Attention on the Tennessee General Assembly erupted like a fire hydrant in spring 2023. The Capitol grounds became a bustling forum where grief and protest collided in the days and weeks following the Covenant School shooting, which left three children and three adults — as well as the shooter — dead. National media joined local journalists in filing daily reports.
It was the rare political moment when elected officials — in this case a Republican supermajority capping a decade’s worth of expansive and permissive gun laws — appeared legitimately sympathetic to opposing points of view, in this case students, parents and citizens concerned about more school massacres and preventable shooting deaths in general. The broader parental coalition active in post-Covenant gun reform advocacy included actual parents of children who had survived the Covenant School shooting, offering crucial tragic and strategic moral high ground.
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But the legislative changes that many showed up for, including red-flag laws and universal background checks, did not happen, either during the 2023 legislative session, during the August 2023 special session on public safety convened by Gov. Bill Lee, or during the 2024 legislative session. Certain gun-related bills made it through in 2024, including Jillian’s Law — legislation that facilitates firearm dispossession for individuals deemed mentally incompetent by a court — which was named after a Belmont student who was shot and killed in 2023. The chambers also passed bills loosening gun regulation.
“How did we come from a tragedy like Covenant to this point?” asked Claire Jones, a nurse and gun reform advocate who watched from the gallery as lawmakers passed a bill permitting teachers to carry firearms in school, as reported by Chalkbeat.
In April, Tennessee state troopers removed Moms Demand Action volunteer Linda McFadyen-Ketchum from the Senate gallery during a rowdy floor discussion over legislation related to guns in schools. After more than a decade advocating for gun reform in Tennessee, McFadyen-Ketchum has reduced her volunteering commitment with Moms, she tells the Scene.
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In the 22 months since March 2023, other changes have taken place. The mass activism that drew in so many people has been harnessed into traditional partisan campaigns, tax-exempt nonprofits and sharper politicization against the GOP supermajority.
The Covenant School shooting and its aftermath elevated and transformed a tight-knit crop of individuals, the most vocal figures organizing protests and speaking publicly, several of whom ran on the Democratic ticket as first-time candidates for elected office in November. Jones lost to Republican Gino Bulso in Tennessee state House District 61, Maryam Abolfazli lost to incumbent Rep. Andy Ogles in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, and Shaundelle Brooks narrowly won Tennessee state House District 60, a suburban chunk of Nashville stretching east to the Wilson County line. Covenant parents Sarah Shoop Neumann, Melissa Alexander and Mary Joyce became widely quoted political subjects for their committed campaign trying to get through to GOP lawmakers at the state legislature. All featured prominently in Meribah Knight’s Supermajority, the NPR and WPLN production that chronicles their steely resolve and political disillusionment during the 2024 Tennessee legislative session.
At least three nonprofits emerged in the past 18 months that explicitly credit their origins to post-Covenant organizing. Covenant Families for Brighter Tomorrows and Covenant Families Action Fund were launched directly by parents at the school in July 2023. Besides an expired web domain and an IRS determination letter issued Sept. 27 to Neumann, little remains of the organizations, which were set up to promote mental health support, particularly for the impact and prevention of school shootings.
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Abolfazli’s Rise & Shine formed around the same time.
“After the immense activism that was unleashed during the last legislative session, so many parents, students, and artists reached out who want to do more to prevent gun violence,” the group explained in its initial Instagram post in May 2023. “To harness this energy, Rise & Shine TN was born.”
The group’s mission focuses on “civic engagement so every Tennessean can be safe, live free, and have a chance to thrive.” This session, the group will focus on gun reform and opposing the divisive school voucher push from the governor’s office, Abolfazli tells the Scene. In a Jan. 13 email — on the eve of Tennessee’s 2025 session gaveling in — Abolfazli indicates that the group will engage with “specific committees on specific issues” ahead of more “decisive” moments in March and April.
Voices for a Safer Tennessee has built out a small staff headed by longtime political fixture Claudia Huskey and policy director Erin Rogus, a Republican-aligned legislative aide most recently with former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist. Registered as a 501(c)(4), the group, which has adopted the shorthand “Safer Tennessee,” can legally lobby and has hired firms JohnsonPossKirby and Bivens & Associates. It has positioned itself as the gun reform movement’s big tent — a coalition-building peacemaker searching for politically feasible alignment between Republicans and Democrats.
More than 80 percent of the organization’s $60,000 political donations went to state Republicans last cycle, piquing gun reform advocates whose efforts have repeatedly been blocked by the same politicians. Frist sits on the group’s advisory board, and Katy Dieckhaus — whose daughter Evelyn was killed in the Covenant School shooting — serves on its board of directors.
“Safer TN brings together Republicans, Democrats, and Independents united by a shared goal: saving lives,” says communications director Jessica Jaglois in a statement sent to the Scene. “Our members include parents, grandparents, teachers, hunters, doctors, business leaders, veterans, nurses, music industry professionals, and many others, all committed to reducing preventable firearm tragedies.”
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The organization hosted a “Legislative Learning Session” panel at the Thomas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University on Jan. 9, featuring former legislators Sam Whitson (a Republican) and Lowe Finney (a Democrat). They spent the time explaining that the legislative process was convoluted and frustrating; working it to your favor requires commitment, persistence, time and etiquette.
“ Invite your legislators to come out and see something so that they can actually get an idea of exactly what it is you’re dealing with — and don’t quit there,” said Finney. “ Stay in contact with them. Write the note, make the phone call. Don’t assume that one email and one phone call is going to get the job done”
“ Advocating 24/7, 12 months out of the year is very important,” Whitson added. “Lobbying and staying in contact with the legislature.”
Tennessee’s 2025 legislative session begins this week. So far, just a handful of bills have been filed that mention firearms. Nashville’s Democratic Sen. Heidi Campbell is carrying MaKayla’s Law, a bill that holds adults liable if their gun is used by children to harm themselves or others.
“We’ve run it for three years,” Campbell tells the Scene. “Last year, it got to committee, which was a big deal for a Democrat. [Republican Sen.] Paul Rose [of Covington] voted for it. Every time I run it, people say, ‘Actually, that’s very reasonable.’ Then they vote against it.”
Another bill outlaws gun transfers to a person known to be prohibited from possessing a firearm. Pursuing expanded background checks, red-flag laws and laws controlling assault rifle ownership is not feasible, says Campbell — not even worth introducing.
“I just wanted to run legislation that has a chance of passing,” says Campbell. “We’re focusing mainly on liability. That’s something that’s bipartisan. I’m hopeful we can move forward at least with some liability-related legislation. This is a time, because of the political climate, for us to look at trying to find compromise. To work with each other to see if there’s something we can agree on.”
