(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class D felony2 to 12 yearsup to $5,000
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 39-17-314

  • Bodily injury: includes a cut, abrasion, bruise, burn or disfigurement, and physical pain or temporary illness or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Force: means compulsion by the use of physical power or violence and shall be broadly construed to accomplish the purposes of this title. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Government: means the state or any political subdivision of the state, and includes any branch or agency of the state, a county, municipality or other political subdivision. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Law enforcement officer: includes a sheriff, sheriff's deputy, and, only for purposes of the enhancement of a crime, a deputy jailer. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Person: includes the singular and the plural and means and includes any individual, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency, or other organization or other legal entity, or any agent or servant thereof. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Property: means anything of value, including, but not limited to, money, real estate, tangible or intangible personal property, including anything severed from land, library material, contract rights, choses-in-action, interests in or claims to wealth, credit, admission or transportation tickets, captured or domestic animals, food and drink, electric or other power. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) “Civil disorder” means any public disturbance involving acts of violence by an assemblage of two (2) or more persons which acts cause an immediate danger of or result in damage or injury to the property or person of any other individual;
(2) “Governmental military force” means the:

(A) National guard as defined in 10 U.S.C. § 101(9);
(B) Organized militia of any state or territory of the United States, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia, not included within the definition of “national guard”; and
(C) Armed forces of the United States; and
(3) “Law enforcement agency” means a governmental unit of one (1) or more persons employed full time or part time by the state or federal government, or political subdivision of the state or federal government, for the purpose of preventing and detecting crime and enforcing laws or local ordinances and the employees of which are authorized to make arrests for crimes while acting within the scope of their authority.
(b) A person commits an offense who assembles with one (1) or more persons for the purpose of training or instructing in the use of, or practicing with, any technique or means capable of causing property damage, bodily injury or death with the intent to employ such training, instruction or practice in the commission of a civil disorder.
(c) A violation of this section is a Class D felony.
(d)

(1) Nothing contained in this section makes unlawful any act protected by the constitution of Tennessee, or any act of a law enforcement officer that is performed in the lawful performance of the officer’s official duties.
(2) Nothing contained in this section makes unlawful:

(A) Any activity of a governmental military force, the Tennessee wildlife resources agency, the department of correction or any law enforcement agency;
(B) Any activity intended to teach or practice self-defense or self-defense techniques, such as karate clubs or self-defense clinics, and similar lawful activity;
(C) Any facility, program or lawful activity related to firearms instruction and training intended to teach the safe handling and use of firearms; or
(D) Any other lawful sports or activities related to the individual recreational use or possession of firearms, including, but not limited to, hunting activities, target shooting, self-defense, firearms collection or any organized activity, including, but not limited to, any hunting club, rifle club, rifle range or shooting range that does not include a conspiracy as defined under the laws of this state, or the knowledge of or the intent to cause or further a civil disorder.
(e) Nothing contained in this section makes unlawful any practice or drill of an organization whose purpose is the reenactment of battles for historic purposes or of ceremonial organizations of a military nature.
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