Free Republic

On January 23, 2023, Tennessee was required by court order to allow individuals aged 18-20 to carry handguns under the Tennessee permitless carry (Constitutional Carry) law, and to obtain carry permits under the law governing the issue of handgun carry permits. On May 8, 2025, the government of Tennessee reduced the age requirement to obtain a handgun carry permit from 21 to 18. HB1332 became Public Chapter No. 356.SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-17-1351(b), is amended by deleting the language and substituting:(b) Except as provided in subsection (r), any resident of Tennessee who is a United States citizen or...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A court affidavit identifies the two Booker T. Washington High School students who were killed in a broad-daylight shooting in South Memphis — Christian Brown, 17, and Darrius Wadley, 18. One of four suspected gunmen was arrested after he was shot and dropped off at a hospital, according to new information from the court system. Valdemar Patterson, aka Valdemar Richards, 18, is so far the only suspect in custody. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Police say last Thursday, an Infiniti pulled into the South City apartment complex at Mississippi Boulevard and Lauderdale. Surveillance...

Thursday, April 17, the Crockett County Sheriff’s Department responded to a shooting on Chestnut Bluff and Maury City Road. According to the sheriff’s department, John King III was shot and killed in the 6000 block of Chestnut Bluff-Maury City Road. We learned on April 18 that it appeared to be domestic violence-related, and no charges were filed at the time. Wednesday, we spoke with District Attorney General Frederick Agee. He told us this was self defense and that his office would not be pursuing any charges. “She is six months pregnant and there were two other children in the household,”...

The feds suspected alleged MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador in an error, was engaged in human and labor trafficking in 2022, according to an internal memo obtained by The Post. The DHS intelligence report noted that Abrego Garcia was pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol on Dec. 1, 2022, after he was caught speeding. Officers found eight other individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who said he was driving “three days ago” from Houston, Texas, to Temple Hills, Maryland, “to bring in people to perform construction work,” according to the memo. The...

Audrey Hale, 28, left behind 16 notebooks filled with deranged writings detailing self-loathing and racial hate, repeating how she wanted “kill my own race” and “destroy all the white people who are teachers.” “Being white sucks, but being black is so cool. Black people should rule. White people should fall, every white person who lived and died. I hate you all,” wrote Hale, who was white.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said he is 100% sure that the federal government is covering up documents about UFOs — and he’s not alone among members of Congress in trying to push for more information about what could be out there. “We’ve requested documents, we’ve gone to interview pilots and been stonewalled by our Pentagon. It’s ridiculous, it’s been going on since the ‘40s,” Burchett said Saturday afternoon on Fox News. “We are taking the gloves off.” Public interest in the possibility of extraterrestrial life, officially labeled as unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) in government circles, has bubbled for decades —...

Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican on the House Oversight Committee, warned that new information brought by an IRS whistleblower who is seeking protection to testify before Congress, could force a Biden impeachment. The investigation into the Biden family crimes has now revealed that at least 9 members of the family were involved in the family’s money laundering schemes. At least 9 Biden family members sold access for profit around the world. They are the definition of a crime family. Rep. Tim Burchett, told Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria” on Friday, “This is just the very tip of the...

Every conservative justice expressed skepticism Wednesday of the Biden administration’s challenge to state ban on child sex changes, except Justice Neil Gorsuch Gorsuch, who authored a landmark ruling in 2020 expanding sex discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation in the context of employment, didn’t say a word during over two hours of oral arguments. Tennessee’s law, which is at the center of the United States v. Skrmetti case, restricts minors from receiving medical treatments intended to help them live as an identity “inconsistent” with their sex. The Biden administration argues it draws sex-based lines on medical treatments in...

Attorney Chase Strangio will be arguing before the Supreme Court on Wednesday this week to advocate for child sex changes on behalf of the ACLU. Strangio, a trans-identified female, will be arguing that Tennessee must allow children in the state to undergo pharmaceutical and surgical sex changes. The US DOJ brought suit against Tennessee, claiming that "the law leaves the same treatments entirely unrestricted if they are prescribed for any other purpose." In other words, if girls can be prescribed estrogen for medical reasons, then it is discriminatory to deprive boys of that estrogen for gender reasons. As an activist...

A shopping trip for customers at Tanger Outlets Nashville went wrong after a group of robbers broke into a perfume store. A TikTok user (@ptodropout) posted a video obtained by WSMV4 of four individuals robbing Perfumania at the Antioch outlets on June 2. One security guard and multiple shoppers held the door shut while the incident was taking place and trapped the thieves inside while they waited for police. But the robbers were able to escape by smashing their way through a back door before the cops could arrive. Preston, the TikToker's son and one of the witnesses, told WSMV4...

Regarding natural disasters, the Biden-Harris duo is one for the record books in either incompetence or gross indifference. Whenever disaster strikes, you can always count on these two not to be with it regarding some response. With Hurricane Helene, the Biden administration’s ‘Katrina’ moment has arrived, and what an ugly picture it is. Like incompetents that they are, this administration is committing fouls that an actual media establishment would have excoriated them for, and rightfully so. Alas, Biden-Harris find themselves engulfed in an oasis of calm because they know the press won’t attack them, even if they are doing nothing...

Nashville food banks are being pushed to their limits with people needing help now more than ever before. Over the past couple of years, demand has skyrocketed at The Branch because of higher grocery prices. Angie Thomas said they now serve more than 1,200 families per month. There was a constant line of cars outside of the building on Wednesday for their senior food box giveaway. “We have a heart for this community,” Thomas said. “We want this community to thrive. When we are able to provide something that our community needs, like food, like English language classes, like entrepreneur...

On Friday, April 26, 2024, Governor Bill Lee signed the popular school reform bill that would allow a few voluntary, highly regulated school staff to carry concealed firearms to protect the children under their care. The reform bill moves Tennessee from the few states that completely ban school staff from carrying concealed firearms to those states that allow staff to protect their children but with extreme restrictions. Most states have programs that are much less restrictive than the bill signed by Governor Lee. The bill, SB1325/HB1202, was popular in the state legislature, where it was passed with veto-proof majorities. The...

The phrase “arming teachers” has standard meanings: To provide teachers with arms or to force teachers to carry arms. “Arming teachers” puts teachers in a passive role, with someone else “arming” them. It is being used to oppose a mild gun law reform bill in Tennessee.The phrase is being used in an Orwellian way by those opposed to an armed population. It is used by the left to prevent teachers from being allowed to protect themselves and the children in their care. The phrase “arming teachers” has become equated with removing restrictions on the ability of teachers to arm themselves....

On March 27, 2023, a mass shooting occurred at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, which resulted in multiple fatalities. The attack was carried out by a transgender leftist who had written a “manifesto” which has currently been withheld due to public records requests made by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department as well as the activism of Southern Baptist Convention ERLC head, Brent Leatherwood. Brent Leatherwood, head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), is calling on TN lawmakers to back a proposal by Governor Bill Lee for an extreme risk protective...

HARRISON, Tenn. — UPDATE: 2 suspects involved in a deadly home invasion in Harrison are still on the loose, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. HCSO says there were 3 armed suspects involved in the invasion. The preliminary investigation reveals the three suspects broke into the home around 1a.m. and were confronted by the homeowner, according to HCSO. Gunfire was exchanged between the homeowner and suspects. HCSO says one of the suspects was shot during the exchange and died at the scene. Two other suspects jumped through a window to escape and fled the scene, according to HCSO. Members...

Tennessee State Senator Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) warned state Republicans on Thursday moments after the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill prohibiting local governments from inhibiting law enforcement that her Democrat constituents may respond with riots. @FoxNashville posted footage of the Thursday press conference at which Oliver and other Democrat legislators held at the Capitol in which they announced their disapproval of the bill. The legislation easily passed in the State Senate on Thursday in a partisan vote 26 to 6. The previous week, the Tennessee House passed the bill in a partisan 68 to 24 vote. “So yeah, we’re gonna...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man reportedly shot at two burglars during a Raleigh home invasion Wednesday, killing one. The survivor is being charged. Fernando Diveney, 29, is charged with first-degree murder during the perpetration of aggravated burglary, and aggravated robbery. His alleged accomplice, Tadarrius Allen, was killed when the resident of the apartment they allegedly broke into opened fire. Wednesday, Memphis Police responded to a shooting at an apartment complex on Cedar Glen in Raleigh. A homeowner told officers he was asleep when he heard glass breaking in one of his bedrooms. Moments later, the suspects, Diveney and Allen, were...

Multiple lanes were blocked on the Memphis-Arkansas I-40 bridge during a pro-Palestinian protest that began at Memphis City Hall on Saturday. Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) cameras revealed a large crowd with traffic completely stopped behind them for some time. As of around 4:30 p.m. these cameras reveal now that some traffic is moving again. Additionally, the I-55 bridge was closed by TDOT for construction during the weekend. The protest began at city hall by organization Memphis Voices for Palestine "in light of the recent ruling by the International Criminal Court," that stated "plausible evidence of genocide happening in Gaza...

A Muslim family was arrested in Nashville after a juvenile victim told law enforcement authorities that his parents and brother physically attacked him for converting to Christianity. The minor was punched in the face and spat at by his father Nick Kadum, 57, mother Rawaa Khawaji, 46, and brother John Kadum, 29, according to the warrant. The boy had also been 'cut haphazardly' with lumps on his face. The mother, Khawaji, has also been accused of cutting one of the boy's hands with a knife.