Tennessee Concealed Carry Laws: Overview

Tennessee Concealed Carry Laws Overview

The Headline

Tennessee is a constitutional-carry state. Effective July 1, 2021, Public Chapter 108 (SB 765 / HB 786) added subsection (g) to Tenn. Code Section 39-17-1307, creating a statutory exception to the offense of unlawful carrying. Any adult who is lawfully in possession of a handgun and is lawfully present in a public place may carry that handgun openly or concealed without a permit. The exception reaches a person who is at least 21, or at least 18 with qualifying military service (an honorably discharged or retired veteran, an honorably discharged reserve or National Guard member who completed basic training, or an active-duty or current reserve or Guard member), and that age structure is still what the statute says today.

Tennessee did not abolish its permit system. The state issues two parallel permits, both administered by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Handgun Permit Unit in Nashville, statewide (not by county sheriffs). The Enhanced Handgun Carry Permit under Tenn. Code Section 39-17-1351 authorizes both open and concealed carry and ships with broader reciprocity. The Concealed Handgun Carry Permit under Tenn. Code Section 39-17-1366 authorizes concealed carry only, allows online training, and has narrower reciprocity. Both permits remain useful for the same reasons they were useful before constitutional carry: out-of-state reciprocity, the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act exemption, faster handgun purchases (the Enhanced Handgun Carry Permit is currently listed on the ATF's published NICS-alternative permit chart; the Concealed-only permit has historically NOT appeared on that chart, and a CHCP-only buyer should expect a NICS check - always verify against the current ATF Brady Permit Chart at atf.gov), and quicker resolution of a traffic-stop encounter.

Self-defense is governed by Tenn. Code Section 39-11-611 (codified Stand Your Ground), Section 39-11-616 (defense of residence and business), and Section 39-11-622 (civil and criminal immunity for justified force).

Who Can Carry Without a Permit

Under Section 39-17-1307(g), the permitless-carry exception applies if all of the following are true:

• You are at least 21 years of age, or at least 18 years of age and an honorably discharged or retired veteran, an honorably discharged reserve or National Guard member who completed basic training, or an active-duty or current reserve or Guard member.
• You are in lawful possession of the handgun (not stolen, not prohibited).
• You are in a place where you have a lawful right to be.
• You are not prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal law (18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)) or Tennessee law.

If any one of these conditions fails, the underlying offense of carrying with the intent to go armed under Section 39-17-1307(a) is still on the books, and the permitless-carry exception is unavailable as a defense. Constitutional-carry status also does not exempt the carrier from posted-property rules, location bans, or the federal felon-in-possession bar.

A separate point on terminology: Tennessee's statute draws an "exception," not a right unconnected to the permit system. The Tennessee Firearms Association and several practitioner sources note that the 2021 statute leaves seven specific conditions a carrier must meet, and the state has not extended that exception into every public place (state parks and greenways, for example, are not automatically covered for permitless carriers).

Permit System: Enhanced vs. Concealed

Tennessee offers a two-tier permit system. Both permits are still issued post-constitutional-carry, and both remain valuable for reciprocity and other practical reasons.

Enhanced Handgun Carry Permit (Section 39-17-1351)

• Authority: Open and concealed carry of any handgun the permittee legally owns or possesses.
• Application fee: $100 ($65 for active-duty or honorably discharged military / veterans).
• Term: Eight years (lifetime option available for $300, or $265 for military / veterans, or $200 to upgrade from an existing eight-year permit).
• Training: In-person live-fire course of at least eight hours from a Department-approved instructor, including a range qualification. Active or honorably discharged military, current law enforcement, and certain prior trainees may qualify for waivers.
• Reciprocity: Recognized by the majority of states that honor any Tennessee permit. Required for carry in roadside rest areas, state and national parks, state and national forests, and Wildlife Management Areas under Tennessee law.

Concealed Handgun Carry Permit (Section 39-17-1366)

• Authority: Concealed carry only. Open carry is not authorized.
• Application fee: $65.
• Term: Eight years.
• Training: A Department-approved course that may be completed entirely online. The course must be at least 90 minutes, cover firearm safety, current Tennessee carry law, include a competency test or quiz, and produce a printable certificate. Courses approved before October 1, 2023 may continue under their prior approval. Permit holders issued before October 1, 2023 are not required to retake the course.
• Reciprocity: Narrower than the enhanced permit. Several states (Colorado, Washington, others) decline to recognize the Tennessee CCP specifically because it lacks live-fire training or because it is issued to applicants under 21.

Permits for Applicants 18 to 20

The Department of Safety issues enhanced and concealed handgun carry permits to applicants 18 to 20 as a matter of practice, in accordance with recent court rulings, and it began doing so after the 2023 Beeler v. Long settlement. Fiscal Memorandum 366 of the 114th General Assembly reports that 802 permits were issued to applicants 18 to 20 based on the Department's 2024 Handgun Statistical Report, and it describes a 2025 bill that would codify that existing practice. The permit statute itself, Section 39-17-1351(c), still sets the age at 21, or 18 with qualifying military service.

What Constitutional Carry Did Not Change

Permit holders and constitutional carriers face the same place restrictions. The 2021 law was an "exception" to the unlawful-carry statute, not a wholesale repeal of where firearms can be carried.

Tennessee statute prohibits carry, for permit holders and permitless carriers alike, in:

• School property, school buses, and the immediate area, under Section 39-17-1309.
• Buildings and grounds owned, used, or operated by city, county, or state government for recreational purposes (parks, playgrounds, civic centers), with limited carve-outs for permit holders under Section 39-17-1311.
• Judicial proceedings and courthouses, under Section 39-17-1306.
• Premises serving alcohol, while the carrier is consuming alcohol there, under Section 39-17-1321(b).
• Any property where the owner has posted notice prohibiting weapons under Section 39-17-1359 (the statute sets out the required notice form).
• Federal facilities and other locations prohibited by federal law (post offices, federal courthouses, secure airport areas, military installations, and the 1,000-foot federal Gun-Free School Zone for non-licensed carriers).

State and national parks, state and national forests, Wildlife Management Areas, and roadside rest areas are accessible to enhanced-permit holders and to out-of-state permit holders whose permits Tennessee honors. They are not automatically accessible to permitless carriers under the Section 39-17-1307(g) exception.

Self-Defense Framework

Stand Your Ground (Section 39-11-611(b)). Tennessee imposes no duty to retreat anywhere the actor has a lawful right to be. The use of force, including deadly force, is justified when the actor reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect against another's use or attempted use of unlawful force, and (for deadly force) the actor reasonably believes deadly force is needed to protect against death, serious bodily injury, or the imminent commission of a serious felony.

Castle Doctrine (Sections 39-11-611 and 39-11-616). When force is used against a person unlawfully and forcibly entering the actor's residence, business, or occupied vehicle, the statute creates a presumption that the actor held a reasonable belief of imminent death or serious bodily injury. The presumption shifts the legal weight against the prosecution.

Immunity (Section 39-11-622). A person who uses justified force is immune from civil action and criminal prosecution. The immunity reaches both directly and as a basis for early dismissal of a civil suit. Lawyers in Tennessee routinely emphasize that immunity is a legal status to be asserted, not automatic, and that an arrest and prosecution can still occur before immunity is recognized.

Defense of others and property are addressed in Sections 39-11-612 (third persons), 39-11-613 (property), and 39-11-614 (devices to protect property).

Duty to Inform

Tennessee imposes no statutory duty on a permit holder or permitless carrier to volunteer to a law enforcement officer that they are armed. If asked, you must answer truthfully and produce your permit when carrying one. Many Tennessee instructors still recommend voluntary disclosure during traffic stops to defuse encounters, but the law does not require it.

State Preemption

Section 39-17-1314 preempts local firearm regulation. Counties and municipalities may not enact firearm ordinances that exceed state law, and existing ordinances are preempted. Limited statutory carve-outs allow some local rules at specific locations (for example, regulation of firearms in publicly owned buildings used for certain purposes), but they are narrow.

Record Confidentiality

Section 39-17-1356 makes Tennessee handgun-carry-permit records confidential and exempt from most public-records requests. The Tennessee Attorney General has addressed this several times (for example, Op. 13-23), confirming the Department of Safety's authority to refuse general disclosure.

What Tennessee Does Not Have

• No red flag law. Tennessee does not have an Extreme Risk Protection Order statute. Governor Bill Lee's office floated red-flag proposals in 2023, but no enacting legislation has passed.
• No firearm registration. Tennessee does not register handguns or long guns.
• No state waiting period for handgun purchases.
• No magazine-capacity limit.
• No mandatory training to purchase a handgun (training is required only to obtain a permit).
• No state-level universal background check on private transfers.

Recent and Pending Developments

• 2021 (Public Chapter 108): Permitless carry effective July 1, 2021, for adults age 21+ and military age 18+.
• 2019 (Public Chapter 479): Created the Concealed Handgun Carry Permit (CHCP) at § 39-17-1366 with an online-training option, effective January 1, 2020. Subsequent agency rulemaking populated the Department of Safety's approved-vendor list under § 39-17-1366(k)(3).
• 2023 (settlement in Beeler v. Long): The Department of Safety began issuing permits to applicants age 18-20 in June 2023.
• 2025 (114th General Assembly): A bill proposed to codify the Department of Safety's practice of issuing permits to applicants 18 to 20 (Fiscal Memorandum 366). The permit and permitless-carry statutes still read 21, or 18 with qualifying military service.
• 114th General Assembly (2025-2026): SJR0028 expresses support for the federal Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. SJR0659 proposes amending Article I, Section 26 of the Tennessee Constitution to enshrine permitless carry; status reflects assignment to a General Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Quick Reference Table

Where to Look Next

• Tennessee Department of Safety, Handgun Permit Unit: P.O. Box 23710, Nashville, TN 37202, (615) 251-8590; permit type details at tn.gov/safety/tnhp/handgun.
• Department of Safety rules: Chapter 1340-02-03 (Enhanced training schools), Chapter 1340-02-04 (Permit procedures), Chapter 1340-02-06 (Concealed-carry online vendors).
• Tennessee Attorney General opinions, including Op. 13-23 (permit-record confidentiality) and Op. 23-07 (scope of CCP holders and educational property), at tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.
• General Assembly bill tracking at wapp.capitol.tn.gov for the most current legislative status.

This overview reflects Tennessee law as of May 2026. Specific permit applications, posted-property rules, and reciprocity tables change. Confirm with the Department of Safety and the Attorney General's office before acting on any rule that has changed in the last 90 days.