Tennessee Senate Bill SB1191

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/6/25
• Failed: 3/25/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 33 and Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13, relative to firearms.

Summary

SB1191, known as "Akilah's Law," would amend Tennessee firearms law to make it an offense to sell, offer to sell, deliver, or transfer a firearm to a person if the seller knows that person has been a patient in a mental institution within the previous five years. The bill defines "mental institution" broadly to include hospitals, institutions, clinics, evaluation facilities, mental health centers, or parts of those facilities used primarily for the care of persons with mental illness. The bill also defines "patient in a mental institution" to include people admitted voluntarily or involuntarily, but it excludes voluntary treatment that was solely for alcohol abuse and did not involve any other substance abuse disorder or mental illness. The measure would take effect July 1, 2025, and would add this restriction to Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13, which governs firearms offenses.

Impact

If enacted, SB1191 would expand Tennessee's firearms transfer restrictions by creating a new criminal offense tied to the seller's knowledge of a buyer's recent mental health institutionalization. It would affect firearm sellers, dealers, and private transferors by imposing a duty not to transfer guns to certain individuals for five years after a qualifying mental health admission, and it would add a new provision to the state's existing firearms offense statutes.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill faced significant opposition in committee, failing in the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 2-6 vote. No committee transcript is available, so there is no recorded debate to indicate support or opposition arguments in detail, but the vote outcome indicates the proposal did not have broad committee backing at that stage.

Contention

The main point of contention is likely the bill's restriction on firearm transfers based on a person's recent mental health institutionalization and the seller's knowledge of that status. Supporters would likely view it as a public safety measure aimed at preventing gun access by individuals perceived to be at elevated risk, while opponents may object to the breadth of the restriction, the use of mental health history as a disqualifier, and the practical burden on sellers to know or verify a buyer's treatment history. The committee vote shows the measure was not persuasive to a majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee.