Game and Fish Laws - As enacted, clarifies that local governmental entities shall not regulate the manner and means of taking wildlife, including the discharge of a firearm while lawfully hunting, and that such taking is, the official text

.....

!  1·,..,1• t'FRF
   -' I J  .,  !tr1 :
:

                                    .....

      Staie~ Jennessee

                              PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 673

                                                    SENATE BILL NO. 2028

                                                 By Lowe, Bowling, Stevens

                                           Substituted for: House Bill No. 2017

By Cochran, Grills, Lamberth, Faison, Darby, Vital, Boyd, Todd, McCalmon, Butler, Capley, Reeves,
                                                               Chism

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-17-1314; Section 70-1-206 and Section
          70-4-107, relative to the authority of the Tennessee fish and wildlife commission to proscribe
          the manner and means of taking wildlife.

          WHEREAS, the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee has enacted a comprehensive
statutory framework governing the conservation, management, and regulation of wildlife and hunting
within this State; and

          WHEREAS, pursuant to State law, the General Assembly has delegated authority to
promulgate rules and regulations concerning hunting, including seasons, methods of take, licensing,
and related matters, to the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission; and

          WHEREAS, the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission exercises such delegated
authority on a statewide basis in order to ensure uniform standards, science-based wildlife
management, and consistent enforcement throughout the State; and

          WHEREAS, the preservation and regulation of wildlife resources and hunting activities are
matters of statewide concern that require centralized oversight and uniform application; and

          WHEREAS, local enactments that explicitly or implicitly affect, regulate, restrict, or prohibit
hunting in a manner inconsistent with or supplementary to State statutes or regulations of the
Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission create confusion, undermine uniformity, and interfere with
the State's comprehensive regulatory scheme; and

          WHEREAS, it is the intent of the General Assembly to reaffirm that the regulation of hunting
is preempted by State law and by the duly promulgated rules and regulations of the Tennessee Fish
and Wildlife Commission, and may not be superseded or duplicated by local governmental action;
and

          WHEREAS, nothing in this act is intended to prohibit or limit a local government from
enforcing generally applicable criminal laws, including laws relating to reckless endangerment,
unlawful discharge of a firearm, or other conduct unrelated to the lawful regulation of hunting;
provided, that such enforcement does not operate as a de facto regulation of hunting authorized
under State laws or commission proclamations or duly promulgated rules; now, therefore,

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

          SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-17-1314, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection:

                    0)(1) Notwithstanding subdivision (b)(2) or another law to the contrary, a city, county,
                    town, municipality, or metropolitan government shall not regulate the manner and
                    means of taking wildlife, including the discharge of a firearm while lawfully hunting.
                    Such manner and means of taking wildlife is regulated pursuant to rules promulgated
                    and proclamations issued by the fish and wildlife commission under its delegated
                    authority in title 70.
SB 2028
                              (2) This part does not prohibit a county or municipality from regulating the

                    discharge of a firearm by a person lawfully hunting within five hundred feet (500') of
                    school property.
          SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 70-4-107(c}, is amended by adding the
following as a new subdivision:
                    (5) Upon proclamation by the commission, any person lawfully hunting under this
          section is expressly authorized to utilize the commission's authorized manner or means of
          taking wildlife, which may include the discharge of a firearm within the area so designated by
          the commission during the hunting season opened by the commission as long as the manner
          and means are consistent with this title.
          SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.

                                                                 2
         SENATE BILL NO. 2028

PASSED:  March 23, 2026

                                            RANDY McNALLY

                                  SPEAKER OF THE SENATE

                                  lcJi/t>~EXTON,SPEAKER

                                  'l!ii..1ll'REPRESENTATIVES

APPROVED this ]ft. day of /}pril            2026

         ~~

                        BILL LEE, GOVERNOR