Constitutional carry since 2021 (handguns; long guns added 2024). No AWB, no mag limit, strong preemption. Stand-your-ground codified. Suppressors legal. No waiting period, no red-flag law.

CBD-only program for limited conditions. No medical cannabis, no decriminalization, no recreational. Possession criminalized. No psychedelic reform; limited harm reduction.

State minimum wage $7.25/hr (no state minimum, federal applies). MIT living wage for 1 adult: $14.38/hr. Ratio 0.50 — minimum-wage workers earn 50% of what's needed to live there alone.

No state income tax (low tax burden), and Tennessee improved meaningfully in 2024 NAEP across all four assessments (4th reading rose to 23rd nationally). Modest spending, real gains — emerging efficiency story.

IJ grades TN D+ (low burden, profit incentive, heavy equitable-sharing). No QI reform. No-knock allowed. No statewide body cam mandate. No comprehensive privacy law (TIPA 2023 narrow). HB 2315 (2018) anti-sanctuary law mandates ICE cooperation.

Excuse required for absentee voting (most restrictive list). Early voting 14 days (one positive). No same-day registration. Strict photo ID. Lifetime felon disenfranchisement requiring restoration with payment of all court costs and child support; among most restrictive in nation. Republican-drawn maps with extreme partisan bias. Consistently bottom-3 in voting access rankings.

Has NOT adopted Medicaid expansion. Total abortion ban with narrow exceptions. Trans youth gender-affirming care ban (SB 1; upheld by SCOTUS in U.S. v. Skrmetti 2025). Rural hospital closures highest in nation. Maternal mortality elevated.

No qualified immunity reform. No statewide BWC mandate. Personnel records confidential. POST decertification. No-knock warrants restricted (2022 reforms after Tyre Nichols, expanded). No necessity standard. Local DAs prosecute. Chokeholds were among first banned (pre-2020). Per-capita killings above median.

Total abortion ban. Gender-affirming care ban for minors (upheld in US v. Skrmetti, 2025 SCOTUS). Anti-drag law (struck down). No LGBTQ+ protections. RFRA. School chaplain law. Anti-trans bathroom laws. Strong Christian-nationalist trend, though Tennessee did pass IVF/contraception protection (Fertility Treatment and Contraception Act) - one positive.

Right-to-work state (constitutional 2022). No paid family leave. No paid sick leave (state preempts locals). State OSHA plan (TOSHA). Prevailing wage prohibited. Very weak wage theft enforcement. Above-median fatal injury rate. No heat, domestic worker, or scheduling protections.