Tennessee Governor Signs Law Protecting Renters’ Gun Rights — What Landlords Can and Can’t Do Starting in 2027
Key Takeaways
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 350, allowing tenants to possess firearms in their rental homes, effective January 1, 2027.
- The law prohibits landlords from using leases to ban firearm possession, while still permitting rules for handling firearms in shared spaces.
- Affected tenants can sue for violations, seeking various forms of damages, while compliant landlords are protected from liability.
- Exceptions exist for state agency properties, mental health facilities, and certain educational properties, among others.
- This law significantly strengthens Second Amendment rights for renters in Tennessee, affirming their right to keep firearms for self-defense.
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NASHVILLE, TN — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed Senate Bill 350 into law, giving residential tenants across the state the legal right to possess, carry, transport, and store firearms in their rental homes — regardless of what their lease says. The law takes effect January 1, 2027, and applies to leases entered into, amended, extended, or renewed on or after that date.
The legislation passed with overwhelming support in both chambers. The Senate concurred with the House-amended version 32-0, and the House passed it 73-21. Gov. Lee signed the bill on March 26, 2026.
As I covered when this bill was moving through the legislature, the law directly addresses a common conflict between renters and landlords over Second Amendment rights. Under the new law, landlords cannot use lease agreements to prohibit tenants from keeping firearms in their dwelling units, storing them in vehicles parked on landlord-provided parking, or carrying them through common areas when entering or exiting those locations.
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Landlords do retain some authority over how firearms are handled in shared spaces. A landlord may require that firearms be concealed, holstered, or stored in a carrying container when tenants are moving through common areas such as elevators and shared hallways. If a tenant violates that specific requirement, the landlord can request compliance or pursue remedies outlined in the lease — but those remedies cannot include banning firearms from the tenant’s own unit.
Tenants who are harmed by a landlord’s violation of the law have a legal path forward. The statute allows affected tenants to sue for declaratory and injunctive relief, actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees. At the same time, landlords who comply with the law are protected from civil liability for doing so.
The law does carve out exceptions. It does not apply to properties leased to state agencies, facilities contracted with the Department of Mental Health or the Department of Children’s Services, licensed hospitals and their campuses, nursing homes, memory care facilities, assisted care living facilities, or educational properties.
This is a meaningful win for Tennessee renters who legally own firearms. For years, many tenants faced lease clauses that effectively forced them to choose between their home and their right to keep a firearm for self-defense. That changes with this law. The right to keep and bear arms doesn’t stop at the front door of a rented home, and Tennessee’s legislature made that position clear.
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