Tennessee has no general adult-storage mandate. You are not required by state law to use a safe, a trigger lock, or a locked container to store a...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Tennessee has no general adult-storage mandate. You are not required by state law to use a safe, a trigger lock, or a locked container to store a firearm in your own home. The state's only operative storage rules come from three statutory contexts: (1) how a firearm is stowed in a motor vehicle while parked on public or private parking property under Tenn. Code Sec. 39-17-1313, (2) where state-approved safety-training courses must now include a safe-storage module under Sec. 39-17-1351(e) and Sec. 39-17-1366(l), and (3) the sales-tax exemption for firearm safes and firearm-safety devices created in 2021 and extended thereafter.
That gap is intentional. Tennessee has repeatedly considered, and repeatedly declined to enact, a child-access-prevention statute or a general "secure storage" criminal offense. Several such bills have been introduced (HB0563/SB0807 in the 114th General Assembly, SB1350, SB1183, HB0949) but none have become law as of this writing. Until that changes, in-home storage in Tennessee is governed by personal responsibility and by general criminal statutes (negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, contributing to the delinquency of a minor) rather than by a stand-alone storage offense.
Two practical takeaways. First, your at-home storage choices are not regulated by state criminal law, but they can still be the basis of civil or criminal liability if someone gets hurt because of how you stored a firearm. Second, the rules that do exist are vehicle-and-parking-lot rules, and they apply to permitless carriers (Sec. 39-17-1307(g)) the same way they apply to permit holders.
Tennessee does not require any particular method of storing a firearm in a private residence. There is no state-law requirement to:
Statewide preemption at Sec. 39-17-1314(a) reserves storage regulation to the General Assembly and forbids cities, counties, and metropolitan governments from enacting their own storage ordinances. The list of preempted subjects in the statute expressly includes "storage." Tennessee Attorney General Opinion 21-13 (August 31, 2021) confirms that Sec. 39-17-1314(a) "completely removes from local governments the authority to regulate the possession, carrying, storage, and transportation of firearms and ammunition," subject only to narrow carve-outs listed in subsection (b). Local "secure storage" ordinances are therefore unenforceable.
Even though the state does not require a particular storage method, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) actively encourages safe storage and supplies the tools to do it.
Safe Store Tennessee free cable-lock program. TDOSHS distributes a 15-inch cable lock with a 4-pin keyed deadbolt, free of charge, through pickup locations in counties across the state. The cable runs through the barrel or action to render the firearm inoperable. The program guidance recommends pairing the cable lock with a locked gun case, safe, or lockbox, and storing ammunition in a separate locked container with keys kept away from the firearm. Pickup locations are listed on the TDOSHS "Safe Store" page at tn.gov/safety/tnhp/handgun/safestore.html.
Safe and Secure Firearms in Tennessee public-safety guidance. TDOSHS publishes a public-facing storage guide (the "Safe and Secure Firearms in Tennessee" PDF) with the following recommendations:
Sales-tax exemption for safes and safety devices. Public Chapter 592 of 2021 created a sales-tax exemption for the retail sale of firearm safes and firearm-safety devices. The exemption originally ran from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, was extended by Public Chapter 1053 of 2022, and was further extended and made permanent through subsequent legislation enacted during the 2023 Public Safety Special Session (SB7085/HB7012). The statute defines a "firearm safe" as "a locking container or other enclosure, excluding glass-faced containers, equipped with a padlock, key lock, combination lock, or other locking device that is designed and intended for the secure storage of one (1) or more firearms," and a "firearm safety device" as a device that prevents the firearm from being operated without first deactivating the device, or that prevents operation by anyone without authorized access (SB7085, Section 5).
Mandatory safe-storage instruction in carry-permit training (Oct. 1, 2023). Beginning October 1, 2023, every TDOSHS-approved handgun safety course (both the Enhanced and Concealed track) must include a module on the safe storage of firearms. The change came from Public Chapter implementing SB7085/HB7012 (Public Safety Special Session, 2023), which amended Sec. 39-17-1351(e) for Enhanced permit courses and Sec. 39-17-1366(l)(1) for Concealed permit courses (substituting "safe storage methods" for "storage methods"). Persons who obtained a permit before October 1, 2023 are not required to retake any additional course on the basis of this change.
The single hard storage rule in Tennessee covers how a firearm is stowed in a vehicle that is parked on public or private parking property when the carrier is not in the vehicle.
Under Sec. 39-17-1313(a), a person who holds a valid Enhanced or Concealed handgun carry permit, or who lawfully carries a handgun under the permitless-carry exception in Sec. 39-17-1307(g), may transport and store a firearm or firearm ammunition in the person's motor vehicle (as defined in Sec. 55-1-103) while on or utilizing any public or private parking area if both of the following are true:
In plain language, when you step out of the car you must do two things: keep the firearm out of plain view, and lock it (either inside the locked vehicle, in a locked trunk or glove box, or in a container securely affixed to the vehicle). When you are in the car, you may have the firearm accessible to you, but it must still be out of "ordinary observation" from outside the vehicle.
Tennessee Attorney General Opinion 13-41 (May 28, 2013) clarifies that the "from ordinary observation" requirement is about visibility from outside the vehicle, not about whether the firearm is locked while the carrier is present. The 2014 amendment to Sec. 39-17-1313 (Public Chapter 768) broadened the statute's "notwithstanding" language so that it overrides "any" conflicting law or ordinance, not just three previously enumerated provisions.
The same opinion also clarifies that the statutory phrase "a firearm or firearm ammunition" is read conjunctively, so a carrier may keep both the firearm and its ammunition in the vehicle under this provision (Op. Att'y Gen. 13-41 (2013); Op. Att'y Gen. 14-87).
The parking-lot rule applies to "any public or private parking area" with the exception described below for school property. That includes employer parking lots, retail parking, restaurant parking, and roadside rest areas.
The vehicle-parking rule has a federal-law limit and a clarification. Tennessee AG Opinion 22-02 (2022) states that a person who carries under Sec. 39-17-1307(g) and stores a handgun in a vehicle on the grounds of a school covered by the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act (18 U.S.C. Sec. 922(q)) risks prosecution unless an exception applies; Sec. 39-17-1313 "affords no protection when the transportation or storage of a firearm is prohibited by federal law." For permit holders, the federal Act contains an exception for individuals "licensed to do so by the State." Constitutional carriers do not get that exception and should not rely on Sec. 39-17-1313 to defeat a federal GFSZA charge.
Section 39-17-1313(c)(2)(A) defines "parking area" for purposes of the school-grounds carve-out as any property provided by a business, public or private employer, or property owner or manager for invitees, customers, clients, or employees to park privately owned motor vehicles. Subsection (c)(2)(B) excludes from the term "parking area" the grounds or property of an owner-occupied or tenant-occupied single-family detached residence.
Section 49-7-163 (added by 2016 Public Chapter 806) bars public colleges and universities from taking any adverse or disciplinary action against an employee or student "solely for such person's transportation and storage of a firearm or firearm ammunition in compliance with Sec. 39-17-1313 while on or using a parking area located on property owned, used, or operated by the postsecondary institution." In practice, this means an Enhanced or Concealed permit holder, or a permitless carrier, may store a firearm in a locked vehicle in a public-college parking area without academic discipline so long as Sec. 39-17-1313's stowage requirements are met.
Section 50-1-312 limits an employer's ability to prohibit an employee from transporting or storing a firearm or firearm ammunition in the employee's vehicle in a parking area the employer controls, provided the firearm is otherwise lawfully stored in compliance with Sec. 39-17-1313. (This is sometimes called Tennessee's "parking-lot law.")
The 2021 permitless-carry statute folds the constitutional carrier into the parking-lot rule. Sec. 39-17-1313(a) was amended to cover "a person who has a valid enhanced handgun carry permit or concealed handgun carry permit or who lawfully carries a handgun pursuant to Sec. 39-17-1307(g)." A permitless carrier therefore has the same stowage rights, and the same stowage obligations, as a permit holder when leaving a firearm in a parked vehicle.
If you are leaving your handgun in the car, work the rule in this order:
The Tennessee Department of Safety's "Safe and Secure Firearms in Tennessee" guidance pairs the legal rule with two practical recommendations: hide the firearm before exiting the vehicle (over 4,800 firearms were stolen from vehicles in Tennessee in 2021), and lock it in a secured area of the vehicle such as a trunk, glove box, or vehicle safe.
Sec. 39-17-1321 makes it an offense to possess a handgun while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. It is not a "storage" rule in the safe-and-lockbox sense, but it functions as one for a carrier who has been drinking: the practical effect is that the handgun must be stored in a way that the carrier does not have ready access while impaired. Department-approved permit courses must include instruction on alcohol, drugs, and Sec. 39-17-1321 (see Sec. 39-17-1351(e)).
There is no general "unsafe storage" criminal offense in Tennessee.
A violation of the Sec. 39-17-1313 vehicle-stowage rule is enforced under the general weapons-possession statute (Sec. 39-17-1307) when the carrier loses the statutory exception. Because Sec. 39-17-1313 is structured as an authorization rather than as a stand-alone offense, the consequence of failing to comply (for example, leaving an unlocked firearm in plain view in an unattended vehicle) is the loss of the parking-area protection rather than a specific "improper storage" charge. The carrier becomes subject to whatever underlying offense would otherwise apply, including a possible Class C misdemeanor under Sec. 39-17-1307 for an unauthorized public carry, and to civil consequences such as theft loss.
For employers and property owners, Sec. 39-17-1313(b) includes a civil-immunity provision: no business entity, public or private employer, or the owner, manager, or legal possessor of the property "shall be held liable in any civil action for damages, injuries or death resulting from or arising out of another's actions involving a firearm or ammunition transported or stored by a person in a person's motor vehicle pursuant to subsection (a)," unless that entity commits an offense involving the use of the stored firearm or ammunition or intentionally solicits or procures the conduct resulting in the damage, injury or death.
Storage legislation is an active subject of debate in the General Assembly. Several recent or pending bills illustrate the direction of the proposals and the fact that none have been enacted as general law:
Until one of these proposals becomes law, the in-home storage decisions of Tennessee gun owners remain unregulated by criminal statute, and the only enforceable storage rule continues to be the vehicle-stowage rule in Sec. 39-17-1313.
| Setting | Statute | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Private home, occupied | none | No state storage mandate. |
| Private home, juveniles present | none | No state child-access-prevention statute. General criminal-law exposure only. |
| Vehicle, you are in it | Sec. 39-17-1313(a)(2)(A) | Kept from ordinary observation from outside the vehicle. |
| Vehicle, you are not in it | Sec. 39-17-1313(a)(2)(B) | Kept from ordinary observation AND locked in the trunk, glove box, or vehicle interior, or in a container securely affixed to the vehicle. |
| Public-college parking area | Sec. 49-7-163; Sec. 39-17-1313 | Same as vehicle-stowage rule; institution may not discipline for compliance. |
| Employer parking area | Sec. 50-1-312; Sec. 39-17-1313 | Employer cannot prohibit storage that complies with Sec. 39-17-1313. |
| School grounds (federal GFSZA) | 18 U.S.C. Sec. 922(q); Sec. 39-17-1313(c) | State permit holders use the GFSZA "licensed by the State" exception. Permitless carriers risk federal prosecution. |
| Carry-permit training course | Sec. 39-17-1351(e); Sec. 39-17-1366(l)(1) | Course (since Oct. 1, 2023) must teach safe storage. |
| Retail purchase of safe or safety device | Public Chapter 592 (2021), as extended | Sales tax exempt. |
This page covers one part of our Tennessee concealed carry guide.
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