(The Center Square) – Memphis is suing the Shelby County Election Commission over a gun control referendum that the council wants placed on the Nov. 5 ballot.
City Council leadership filed the lawsuit Friday morning after the Shelby County Election Commission said that it would follow direction from state leadership and not place the issues on the ballot.
The ballot questions ask about preventing individuals from carrying a handgun without a permit, banning the sale or possession of “assault rifles” in most cases with some exceptions and the addition of extreme risk protection orders, often referred to as red flag laws.
“What they are telling the people of Memphis is they want us dead and they also want us in poverty,” said Memphis council chair J.B. Smiley Jr. “That’s tough for me to tell you because this is a community that I choose to call home every single day.”
Smiley said that 40% of the Memphis budget goes toward law enforcement.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton threatened to withhold shared state sales tax from Memphis if the referendum were on the ballot.
Memphis received $78 million in shared sales tax last budget year, State Affairs reported.
“We won’t back down and we damn sure won’t be bullied,” Smiley said.
Councilwoman Jerri Green added that she has been impacted by gun violence three times in her life, including the murder of her best friend, saying that experiencing that violence so personally leads her to believe she must take action.
“Memphis has been shot and is bleeding out,” Green said.
