Gun control initiatives to be left off Memphis ballot after GOP threat to withhold funds

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Election officials in Memphis decided Tuesday to leave three gun control questions off the November ballot after top Republican state leaders threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding.

On Monday, Tennessee’s election coordinator, Mark Goins, sent a letter to the Shelby County Election Commission warning that the gun control measures violated several of Tennessee’s laws, making them void and ineligible to be placed on the ballot. The letter was sent hours after House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Speaker Randy McNally issued their state funding ultimatum.

Goins added that “unequivocable declarations by the General Assembly” left “no authority” for Memphis officials to propose such amendments to the city’s charter. Goins also raised concerns that the city had not properly followed the public notice procedures required to put a referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot.

In a statement, the Shelby County Administrator of Elections Linda Phillips said the state elections coordinator guides the commission in running elections, “and we will follow his direction.”

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“If the City of Memphis decides to challenge this interpretation, we will respect the final decision made by the courts,” Phillips said.

Earlier this year, the Memphis City Council approved a proposal to ask voters if they wanted to tweak the city charter to require permits to carry a handgun, ban the possession of AR-15 style rifles and implement a so-called red flag ordinance, which allows law enforcement officials to remove firearms from those found to be an imminent danger to themselves or others.

The council had acknowledged at times that they were potentially risking the ire of the Republican-dominant Legislature since the measures likely conflict with Tennessee’s lax gun laws.

Regardless, council members representing the large Black-majority, left-leaning city said they were willing to take the risk.

“If the General Assembly wants to punish us and punish our citizens for asking for their help, we will deal with that accordingly, but that would be absolutely heartbreaking,” Councilman Chase Carlisle said during a council meeting in 2023.

In 2021, Republican lawmakers and GOP Gov. Bill Lee signed off on permitless carry for handguns. In May of this year, they banned local cities and counties from implementing their own red flag laws. Meanwhile, many inside that same Republican supermajority have rebuffed calls to place limits on firearms, an effort that has only increased after a gunman shot and killed three adults and three 9-year-olds in a Nashville private school last year.

The continued push to put the gun control questions before Memphis voters prompted not only the state’s top Republican lawmakers to threaten to withhold funding, but also led Secretary of State Tre Hargett to warn that his office would not approve Memphis’ ballot if it included the gun initiatives.

Last year, Memphis received nearly $78 million from the state’s sales tax revenue. The city currently operates an $858 million budget.

“Guns pose a different risk for residents of Memphis than they do for some other municipalities, but we understand that we need to work with our state to determine a set of tools to restore peace in our community,” said Mayor Paul Young in a statement responding to the Legislature’s ultimatum. “What happens next is up to the voters and the legislative branches.”

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McNally praised the election commission’s decision, saying that he appreciated the panel “recognizing the county cannot make state law.”

Members inside Tennessee’s white-majority Legislature have long criticized Memphis leaders, especially for how they have managed the city’s crime rates, and expressed doubt over how Black leaders were handling the issue. In 2023, the city saw a record-breaking 398 homicides, while burglaries jumped to more than 14,000.

The rate of reported crime in Memphis for the first half of 2024 remained below the first half of 2023 in almost all major categories, however, including the violent crimes of murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, according to preliminary figures from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Trust only further broke down this year when Republican lawmakers and the governor signed off on legislation designed to undo police traffic stop reforms set in place after officers fatally beat Tyre Nichols last year.

State Rep. Justin J. Pearson, who represents a Memphis district and was one of two Black Democratic state lawmakers who were briefly expelled from the Legislature for protesting the lack of action after the Nashville school shootings, said the election commission’s decision was “dangerous for democracy” and he hoped the city council would take legal action.

“I am furious and disappointed that the Shelby County Election Commission felt that it needed to yield to the tyrannical and authoritarian actions of the Republican leadership of this state,” Pearson said. “They are abusing their positions and authority to intentionally circumvent the will of the people in our city.”

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Kruesi reported from Nashville, Tennessee.