- Involved in the gun rights movement since 1971
- Involved in passage of the Tennessee carry law
- Blog Knox Gun Guy
- Writes for Ammoland contributor,
About Liston Matthews
Liston Matthews is a Tennessee gun rights writer and grassroots activist known online as the Knox Gun Guy. A military veteran who also worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture before finishing his career in educational administration, he began writing pro-gun letters to the editor in 1971 and has remained active in the movement for more than five decades. He was involved in the passage of Tennessee’s carry law, has testified before local legislative bodies, and was a co-plaintiff in a parks carry lawsuit against the City of Knoxville.
Matthews has chronicled the steady expansion of carry rights in Tennessee, from the shall-issue handgun carry permit law of the early 1990s, through the 2009 parks carry law that allowed local governments to opt out, to the 2015 removal of that opt-out. Tennessee later adopted permitless carry for most adults, signed by Governor Bill Lee on April 8, 2021. Beyond his own blogs, Matthews has written for Examiner.com and contributes to AmmoLand News, where he covers practical carry topics as well as legislative issues. His long record makes him a useful example of how sustained local activism can shape state gun law.
Key Facts
- 1971: Begins writing pro-gun letters to the editor
- Early 1990s: Tennessee adopts a shall-issue handgun carry permit law
- 2009: Tennessee passes parks carry with a local opt-out
- 2015: Local opt-out for parks carry removed
- April 8, 2021: Tennessee permitless carry signed into law
Sources
- AmmoLand: Liston Matthews author page
- Historic Union County: The State of the Gun in Tennessee 2015, by Liston Matthews
- ABC News 4: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Signs Constitutional Carry Bill Into Law
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