First Week of Special Session Brings Political Games, Little Action

Nearly five months after three students and three staff members were killed by a shooter at Nashville’s Covenant School, Gov. Bill Lee called a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly, ostensibly designed to pass legislation related to gun reform. But in its first week, the legislature — controlled by Lee’s fellow Republicans — instead opted to play political games, even as physicians, faith leaders, members of the Covenant School community and others from across the state advocate for stricter gun laws.

As of this writing, Lee has not been visible at the Capitol during its proceedings. While the legislature was convened for its regular session at the time of the shooting in March, and passed legislation bolstering school safety, the body didn’t pass anything addressing the greater issue of gun violence — even as thousands of people showed up at the Capitol advocating for reform.

Guns are a leading cause of death for youth across the country and in Tennessee. According to Tennessee Under the Gun, an information hub created by the Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus, at least 506 shooting incidents resulted in the deaths of 196 adults and 25 children between April 21 — when the regular legislative session ended — and Aug. 28.

There is widespread demand to roll back the lax gun laws that legislators have passed in recent years, some of which were initially opposed by law enforcement agencies. The Covenant School shooter was armed with legally purchased weapons including an assault-style rifle. Gov. Lee called for legislation enacting extreme-risk protection orders, which would temporarily remove guns from people experiencing a crisis, but his fellow Republicans have not taken up any legislation related to ERPOs. Instead, they’ve focused on bills related to mental health and the reality of mass shootings without handling any legislation related to access to guns.

At the start of the session, a petition signed by more than 1,000 Tennessee physicians was delivered to lawmakers, reading: “Solutions which only address mental health and school security will not impact the safety of our school children as thoroughly and as expediently as banning assault-style weapons of mass casualty and implementing red flag laws immediately.” 

Within the first week, the Senate all but wrapped its proceedings by passing four pieces of legislation and declining to consider much else. One bill encourages but does not require safer gun storage. Other bills require the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to submit a report on human trafficking and shorten the window during which courts must report criminal proceedings to the TBI for background checks. The Senate also allocated money to provide more school safety grants, provide bonuses for state mental health professionals and fund a public behavioral health scholarship program.

The House considered more bills than the Senate, and House leaders have criticized the Senate for its inaction. 

“We are now caught in the middle of a cold war between the House and the Senate at the cost of our family’s dignity,” said Covenant parent Sarah Shoop Neumann at a Monday press conference.

Surrounding the already tense legislative affairs are controversial new rules that limit the public’s access to attend and protest at the session. The tunnel connecting the Cordell Hull Building to the Capitol has been closed 30 minutes before and after each session, and the lobby outside House and Senate chambers has been heavily cordoned off. House representatives who cause “material disruptions” or “fail to strictly conform to the question” can be prevented from speaking for the remainder of the session. Furthermore, the House attempted to set a rule preventing spectators from holding signs — though that was later blocked by a Davidson County judge. The litigation came after protesters were removed from a House committee meeting for holding signs. Shortly after they were removed, the room — where Covenant parents were present and planning to testify — was cleared because audience members applauded the failure of a bill. On Monday, House leaders directed troopers to clear members of the audience due to reported disruptions. House Republicans also voted to silence Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville), whose fellow Democrats soon left the chamber in protest.

Covenant School parents representing the Covenant Families Action Fund (which is not affiliated with the Covenant School itself) were front-and-center throughout the week, viewing the proceedings, holding press conferences and testifying about what happened to their children on the day of the shooting.

The Scruggs family, whose daughter Hallie was among the victims on March 27, urged lawmakers via a statement not to allow the autopsy reports of children to be made public. A statement read on behalf of Erin Kinney, parent of victim William Kinney, advocated for the passage of a law that would require schools to differentiate emergency alarms. 

“He was fulfilling his duty to lead his class to safety from a possible fire, and within seconds of the building being breached, his class encountered the shooter and he and two of his classmates were lying dead,” read Kinney’s statement. “Had the students or teachers known there was a shooter in the building, they would not have attempted to evacuate their classroom.”

“While we did feel the support of some, we were also mansplained, interrogated, silenced, kicked out of meetings and insulted,” said Covenant parent Melissa Alexander.

“In the last five months, we have been galvanized to advocate on behalf of all children and families in Tennessee,” said Covenant parent Becky Hansen. “We have done so with the hopes of real change that would help us from these senseless and fully preventable acts of gun violence. Unfortunately, as we stand here today, we see that many of our elected leaders, particularly in the Senate, have done nothing other than prove they are incapable of the job they have been called to do.”