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Legal Information: Tennessee

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
November 27, 2023

Can the abuser have a gun?

Once you get a protection order, there may be laws that prohibit the respondent from having a gun in his/her possession. If the order was issued after notice and a hearing, then the order should have language that instructs the abuser (respondent) to:

  • get rid of his/her firearms by “any lawful means,” such as transferring them to a third party who is not prohibited from possessing firearms or selling them, within 48 hours; and
  • not have firearms for so long as the order of protection or any follow-up orders of protection are in effect.1

A violation of either of the above orders can be a Class A misdemeanor crime.2

For more information about gun laws, you can go to our TN State Gun Laws and Federal Gun Laws sections to understand the state and federal laws that may apply.

You can read more about keeping an abuser from accessing guns on the National Domestic Violence and Firearms Resource Center’s website.

1 TN ST § 36-3-625(a)
2 TN ST §§ 36-3-625(a)(h); 39-13-113(h)