Tennessee officials said Wednesday they are appealing a recent court ruling that invalidated two state gun laws, saying that if the ruling is left unchallenged, it would appear to allow guns to be possessed by minors and people unfit to carry in public places.
Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti's office said that the court's ruling has caused “unnecessary confusion and risk,” seemingly making it legal for a 10-year-old to carry a semiautomatic rifle to a recreational league basketball game, or a drunk adult to tote a shotgun through popular, sometimes-crowded areas. The attorney general has asked that the three-judge panel, with judges in Gibson, Carter and Bedford counties, pause the ruling while the state appeals.
