Tennessee governor outlines agenda for special session in wake of Nashville school shooting

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Gov. Invoice Lee on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping record of public issues of safety he desires lawmakers to deal with throughout an upcoming particular session prompted by a stunning Nashville college taking pictures earlier this 12 months that resulted within the deaths of three youngsters and three adults.

The proclamation contains 18 totally different subjects the Republican governor desires lawmakers to contemplate, resembling psychological well being, gun storage and college security insurance policies. However notably, it permits lawmakers to debate Lee’s proposal to restrict harmful individuals’s entry to weapons.

“As our nation faces evolving public security threats, Tennessee stays vigilant and is taking continued motion to guard communities whereas preserving the constitutional rights of law-abiding residents,” Lee mentioned in an announcement, including that he has labored with the Normal Meeting to establish “sensible measures to strengthen public security.”

Earlier this 12 months, Tennessee’s GOP-dominated Statehouse refused to contemplate tightening the state’s relaxed gun legal guidelines within the days following a shooter opening fireplace at The Covenant Faculty, a personal elementary college in Nashville. As an alternative, legislative leaders hustled to adjourn and ignored the pleas from distraught households to enact significant change surrounding gun management

Regardless of the Legislature’s preliminary defiance, Lee promised he would convene a particular session and burdened that lawmakers wanted extra time to pay attention and focus on his proposal.

But within the weeks since, Lee has remained mum on whether or not he has sufficient assist for his invoice that may maintain weapons away from individuals deemed prone to pose a menace to themselves or others. Lee has additionally maintained his proposal just isn’t a so-called crimson flag legislation, which he has described as a “poisonous political label meant to attract strains within the sand.”

So far, 19 states have crimson flag legal guidelines on the books — many enacted after tragedies. Florida notably did so after the lethal 2018 mass taking pictures at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty in Parkland. Legislation enforcement officers had obtained quite a few complaints in regards to the 19-year-old gunman’s threatening statements previous to taking pictures and killing 17 college students.

The legal guidelines, which permit courts to challenge “excessive threat safety orders,” are supposed to briefly take away weapons — normally for as much as a 12 months — from individuals displaying indicators of probably violent habits. In lots of instances, members of the family or legislation enforcement should petition a court docket for an order.

GOP leaders and gun rights advocacy teams have inspired Lee to desert the particular session, and others have publicly declared their resistance to supporting any form of gun management measure. Then again, mother and father of scholars at Covenant, gun management advocates and Democratic lawmakers have pushed for firearms restrictions in hopes of stopping one other lethal tragedy. Each side have purchased quite a few ads forward of the particular session, which kicks off Aug. 21.

Shortly after Lee launched the broad proclamation, Democratic leaders pushed again, saying it falls brief.

“For such a broad name, this proclamation someway manages to overlook the goal,” Democratic state Rep. John Ray Clemmons mentioned in an announcement. “Gov. Lee has once more wilted within the face of the legislative supermajority. The winners listed below are particular pursuits and extremist legislators holding our state hostage. The clear losers are Tennessee households and college youngsters.”

The combat this spring over whether or not to vary Tennessee’s gun legal guidelines was additional heightened when Republicans expelled two younger Black lawmakers, each Democrats. Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson have been expelled over a breach of decorum guidelines for his or her protest on the Home ground, the place they referred to as for the GOP to move gun management measures after the college taking pictures. Their white colleague who joined them in protest, Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson, was spared by a single vote. Jones and Pearson have been briefly appointed again to their seats.

After Pearson and Jones received particular elections final week, former U.S. Legal professional Normal Eric Holder despatched a letter Monday to Home Speaker Cameron Sexton on Jones’ behalf in search of affirmation that Jones can be restored to his committee assignments for the particular session. Sexton has beforehand mentioned lawmakers who’re appointed aren’t given committee seats till they’re elected.

In an announcement, Sexton mentioned no committee choices have been made but for the Aug. 21 particular session, saying he’ll announce assignments that week.

Sexton and different legislative leaders added in a separate assertion that they’re wanting ahead to “the chance to strengthen public security and psychological well being assets with out infringing on the rights of law-abiding Tennesseans.”