Memphis City Council Press Conference on Gun Referendum and Lawsuit – August 30, 2024
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Memphis City Council Press Conference on Gun Referendum and Lawsuit – August 30, 2024
On August 30, 2024, the Memphis City Council held a press conference to address the gun referendum (Ordinance No. 5908) passed on July 23, 2024, signed by the chairman on August 6, and by the mayor on August 16. Council members, led by Chairman Smiley, announced that they had filed a lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission earlier that day (around 10:20 a.m.) after the commission refused to place the referendum on the ballot without a public vote. The council condemned threats from state officials to withhold sales tax revenue and expressed unity in their fight for gun safety and self-governance.
Discussion Items
- Chairman Smiley detailed the timeline: the ordinance was passed on July 23, signed by him on August 6, and by the mayor on August 16, then submitted to the election commission. He stated the council complied with all state laws and criticized the state’s threat to cut 40% of the city’s budget that goes to law enforcement, calling it bullying. He said, “We won’t back down, and we damn sure won’t be bullied.”
- Councilwoman Jerry Green argued that the state’s actions are hypocritical, calling them “not patriotic” and “not pro-life.” She noted that over 70% of Tennesseans (including Republicans and NRA members) support the measures. She said, “Memphis has been shot and is bleeding out. … We are taking a stand on behalf of our governance independence.”
- Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas cited the city’s need for stronger safety measures for children, questioning, “Why do you want us to be unsafe? Why do you want us to be poor?” She referenced Dr. King’s 1968 assassination and said the council is unified in not being “held hostage.”
- Councilwoman Rhonda Logan shared a personal experience of being in a drive-by shooting a year ago, vowing to “fight like hell” for the people. She criticized the state’s “sharecropper tactics” and said, “You told us hope wasn’t enough … you told us to strategize … and then you send your dunes.”
- Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton highlighted the absurdity of threatening to take resources from law enforcement while demanding more guns. She said, “Guns have more rights than women.”
- State Representative Justin Pearson (District 86) called the state’s actions “racist” and “authoritarian,” noting that the city is majority Black and that similar attacks occurred with his expulsion and TSU’s board. He said, “We’re not going back to silence. … Over 71% of people want common-sense gun laws.” He praised the council as the first majority-woman city council in history.
- Chairman Smiley clarified the decision to file suit: as chairman, he has the authority to act between meetings to protect the council’s rightful power. He expects a court hearing as early as next week. He also accused the election commission of violating the Open Meetings Act by acting without a public vote.
Key Outcomes
- Lawsuit filed: The Memphis City Council filed a lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission on August 30, 2024, challenging its refusal to place the gun referendum on the ballot.
- Unified council: All 13 council members support the lawsuit, including Republican and moderate members, according to Chairman Smiley.
- Next steps: The council anticipates a court appearance next week. Attorney Alan Wade was at the courthouse handling the filing.
- Public records: A copy of the lawsuit is available through a public information request to the city legal office.
- Continued advocacy: The council vowed to fight for gun safety and against state threats, calling on other cities to file similar lawsuits.
Meeting Transcript
Oh. Sure. You sure? Wanna get you a chair? I mean to a chair over here. This feels really close. That's right. Does that feel really close? Really? That's three of us in a row right here then. Good afternoon. Thank you all for being here. I know that we we sent out a press release in the wee hours the morning late at night, particularly addressing the gun referendum that we put on. We were seeking to put on the ballot. But I do want to like thank the members of the community for being here, our staff, um, the other council members and Representative Justin Pearson and members of the media. But I just want to walk down uh some of the facts because there's a many people talking about this particular issue. A lot of them are mistaken or just completely wrong. So on July twenty-third, two thousand and twenty-four, this duly elected body pass referendum ordinance number fifty-nine oh eight on July twenty-third. Thereafter, on August sixth, myself as the chairman of the Memphis City Council signed the ordinance on August sixteenth, the mayor of Memphis signed the ordinance. Shortly thereafter, members of our staff walked it over and profited to the election commission. Generally speaking, the council complied with all laws of the state of Tennessee. What that means is we did everything we're supposed to do. There are some folks talking about this is unconstitutional, but clearly the folks has not read the Constitution itself. But let me just get to the point. Because when we take our titles off, we're just people. And the people of Memphis have been very clear about certain things. If you poll the issues in our communities, they will tell you this. Crime is the number one issue. When they talk about crime, they're talking particularly about gun violence. And when I took a duty to uphold the laws of this state and uphold the laws of the city of Memphis, the duty I take before any of those is to do right by people. And what I know to be true is our communities are suffering with crime. And as elected officials, we have a responsibility to put people in a better position. We are supposed to provide for the general welfare of all people. And we're doing everything in our power to keep people safe. When we do everything in our power to keep people safe, we have we keep running into this hurdle. We keep running into this barrier, talking about well, there's so many guns in our community. Gun crimes are going through the roof. You know, this body elected to increase salaries for police officers because we want our people to be safe. We elected to implement intervention programs because we want our people to be safe. We've done everything in our power, except take guns off the street. I'm not talking about all guns. What we're particularly talking about is guns in the hands of people who don't deserve them. Guns in hands of people who are committing violent crime. And there is some talk about taking money from the city of Memphis if we put something on the ballot. It's strange coming from their group because 40% of our budget goes to law enforcement. And this supposed to be a party who supports law enforcement. Instead, what they're telling the people of Memphis, they want us dead, and they also want us in poverty. Now that's tough. And I just have a hard time dealing or hearing type of radar, they're gonna take money from the city of Memphis. We won't back down, and we damn sure won't be bullied.
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