Pre-trip check · VA → TN
Driving from Virginia to Tennessee?
The law changes the moment you cross the line — what's legal to carry, light, or do in Virginia can be a violation in Tennessee. Every status below is live from LawLert's database, dated, and linked to its official source.
What changes for you (11)
Illegal. Home cultivation is prohibited (felony exposure).
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified May 31, 2026
Tennessee (TCA 39-13-903) makes it a Class C misdemeanor to use a drone to capture an image of a person or private property with intent to conduct surveillance.
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified Jul 7, 2026
Prohibited: no commercial or tribal casinos, card rooms, or racinos. Legal in-person gambling is limited to the state lottery and certain charitable raffles.
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified May 31, 2026
The general state sales tax rate is 7%. Each county and/or city adds a local option sales tax on top (commonly up to 2.75%), so combined rates run about 9% to 9.75%.
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified Jul 18, 2026
Package/liquor stores: spirits & wine Mon–Sat 8am–11pm; Sunday spirits/wine sales 10am–11pm only where locally approved. Grocery/convenience: beer 7 days; wine allowed Sun 10am–11pm.
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified May 31, 2026
No permit needed; a loaded handgun may be carried/kept anywhere in a privately owned vehicle by a person not prohibited.
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified May 31, 2026
Where not locally banned, full consumer 1.4G fireworks are allowed — including aerials, firecrackers, Roman candles, fountains and sparklers — if State Fire Marshal–approved.
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified May 31, 2026
Tennessee preempts local knife regulation: state law occupies the field on the transfer, ownership, possession and transportation of knives, and no city, county or metropolitan government may regulate it (T.C.A.…
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified Jul 30, 2026
Tennessee requires only a rear plate: the passenger-vehicle plate is attached to the rear, and no front plate is required (TCA 55-4-110).
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified Aug 3, 2026
Campfires are generally allowed without a state debris-burn permit, but a state or county burn ban (proclaimed by the Commissioner of Agriculture or Governor) prohibits all open-air burning including campfires and…
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified Jun 18, 2026
Sunday hunting is permitted statewide in Tennessee; no day-of-week restriction for deer, turkey or other game species.
Full Tennessee rule · Official source · verified Jun 18, 2026
Same status
Matching status ≠ identical law — details, limits and penalties can still differ.
Carrying with a permit? Whether Virginia permits are honored in Tennessee is its own map — check Tennessee concealed-carry reciprocity. And federal land (national parks, forests) plays by federal rules in both states — see the federal-land guide.
Also from Virginia: VA → DC · VA → KY · VA → MD · VA → NC · VA → WV · reverse (TN → VA)
Virginia to Tennessee: common questions
- Do the laws change when you drive from Virginia to Tennessee?
- Yes — 11 of the 13 categories LawLert tracks have a different status in Tennessee than in Virginia: cannabis, drones, gambling, taxes, alcohol, firearms, fireworks, knives, driving, burn bans, hunting. Each is listed on this page with its current status, the official source it came from, and the date it was last verified.
- What are the cannabis laws in Tennessee if I'm coming from Virginia?
- Tennessee: Restricted — Illegal. Home cultivation is prohibited (felony exposure). In Virginia the same category is Conditional.
- What are the drones laws in Tennessee if I'm coming from Virginia?
- Tennessee: Restricted — Tennessee (TCA 39-13-903) makes it a Class C misdemeanor to use a drone to capture an image of a person or private property with intent to conduct surveillance. In Virginia the same category is Conditional.
- What are the gambling laws in Tennessee if I'm coming from Virginia?
- Tennessee: Restricted — Prohibited: no commercial or tribal casinos, card rooms, or racinos. Legal in-person gambling is limited to the state lottery and certain charitable raffles. In Virginia the same category is Permitted.
- Is my Virginia concealed carry permit honored in Tennessee?
- Permit reciprocity is decided separately from the firearms status shown on this page, so it is not answered here. LawLert publishes Tennessee's recognition list, with the statute or agency page behind it, at lawlertapp.com/firearms/TN/reciprocity. Permitless carry, where a state allows it, is a different question again — it does not make an out-of-state permit valid.
- How current is this Virginia to Tennessee comparison?
- Every rule on this page stores the date it was last checked against its source; the oldest on this comparison is 2026-05-31. LawLert carries 6,693 rules, each with a source URL, and publishes a log of every correction it has made at lawlertapp.com/how-we-verify. Laws change — confirm anything consequential against the linked source.