This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and the Nashville Scene. The Nashville Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news. Over the summer, the Banner sent out a community survey to ask what issues mattered most to readers in this election cycle. Visit nashvillebanner.com for the rest of the Banner’s community-focused series and 2024 voter guide.
Since Tennessee’s last regular legislative election, a school shooting and subsequent furor from voters and elected officials have reshaped the landscape for gun control in the Republican-supermajority state. The reverberations from that shooting could influence state and federal elections in November.
In 2023, a shooter killed three adults and three children at the Covenant School, a small Christian elementary school in Nashville. The shooting spurred an unprecedented outcry of support for some form of gun control legislation in the state, including from elected officials.
Three members of Tennessee’s state House made national news when they protested for gun control on the House floor, and Republican Gov. Bill Lee — whose wife was close friends with one of the adult victims — even forced the legislature into a special session to address gun control.
The state House and Senate adjourned their special session Tuesday after six days of debate and protest
Since then, a majority of Tennessee voters have said they support gun control efforts like strengthening background checks and implementing a so-called red-flag law, which would allow a judge to temporarily seize firearms from someone believed to be an immediate threat to themselves or others.
Groups like Voices for a Safer Tennessee, a nonpartisan advocacy organization formed in the wake of Covenant, have tried to thread that needle to make the most out of some Republicans’ newfound willingness to pass new regulations.
The group, which donated money to both Republican and Democratic candidates in the August primary election, backs laws requiring mandatory background checks and temporary transfer (or red-flag) laws and safe gun storage in vehicles, where most gun thefts occur. The group says it is “committed to collaborating with our state legislature to advance firearm safety policies that also uphold Second Amendment rights.”
Board chair Todd Cruse tells the Nashville Banner that the organization aims to push the same platform in the upcoming session.
“While it is too early to predict specific outcomes for the upcoming session, we are confident that by building on the incremental progress we’ve achieved, we can continue to make meaningful strides toward safer communities,” Cruse says. “We will continue to have a strong presence at the statehouse and will closely monitor any legislation that relates to firearm safety.”
While the immediate aftermath of Covenant showed spikes in concern from even previously reluctant sources, the gains in the highly Republican state were limited due to retaliation from the staunchest supporters of gun rights. Lee’s special session, for example, fell short of delivering any significant gun control policy.
But even opponents of gun restrictions recognize that this year’s state and congressional elections will test whether the state is ready to budge on the perennial issue.
Among them is John Harris, executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, which advocates for “no-compromise” protections of the right to bear arms. Harris says that the state is “absolutely” more likely to pass gun control in the upcoming session than they have been in the past.
“That is a clear and present danger,” Harris says, noting that support from Republicans makes it possible for bipartisan gun regulations to pass. “We were successful — very successful, I think — in defeating Gov. Lee’s true agenda with the red-flag special session, but it took a tremendous amount of effort and money.”
Harris says opponents of gun control will have to rely heavily on the court system to make any headway in loosening restrictions and may also struggle, at least relative to past years, to oppose new regulations, depending on the outcomes of this year’s elections.
“We’ve got a supermajority in both the House and the Senate of Republicans, but there’s not a supermajority of constitutionally focused conservatives,” Harris says.
Key Races
Just as the election will define the future of gun control in Tennessee, the issue will likely determine the outcome of some of the state’s closest races.
No race is more defined by the current gun control argument than District 60, where Democrat Shaundelle Brooks and Republican Chad Bobo are vying for Rep. Darren Jernigan’s vacated seat.
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Brooks, a former parole officer and mother of four, became a relatively prominent gun control advocate at the state level after her 23-year-old son Akilah DaSilva was killed in the 2018 Waffle House shooting in Antioch. Many believe his death could have been prevented with a red-flag law. Unsurprisingly, Brooks’ campaign centers on gun control — supporting red-flag laws, waiting periods, enhanced background checks and a ban on assault weapons.
The seat represents Donelson, Hermitage and part of Old Hickory, a suburban area on the county’s edge and fairly evenly split between Republican and Democratic voters. Beyond being a litmus test for how a politically diverse area may vote, the Jernigan seat is also crucial for Democrats to maintain in the highly Republican House.
Bobo largely has campaigned outside of hot-button partisan issues, focusing on more local topics like housing and infrastructure. But in a questionnaire, he told the Banner he would oppose red-flag laws, mandatory safe storage in vehicles and universal background checks.
“I oppose laws that can deprive lawful citizens of their constitutional rights without due process,” Bobo said when asked about red-flag laws, adding that the state “should prosecute those who steal weapons to the fullest extent of the law, and the theft of property does not make the victim a criminal,” when asked about safe storage.
Some other Republicans — like Jennifer Frensley Webb, who is opposing incumbent Democrat Rep. Bo Mitchell in District 50 — are positioning themselves as more open to certain gun control efforts. In the same questionnaire, Webb, a Metro councilmember, says she would oppose red-flag laws but supports background checks.
“While reassuring the right to bear arms, mandatory background checks are essential for public safety. It is a common-sense measure that supports responsible gun ownership,” Webb wrote.
When you look at the races, candidates fall more predictably along party lines. However, they could still impact the outcome of congressional gun control efforts, since both the U.S. House and Senate are narrowly divided and more or less up for grabs in November’s election.
The three Republican incumbents who represent Nashville in the U.S. House — 5th Congressional District Rep. Andy Ogles, 6th Congressional District Rep. John Rose and 7th Congressional District Rep. Mark Green — have all opposed Democratic efforts to regulate guns and campaign on a promise to protect Second Amendment rights. Green tried to pass a true “constitutional carry” bill three times while in the state Senate, and Ogles says “disarming the people is the most effective way to enslave them” on his campaign website.
The Democrats opposing them, however, are each trying to strike a balance between promising enhanced safety through gun laws and not threatening people’s rights in their messaging.
Local activist will run against Republican Andy Ogles in District 5
Maryam Abolfazli is running against Ogles after becoming an outspoken advocate for gun control at the state level following the Covenant shooting. Abolfazli says she’ll support universal background checks, waiting periods, safe storage laws and regulations for semiautomatic weapons while also acknowledging her support of responsible gun ownership.
Similarly, former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, who’s opposing Green, says she will support universal background checks, temporary transfer laws and safe storage requirements, but promises not to “compromise” Second Amendment rights.
Lore Bergman, an activist running against Rose, also supports red-flag laws and keeping guns “out of the hands of the mentally ill and the addicted” while also advocating for a ban on assault weapons.
Guns are also the central issue for state Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, a Democrat running against incumbent U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn. Johnson, one of the Tennessee Three, was nearly expelled from the state House after protesting for gun control with Reps. Justin J. Pearson and Justin Jones in the wake of the Covenant shooting. While Jones and Pearson were expelled from their seats by their fellow House members — both winning back their positions in a special election — Johnson was spared by one vote.
The national backlash to the expulsions helped gain all three members’ notice within the Democratic party and an abnormal influx of cash for minority members in Tennessee. With her newfound political standing, Johnson hopes to bring her gun control fight to the U.S. Senate, namely supporting red-flag laws. Johnson’s campaign, however, is a longshot in deep-red Tennessee, where no Democrat has been elected statewide since Gov. Phil Bredesen in 2006.
Blackburn, a Trump-backed first-term senator with an A rating from the National Rifle Association, acknowledges preventable gun violence in Tennessee and calls for reforming the mental health care system rather than implementing gun control in her online platform. Moreover, Blackburn says she will “not allow the radical mob to take away our guns.”
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