Members of Memphis City Council announced a lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission on Friday in an attempt to salvage a now contested set of gun-control ballot referendums.
The Council wants to put three questions before voters during November’s election including whether to – within city limits – require handgun permits, ban assault rifles in public and allow for so-called “reg flag” regulations.
Tennessee’s top Republican lawmakers, House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Speaker and Lt. Governor Randy McNally, disrupted plans for the ballot initiatives this week when they threatened to pass legislation to withhold Memphis’ share of the state’s sale tax revenue if local leaders allowed for the referendum to move forward.
They say the measures intentionally flout state law and amount to "political sideshows."
Members of City Council had previously said the gun control measures would be non-binding and not go into effect even if passed but instead the point was to send a message to the state that reflected voters desires in Memphis.
The Shelby County Election Commission on Tuesday said they would not include the referendum on the upcoming ballot after the state’s coordinator of elections, Mark Goins, sent a letter directing them to leave the questions off the local ballot.
Goins wrote that the City of Memphis, which is a Democratic stronghold, lacked authority to “propose charter amendments in these fields of regulation.”
The five members of City Council who announced the lawsuit at a press conference Friday spoke defiantly about protecting local decision making.
“There’s nothing patriotic about refusing to let citizens use their voices in the voting booth,” council member Jerri Green said. “There is nothing that shows you back the blue when you refuse to support basic safety measures that they have begged you to pass.”
She pointed her comments at the Republican dominated state legislature, which has frequently been at odds with Memphis leaders over policy.
Memphis police officials have lobbied against several pieces of legislation passed in recent years that loosened gun regulations including doing away with permits to openly carry a handgun in 2021.
In a statement in response to the lawsuit, Shelby County’s election administrator, Linda Philips, said that the commission lacks authority to intervene.
“This body has taken no action regarding the referendum beyond abiding by the state's directive,” Phillips said. “The state, by law, guides our execution of elections, including, but not limited to, the legality of our ballots, candidate qualifications and referendum questions.”
The general election takes place November 5.
