Pro-gun rights

Gun Owners of America Wins in Memphis—Judge Declares City’s Illegal Gun Control Ordinance “Dead as a Doornail”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 7, 2025

Memphis, TN — Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) are celebrating a major victory for Tennessee gun owners after the Shelby County Chancery Court rejected the City of Memphis’ unconstitutional and illegal gun-control ordinance.

In its ruling, the Court made clear that Memphis’ sweeping local gun restrictions were not just unlawful—but entirely void.

The following are two major points outlined in the order:

1. The City CONCEDED its ordinance violates state law.
   Memphis admitted that every line of its handgun-carry ban, vehicle-storage rule, so-called “assault rifle” ban, and red-flag scheme is 100% illegal under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1314. (Order pp. 3, 9–11)
2. The Judge called the ordinance “DEAD AS A DOORNAIL.”
   The Chancellor wrote that “The Ordinance and those who proposed it engaged in ‘virtue signaling,’” but “the Ordinance is as dead as a proverbial doornail as a matter of Tennessee law.” (Order p. 6)

Simply put, the Memphis ordinance is entirely unenforceable.

Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America, issued the following statement:

“Memphis may be known as ‘Bluff City,’ but this ridiculous ordinance is a textbook example of a city passing an illegal law just to make a political point. Of course, Memphis was bluffing—and waved the white flag the moment GOA walked into court. The judge simply read their surrender out loud. Litigation like this is critical to defending law-abiding gun owners from reckless and unconstitutional actions by local politicians. Memphis’s deceitful ‘virtue signaling’ endangered residents and visitors alike, exposing them to unlawful prosecution. Such abuses have no place in a constitutional republic.”

John Velleco, Executive Vice President of Gun Owners Foundation, issued the following statement:

“Memphis just got schooled in Gun Law 101: You can’t ‘virtue-signal’ your way around a state preemption statute. The City admitted its ordinance is illegal, the judge branded it ‘dead as a proverbial doornail,’ and the court stamped it ‘not enforceable—full stop.’”

GOA spokesmen are available for interviews. Gun Owners of America is a nonprofit grassroots lobbying organization dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. GOA represents over two million members and activists. For more information, visit GOA’s Press Center.

-GOA-

The anti-gun Democrats are at it again! On Wednesday, November 12th, the House Judiciary Committee will vote on a dangerous bill that would create an electronic gun registry in Pennsylvania.

HB 1891 (Bellmon) will set up all the conditions necessary for the Pennsylvania State Police to enhance their so-called “Record of Sale” system which is nothing more than a backdoor gun registry.

Gun owners across Pennsylvania are not fooled by the rhetoric claiming that the Pennsylvania State Police “Firearm Application/Record of Sale” form (SP4-113) is not a handgun registry. We know better. And HB 1891 would allow the efficient collection of any additional data the government would decide to ask for at the point of sale using this electronic form.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the Democrats already passed Universal Background Check legislation in the House. If that bill and HB 1891 were signed into law, all firearms transactions in Pennsylvania would be electronically centralized and stored by the Pennsylvania State Police.

Make no mistake, the House Democrats are implementing Bloomberg’s agenda to register and track all firearms sales in Pennsylvania. And history informs us that when guns are registered, confiscation eventually occurs.

And this isn’t the first attempt to establish an electronic gun registry. In 2024, GOA members defeated a similar bill on the House floor. We can do so again if all gun owners take action.

That’s why I need you to send a message to your state representative right away (using the form above), urging them to vote AGAINST HB 1891. Let’s defeat the electronic gun registry bill once more.