---
type: "Bill"
title: "Education, Higher - As enacted, enacts the \"Laken Riley Act of 2024,\" which generally prohibits a public institution of higher education from prohibiting adults lawfully present on the institution's property from carrying a non-lethal weapon for purposes of self-defense; allows certain exceptions. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 49."
description: "Education, Higher - As enacted, enacts the \"Laken Riley Act of 2024,\" which generally prohibits a public institution of higher education from prohibiting adults lawfully present on the institution's property from carrying a non-lethal weapon for purposes of self-defense; allows certain exceptions. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 49."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "113"
identifier: "HB 1909"
citation: "Tennessee HB 1909 (113)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education", "Higher"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bulso"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 35
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2024-01-22"
last_action: "2024-05-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f51453cd-795c-4ede-8be5-00e85a199131"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB1909&GA=113"
source_hash: "3ddd0c07c62b9138d66fae7959a3dff685ca35f1c81cdea1bf2b566c0d5bb507"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee HB 1909 (113) — Education, Higher - As enacted, enacts the "Laken Riley Act of 2024," which generally prohibits a public institution of higher education from prohibiting adults lawfully present on the institution's property from carrying a non-lethal weapon for purposes of self-defense; allows certain exceptions. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 49.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Amendment HA0553** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/HA0553.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0748** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/SA0748.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Bill/HB1909.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/4/2024 2/29/2024 (4) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Criminal Justice Committee 2/13/2024 (5) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/4/2024 Passed (2) — **78–17** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: MESSAGE CALENDAR CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENT # 1 4/4/2024 Passed (1) — **88–4** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Education Administration 2/20/2024 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 2/28/2024 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PREVIOUS QUESTION AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/4/2024 Passed (3) — **71–23** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/28/2024 Passed (1) — **26–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bulso — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-01-22** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2024-01-24** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2024-01-24** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2024-01-25** P2C, ref. to Criminal Justice Committee - Education Administration Committee `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-30** Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-31** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/6/2024
- **2024-02-06** Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 2/13/2024
- **2024-02-07** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/13/2024
- **2024-02-13** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-14** Placed on cal. Criminal Justice Committee for 2/20/2024
- **2024-02-20** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Education Administration `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-21** Placed on cal. Education Administration for 2/28/2024
- **2024-02-28** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 2/29/2024
- **2024-02-28** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-28** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2024-02-29** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2024-02-29** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/4/2024
- **2024-03-04** Passed H., as am., Ayes 78, Nays 17, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2024-03-04** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0553) `amendment-passage`
- **2024-03-04** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2024-03-05** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen. `receipt`
- **2024-03-07** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2024-03-28** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 26, Nays 2 `passage`
- **2024-03-28** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0748)
- **2024-03-28** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill. `substitution`
- **2024-04-01** H. Placed on Message Calendar for 4/4/2024
- **2024-04-04** H. concurred in S. am. no. 1 Ayes 88, Nays 4 PNV 0 HB1909
- **2024-04-04** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2024-04-05** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker. `enrolled`
- **2024-04-10** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2024-04-10** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2024-04-11** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-23** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2024-05-01** Effective date(s) 07/01/2024
- **2024-05-01** Pub. Ch. 791

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f51453cd-795c-4ede-8be5-00e85a199131`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).