Passage of the previously approved bill in the state Senate comes amid ongoing gun and school safety issues in the state, with the Republican supermajority once again at odds with parents lobbying for gun control measures. brought a new moment of confusion to the debate.
“Is this our response to the murder of students and teachers in our schools?” said state Rep. Bo Mitchell (D). “Our response is to throw in more guns. What happened to us?”
Promoting arming of school staff This is one of the most far-reaching gun control measures the state has taken since the Covenant school shooting in March 2023, when a former student killed three students and three adults. Lawmakers have not passed any substantive restrictions on gun use since the killings. They passed other measures, such as mandating resource officers, which they say will strengthen school safety.
The Nashville tragedy sparked massive protests by Tennessee parents and ignited one of the most heated debates in recent years over gun policy in the red state, one that ended with the ouster of two Black Democratic congressmen. , and drew Republican women to gun control. Activism. Since then, tensions have repeatedly escalated at the state Capitol.
Senate leaders ejected a group of parents and supporters from their seats who had protested before the April 9 vote. Moms Demand Action estimates that on April 15, about 250 Nashville high school students marched to the Capitol after class.
As lawmakers voted Tuesday, demonstrators chanted “blood on our hands” and “vote,” creating a chaotic situation and demanding that state troopers leave the gallery. One of the members expelled last year, Democratic Rep. Justin Jones, was arrested by his colleagues for filming him with a cellphone on the floor.
Lawmakers from both parties told The Washington Post they expect Gov. Bill Lee (R) to sign the bill. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Lee’s plans for the bill.
Under the law, the identities of school employees who register to carry guns are known only to those who approve the participants. This means that parents will not know if their school has participated in the program. Lawmakers say things like whether someone on your child’s campus has a weapon or whether your child’s teacher has a gun in the classroom. Parents also don’t know if their child’s teacher will leave the classroom to respond to gunfire during the attack.
Republican Sen. Paul Bailey, who introduced the bill in the Senate, said the confidentiality clause “relates to the element of surprise” in response to questions from Democrats before the chamber voted on it. According to the Giffords Law Center, which tracks firearms laws, many states allow teachers to carry guns under certain qualifications, but only four states have similar provisions.
State Republicans argued that arming staff would deter shooters and provide schools with trained and authorized individuals who could quickly respond to attacks. They predicted that some schools would use the law, perhaps in rural areas with fewer police resources, but that school districts that disliked the law might ignore it.
“This bill serves as another line of defense that could potentially ward off school intruders,” Bailey said in an interview before the House passed the bill.
The House voted 68-28 to reject various amendments proposed by Democrats and after repeatedly warning the audience in the gallery to be quiet.
Critics said the bill, passed a month after the killing, ignores the views of teachers and parents who don’t want guns in schools. They accused the Republican supermajority of favoring the measure over strict firearms laws, which polls show a majority of Tennesseans support.
those opponents Not only did they object to the idea of arming teachers, arguing that it posed risks to the classroom and created conditions prone to accidents and misuse, but they also objected to the specifics of the measure. They argue that in a state with some of the loosest gun laws and the highest rate of gun violence, the most effective way to prevent more mass shootings is to limit, not increase, the number of guns on campuses. .
“Teachers aren’t in this profession to learn how to shoot a gun or to confront and possibly kill former students,” said former teacher and volunteer with Moms Demand Action. said Kathy Barnett, who was in the gallery during the rally. House and Senate proceedings. “I didn’t become a teacher to shoot people.”
The Covenant shooting changed Tennessee’s gun policy forever. This comes as some conservatives have called for new firearms regulations in states that have historically been reluctant to pass them. After signing an executive order to strengthen background checks, Lee broke with Republican lawmakers who called for a red flag law and ordered Congress to convene a special session on public safety.
Member of Parliament He refused to enact important legislation, ignored proposals to remove guns from mentally unstable individuals, and passed more progressive measures.
The supermajority leaves in place proposals that would require gun owners to keep their firearms locked up and increase penalties for adults if a child accesses a gun and injures or kills someone. Lawmakers approved a measure that would largely exempt gun manufacturers from gun-related crimes and require states to track firearm deaths and injuries.
A proposal to arm teachers was floated last year but stalled until this month. Although laws vary widely, the majority of states allow teachers to carry guns, usually with permission from the school district. The Giffords Law Center said it’s unclear how many teachers will participate.
Under Tennessee’s bill, school employees would only be allowed to carry handguns in schools where top administrators have given their consent. Teachers who want to do so must obtain a gun license, undergo background checks and mental health evaluations, and undergo 40 hours of training a year.
If something goes wrong, the people who owned the guns would be held responsible. Under the law, school districts and law enforcement would be immune from related claims for monetary damages even if a teacher intentionally shoots or a student is accidentally shot.
J.C. Bowman, executive director of the Tennessee Association of Professional Educators, said his statewide professional association views the bill as ill-conceived. He planned to encourage members not to carry guns due to liability concerns. He predicted that educators may shy away from it.
“School boards across the state will say no to that,” he says. “There are a lot of things that could go wrong.”
The bill does not provide a framework for states to track how many teachers are armed and where, establish procedures for responding to teacher-involved shootings, or establish gun storage requirements. Not yet. Democrats also questioned whether the training was enough to train teachers to confront a gunman with a semi-automatic rifle.
Senate sponsor Mr. Bailey said the charge would ensure that only staff who are prepared to take on that responsibility are held accountable. That would apply.he said, he There was no estimate for How many teachers or districts could there be? participate.
“The odds are very low, even one in 10. [of teachers] We will,” House sponsor Rep. Ryan Williams (R) said during a floor debate Tuesday.
Barbara Sloan, a 21-year-old aspiring teacher, disagreed. Bringing guns to school only increases the risk, said the Vanderbilt junior and volunteer with the gun control group Students Demand Action.
Sloan, who works in a second-grade classroom as part of her studies, said she would be reluctant to continue pursuing her career if school staff were armed.
“We are all tired of having people see us as more than human shields,” she said.
