NASHVILLE — Legislation that would amend Tennessee's constitution to guarantee residents here the right to hunt took another step forward in the General Assembly yesterday.

By an 89-1 vote, the State House accepted a Senate amendment to the legislation, marking the second time this year that the House has approved the legislation.

Yesterday's vote followed three readings of the legislation before the House. Last month, the amended legislation passed the Senate with an unanimous 28-0 vote.

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As amended, the legislation reads, "The citizens of this state shall have the personal right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. The recognition of this right does not abrogate any private or public property rights, nor does it limit the state's power to regulate commercial activity. Traditional manners and means may be used to take non-threatened species."

The original legislation read, "The citizens of this state have a right to hunt, fish, and harvest game and fish, subject to regulations and restrictions authorized by this constitution and prescribed by law. When reviewing such regulations and restrictions, a state court shall utilize a rational basis standard, as the standard has been defined by state courts through case law. This section shall not be construed to abrogate any private property rights, the state's sovereignty over game and fish, or regulation of commercial activities."

The lone dissenting vote in the House yesterday came from Janis Baird Sontany [D - Nashville]. Rob Briley [D - Nashville], Jeanne Richardson [D - Memphis] and Larry Turner [D - Memphis] were present but did not vote.

With the exception of Turner, who did not vote the last time the House considered the legislation, all those legislators had voted in support of the resolution the last time around.

Since that time, Sontany has signed on as a co-sponsor to legislation that would abolish the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and place Tennessee's wildlife management under the governship of the Department of Environment & Conservation.

Sontany has long been under fire from the Tennessee Firearms Association for various votes that are unfavorable to gunowners.

The next step for the potential constitutional amendment — which has been lobbied for by the Tennessee Wildlife Federation and the National Rifle Association — will be to re-appear before the General Assembly in its next session (early 2009). There, the bill must pass both the House and Senate by a two-thirds majority vote. If it is successful on those votes, as expected, it would next go before voters on the statewide ballot, which could happen as quickly as 2010.