## Facts

- William Aymette was indicted in Giles County under an 1837–1838 Tennessee statute criminalizing carrying a bowie knife (or similar weapon) concealed under one’s clothes.
- The indictment alleged that on June 26, 1839, Aymette carried a concealed bowie knife and also carried another knife resembling a bowie knife.
- At trial, evidence showed Aymette had quarreled with a man named Hamilton, searched for him at night while threatening him, and had a bowie knife concealed under his vest, which he sometimes drew and displayed.
- A jury found Aymette guilty.
- The trial court denied a motion in arrest of judgment and sentenced Aymette to three months’ jail and a \$200 fine.
- Aymette sought appellate review, arguing the concealed-carry statute violated the Tennessee Constitution’s right-to-arms provision protecting the right to “keep and bear arms for their common defence.”

## Issues

1. Whether Tennessee’s prohibition on carrying concealed bowie knives (and similar weapons) violates the state constitutional right to keep and bear arms “for their common defence.”
2. Whether the constitutional phrase “keep and bear arms” protects carrying concealed weapons for private purposes.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Tennessee affirmed the conviction and upheld the statute.
- The court held that the constitutional right to keep and bear arms “for their common defence” is tied to public, militia-related defense rather than private conflict.
- The court concluded that bowie knives carried concealed are not arms typically used for civilized warfare or ordinary militia equipment and may be prohibited without impairing the constitutional right.

## Legal Principles

- A state constitutional right to “keep and bear arms for their common defence” may be construed as protecting arms and conduct connected to public defense (including militia service), not weapons carried for private offense or private disputes.
- “Bear arms” may be read in a military sense, protecting the bearing of arms ordinarily used in war and as standard military equipment.
- Legislatures may regulate or prohibit the concealed carrying of weapons associated with private violence and not contributing to common defense, so long as regulation does not destroy the protected right related to common defense.
- A distinction may be drawn between openly bearing arms for public defense and carrying weapons concealed for private purposes; a concealed-carry ban may be consistent with a common-defense-focused right to bear arms.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Tennessee’s concealed-weapon statute, holding that the state constitutional right to keep and bear arms “for their common defence” protects militia-type arms and does not extend to carrying concealed bowie knives for private ends.


Aymette v. State, 21 Tenn. 154 (1840)