NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee officials said Wednesday they are appealing a recent court ruling that invalidated two state gun laws, saying that if the ruling is left unchallenged, it would appear to allow guns to be possessed by minors and people unfit to carry in public places.
Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti's office said that the court's ruling has caused “unnecessary confusion and risk,” seemingly making it legal for a 10-year-old to carry a semiautomatic rifle to a recreational league basketball game, or a drunk adult to tote a shotgun through popular, sometimes-crowded areas. The attorney general has asked that the three-judge panel, with judges in Gibson, Carter and Bedford counties, pause the ruling while the state appeals.
On Aug. 22, the panel ruled that two Tennessee gun laws are “unconstitutional, void, and of no effect.” One generally limits carrying a gun in a public park, playground or similar area, to someone who has a permit to carry a handgun. The second is the somewhat ambiguous offense of the “intent to go armed,” which includes broad exceptions and legal defenses. Both are misdemeanors.
The state's filing points out that the court did not order anyone to stop enforcing the laws. But it also notes that an attorney for plaintiffs, John Harris of the Tennessee Firearms Association, wrote online that attempts to enforce the laws should put officials at risk of facing federal civil rights lawsuits.
“Law enforcement is rightly loath to choose between tempting ruinous civil rights lawsuits and carrying out their duty to protect the public,” the state's filing says.
Harris said Wednesday that the plaintiffs disagree with “the misleading characterization of state law,” and said they will reply formally in a court filing.
After news of the appeal Tuesday, Harris posted online that the attorney general's oath of office “does not include a duty to support the statutes enacted by the Legislature without regard to their constitutionality.” He said an appeal could take a year or more, giving lawmakers an excuse to refuse to address the “facially unconstitutional statutes” by saying they should await the court outcome before changing the laws.
Harris has also written that it appears that striking down the “intent to go armed” law will let people carry rifles or shotguns publicly. The ruling doesn’t get that specific.
According to the state, eliminating the “intent to go armed” provision would mean that “important and constitutionally-sound pieces of Tennessee law disappear.”
For instance, the state would rely on the parks and “intent to go armed” laws to prohibit a child from carrying a semiautomatic rifle to a community basketball court. A separate Tennessee law only bars the carrying of handguns by children without adult supervision, the state said.
In the drunk-with-a-shotgun scenario, another Tennessee law criminalizes having a handgun while under the influence, but the “intent to go armed" law is what prohibits the same act with long guns, the state wrote.
Under federal law, federally licensed gun dealers can't sell a long gun to someone under 18, but there's no federal minimum age to possess a long gun, according to Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Federal law bans access to guns by people who are “unlawful users of or addicted to a controlled substance,” but not those who misuse alcohol, according to Giffords.
The Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation and individuals sued in February 2023, saying the two Tennessee laws violate the Second Amendment and state constitutional gun rights. The plaintiffs said the "intent to go armed" law improperly burdens people to present an affirmative defense, which requires them to present evidence that provides a reason for carrying the firearm.
FILE - The Tennessee State Capitol is seen Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police in Ohio's capital city said Wednesday that they have gathered enough evidence to link a man charged in the double homicide of his ex-wife and her husband in their Columbus home last month to the killings.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said in an Associated Press interview that authorities now believe Michael David McKee, 39, a vascular surgeon who was living in Chicago, was the person seen walking down a dark alley near Monique and Spencer Tepe's home in video footage from the night of the murders. His vehicle has also been identified traveling near the house, and a firearm found in his Illinois residence also traced to evidence at the scene, she said.
An attorney representing McKee could not be identified through court listings.
His arrest Saturday capped off nearly two weeks of speculation surrounding the mysterious killings that attracted national attention. No obvious signs of forced entry were found at the Tepes’ home. Police also said no weapon was found there, and murder-suicide was not suspected. Further, nothing was stolen, and the couple’s two young children and their dog were left unharmed in the home.
“What we can tell you is that we have evidence linking the vehicle that he was driving to the crime scene. We also have evidence of him coming and going in that particular vehicle,” Bryant told the AP. “What I can also share with you is that there were multiple firearms taken from the property of McKee, and one of those firearms did match preliminarily from a NIBIN (ballistic) hit back to this actual homicide.”
Bryant said that the department wants the public to keep the tips coming. Investigators were able to follow up on every phone call, email and private tip shared from the community to the department and some of that information allowed them to gather enough evidence to make an arrest, she said.
That work culminated in the apprehension of McKee in Rockford, Illinois, where the hospital where he worked — OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center — has said it is cooperating with the investigation. He has been charged with premeditated aggravated murder in the shooting deaths. Monique Tepe, who divorced McKee in 2017, was 39. Her husband, a dentist whose absence from work that morning prompted the first call to police, was 37.
McKee waived his right to an extradition hearing on Monday during an appearance in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Winnebago County, Illinois, where he remains in jail. Bryant said officials are working out details of his return to Ohio, with no exact arrival date set. His next hearing in Winnebago County is scheduled for Jan. 23.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said Wednesday that the city doesn't prioritize high-profile cases any more than others, noting that the city's closure rate on criminal cases exceeds the national average. The city also celebrated in 2025 its lowest level of homicides and violent crime since 2007, Ginther said.
“Every case matters. Ones that receive national attention, and those that don’t,” he told the AP. “Every family deserves closure and for folks to be held accountable, and the rest of the community deserves to be safe when dangerous people are taken off the street.”
Ginther said it is vital for central Ohioans to continue to grieve with the Tepes' family, which includes two young children, and loved ones, as they cope with “such an unimaginable loss.”
“I want our community to wrap our arms around this family and these children for years to come,” he said.
This undated booking photo provided by the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, shows Michael David McKee, who was charged in the killing of his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband Spencer Tepe at their Columbus, Ohio, home on Dec. 30, 2025. (Winnebago County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Spencer and Monique Tepe's home in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)
This image taken from video shows Michael David McKee walking into the courtroom on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Rockford, Ill. (WIFR News/Pool Photo via AP)
