The Tennessee Legislature has sent Gov. Bill Lee a narrow but important reform to the state’s deadly-force law, and the fight over SB1847/HB1802 shows how much can change between a bill’s introduction and the final version that reaches a governor’s desk.
The Tennessee Legislature passed SB1847 on April 23, the last day of the legislative session. SB1847 includes the legal justification to use deadly force to protect property under certain limited circumstances. In this correspondent’s reading of the law, the legal ability to use deadly force under the bill is not very wide or broad. In the previous law, residents could use force to protect or recover property, but not deadly force.
The new language allows residents to use deadly force to prevent “the other’s imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or aggravated cruelty to animals; “if the resident reasonably believes the property cannot otherwise be protected and the use of lesser force would expose the resident or a third party to “a risk of death, serious bodily injury, or grave sexual abuse.”
The initial versions of the law were more radical. They allowed the use of deadly force to prevent trespassing. They prohibited a person from using deadly force if the suspect was facing away from them. Both instances were radical changes in the use of deadly force law in Tennessee. In the final debates leading to the passage of the bill, both the trespass and “facing away” parts of the bill were removed in the last amendment before both houses passed the bill.
In legislatures across the United States, it is common to have a post-vote process to send the bill to the governor for signature. An administrator or bureau checks the bill to ensure the language matches the language that was voted on. Then the House and Senate leadership sign declarations that the bill language is correct. These are checks to verify the bill’s legitimacy. After the legislative leadership signs off on the bill, the bill is sent to the governor for signature. States vary significantly in how long a governor has to sign a bill and what happens if the governor vetoes it or refuses to sign it.
SB1847 passed with significant super-majorities in both houses. The final votes on the amended bill were: 62-24 in the House, 3 present and not voting; 23-5 in the Senate. The final votes on the bill occurred on April 23, the last day of the session. The bill was not enrolled (checked and made ready for signatures) until April 30, a week later. The Speaker of the Senate signed the enrolled bill on April 30. The Speaker of the House did not sign the enrolled bill until May 7, 2026.
In Tennessee, the bill is automatically sent to the Governor after the signatures. In Tennessee, the governor has 10 days, excluding Sundays, to veto or sign the bill. If the governor does not veto or sign the bill during the 10 days, it becomes law. The 10 day clock does not start until the bill is officially received by the governor.
The rules for sending the bill to the governor can be used to play legislative games, depending on whether the leaders of the legislature want to see the bill vetoed, want to discredit the governor, or want to insure the bill is made into law. This correspondent has seen legislatures accelerate the process so the governor receives a bill one or two days after the vote. Legislators have been known to delay the process to allow the governor to veto the bill without the concern of a veto override in some states. Sometimes the timing is a matter of convenience, to allow the Governor to arrange a bill signing ceremony, for example.
The two-week span to send SB1847 to Governor Bill Lee is a mild cause for concern. It may mean the legislative leaders are not worried about a veto. The Tennessee legislature can override a veto with a simple majority in both houses. It would appear to be an easy thing to do, with the super-majorities that voted for SB1847. Ballotpedia shows that of the four vetoes done in Tennessee from 2010 to 2020, only one was overridden by the legislature.
If Governor Lee officially receives SB1847 on May 8th, he has until May 20 to sign, veto, or allow the bill to become law without his signature.
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About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
