public-safety framing, emphasizing suicide prevention and voluntary self-protection, but the absence of recorded discussion means opposition or support cannot be directly measured from the available materials.
The main likely areas of contention are the balance between suicide-prevention goals and Second Amendment rights, the handling of sensitive mental-health and firearm records, and the practical administration of a voluntary prohibition system by courts, the TBI, and the Department of Safety. Critics may question whether the program could discourage people from seeking treatment, while supporters are likely to view it as a narrowly tailored, reversible safety measure. The criminal penalty for firearm possession while enrolled and the use of the program in background-check systems may also draw scrutiny.