MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Memphis election officials on Tuesday decided to leave three gun control issues off the November ballot after top Republican state leaders threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding.
Tennessee Elections Coordinator Mark Goins sent a letter to the Shelby County Board of Elections on Monday warning that the gun control measures violated several Tennessee laws, making them void and ineligible for the ballot. The letter was sent hours after House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Speaker Randy McNally issued their ultimatums on state funding.
Goins added that the “unequivocal declarations of the General Assembly” left Memphis officials with “no authority” to propose such changes to the city charter. Goins also expressed concern that the city had not properly complied with the public notices required to hold a referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot.
In a statement, Shelby County Elections Officer Linda Phillips said the state coordinator of elections guides the commission in conducting the election, “and we follow his direction.”
“If the city of Memphis decides to challenge this interpretation, we will respect the final decision of the courts,” Phillips said.
Earlier this year, the Memphis City Council passed a proposal to ask voters if they want to change the city’s charter to require the carrying of handguns, ban the possession of AR-15-style rifles and implement a so-called red flag ordinance that allows law enforcement officers to confiscate firearms from those who have found to be an immediate danger to himself or others.
The council had acknowledged at times that they were potentially risking the wrath of the Republican-controlled legislature because the measures would likely run afoul of Tennessee’s lax gun laws.
Even so, council members representing the left-leaning city with a large black majority said they were willing to take the risk.
“If the General Assembly wants to punish us and our citizens for asking for their help, we will act accordingly, but that would be really heartbreaking,” Councilman Chase Carlisle said at the 2023 council meeting.
In 2021, Republican lawmakers and GOP Gov. Bill Lee signed into law a handgun ban. In May of this year, they banned local cities and counties from enforcing their own red flag laws. Meanwhile, many in the same Republican supermajority have rejected calls to restrict firearms, a move that has only intensified since a gunman shot and killed three adults and three 9-year-olds at a Nashville private school last year.
Continuing to put gun control issues before Memphis voters prompted threats from the state’s top Republican lawmakers to withhold funding, but Secretary of State Tre Hargettin also warned that his office would not approve a Memphis vote if it included a gun. initiatives.
Last year, Memphis received nearly $78 million in state sales tax revenue. The city currently has a budget of $858 million.
“Guns pose a different risk to the people of Memphis than some other municipalities, but we understand that we must work with our state to determine the tools to restore peace to our community,” Mayor Paul Young said in a statement. responding to the threat demands of the legislature. “What happens next is up to voters and legislatures.”
McNally praised the Board of Elections’ decision, saying he appreciated the panel “recognizing that the county cannot enact state law.”
Members of Tennessee’s majority-white legislature have long criticized Memphis leaders, particularly over how they have managed the city’s crime rate, and expressed misgivings about black leaders’ handling of the issue. In 2023, the city saw a record 398 murders, and burglaries rose to over 14,000.
The number of reported crimes in Memphis in the first half of 2024 remained below the first half of 2023 in nearly every major category, including violent crimes such as murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, according to preliminary numbers from the Tennessee Bureau. from the research.
Confidence only collapsed further this year when Republican lawmakers and the governor signed legislation to roll back police traffic stop reforms enacted after officers defeated Tire Nichols last year.
State Representative Justin J. Pearson, who represents the Memphis area and was one of two black Democratic state lawmakers who were briefly suspended from the Legislature for protesting the lack of action after the Nashville school shooting, said the board’s decision was a “dangerous democracy” and he hoped the City Council would take legal action.
“I am outraged and disappointed that the Shelby County Board of Elections felt it had to give in to the tyrannical and authoritarian actions of the Republican leadership in this state,” Pearson said. “They are abusing their position and power to deliberately circumvent the will of the people of our city.”
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Kruesi reports from Nashville, Tennessee.
