What does the Right to Hunt and Fish do for sportsmen and women in Tennessee?
With the Right to Hunt and Fish secured in our state constitution, any future efforts to abolish hunting or fishing would face much more difficulty in Tennessee. In order to overturn a constitutional amendment, a legislator must sponsor a bill that would require passage at the committee level and by a two-thirds majority of both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly, in two separate sessions. If it passed those hurdles, then it would have to get the majority of the votes in a statewide referendum. It would be a multi-year process, whereas today, the passage of a law (even at the local level) or a lower court ruling could conceivably ban hunting or fishing. Additionally, this right will allow sportsmen and women a stronger appeal to any legal effort in a court of law – this added level of protection is significant, and it does not currently exist.
