Agricenter will no longer hold gun shows, Commissioner Sawyer withdraws resolution

Micaela A Watts | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer withdrew a resolution that sought to ban gun shows from being held on county property, after the Agricenter International voluntarily imposed their own ban.

Gun shows have been a decades-long occurrence at the Agricenter.

The Agricenter's president, John Butler, decided several months back they would not renew the contract with the vendors, according to a spokesperson for the county-owned facility.

Sawyer announced the withdrawal of the resolution Friday, and said it was no longer necessary after Butler agreed to extend the ban on gun shows at the Agricenter in perpetuity with the decision to not renew a contract with R.K. Shows Inc.

Sawyer told The Commercial Appeal the resolution was meant to curb the number of guns coming into Memphis.

"Before being elected to the commission, I was asked repeatedly if I cared about the gun violence in my own community, and the answer is, well, of course I do," said Sawyer, who is the district representative for areas in Midtown and Binghampton.

Sawyer also said that should the Agricenter's commitment change, she will recall the resolution withdrawal and continue to push for gun shows to stay off county properties.

"One of the things that ties into gun violence is gun culture, and as a county with the highest homicide rate and the highest youth homicide rate, this is something that we need to tackle," Sawyer said. "I don't think gun shows align with our push to eliminate gun violence."

The decision follows a growing trend set by Nashville and Knoxville.

Nashville halted gun shows at the city's fairgrounds in 2017. Knoxville's city council, in agreement with their mayor, also decided to ban gun shows from city property in May.

In Tennessee, state law does not require private vendors operating in a gun show to have a license to sell guns. Because private vendors are not licensed, they do not have to run background checks on customers.

The loose regulations on private weapons dealers is what's known as the "gun show loophole."