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Tennessee Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville, D-Nashville) has been having trouble finding words for his precinct this week, leaving three children and three staff members dead Monday The entire city is reeling from the deadliest school shooting in state history.
Freeman faced tragedy as an elected official and as a father. His young daughter attended the same Sunday school class as one of the Covenant School victims.
“What’s the right way to help a child grieve the loss of friends and innocence?” Freeman asked his House colleagues.
“Parents sent their children out on a beautiful spring morning, not knowing that a moment of senseless gun violence would change their lives forever.”
On Thursday morning, more than 1,000 people climbed the steps of the Tennessee State Capitol to the Capitol, crowding the marble rotunda and lining up in the conference room gallery in response to the Covenant shootings. bottom.
With their chants of “Reform Gun Control Now!” blaring, members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol were forced to clear the way for lawmakers and employees to enter the House of Representatives. Gun safety issues before returning to business as usual.
Freeman called for “common sense reforms,” including red flag laws and background checks.
“Our children, teachers and neighbors have been killed by weapons of war legally obtained by someone who should not have been capable of carrying out this kind of violence against our communities.” Freeman said.
Freeman urged his colleagues to listen to the crowd waiting outside the doors of the House.
“They’re out there now. They’re begging us to do something,” Freeman said.
more: Timeline of Covenant school shootings in Nashville: what we know
Senate Speaker Lt. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, said Thursday that he supports the Red Flag Act, in addition to increasing security measures in schools. While House leadership has not promised to support or oppose the gun reforms proposed by its Democratic colleagues, they are prepared to discuss all options for keeping children safe in Tennessee. Said there was.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said, “I’d be happy to put it all on the table and let’s have a conversation.
Young people gather at Capitol to call for gun reform
Sarah Blum, Davern Cigalan, Alexin Stewart, Sullivan Straubel and Harpeth Hall School third graders all huddled in front of the protest. “Our dean said he may be excused from attending to attend here today. “I also feel that the Covenant shooting was something that had a very direct effect on many people in our community. I don’t think it can be done.”
Emotions ran high in the crowd inside the Capitol as protesters passed through a security checkpoint before Thursday morning’s floor session. There was a brief moment of pulling away, but there were no altercations with security and the protesters remained in areas open to the public.
McNally calls for school security changes, supports red flag laws
In a letter to Gov. Bill Lee, McNally called for increased security measures at schools in response to the Covenant shootings. Leadership met with the governor on Wednesday, House leadership said.
“These changes will come at a cost, but I think it’s important that we talk about ways to improve security and modernize schools in Tennessee,” McNally said. Just as we have reduced the amount of fires in our school, we believe we can come up with something similar for school safety.”
McNally said he supports red flag laws, but suggested that not all his colleagues would agree.
“In my opinion, states like Florida that have red flag laws are the ones I support,” McNally said. “If only I had protection from false reports.”
McNally pointed to access to the school by Covenant shooters, who fired through a glass door on the side of the main entrance, calling for the windows and glass to be secured with “bulletproof or resistant” film.
In addition to a “centralized state-of-the-art camera system,” McNally also added magnetic door locks to facilitate first responder access to building doors that may be locked in an emergency. I asked for
The speaker also called for all public and private schools to have armed guards. Public schools in Tennessee now have access to school resource officers.
Democratic House Minority Leader Karen Camper (D-Memphis) said, “There is an opportunity for the vast majority of Republicans to actually do something.”
“People are yelling and yelling at us to do something. We can do it now,” Camper said.
bad temper at home
The House moved to Thursday’s lengthy agenda, even though the crowd continued to chant outside. This included a bill postponed to Monday when lawmakers chose to suspend parliamentary debate hours after the Covenant shootings.
The House floor descended into chaos late in the morning after Sexton repeatedly gavel the public in the gallery and two outspoken freshman Democrats who constantly called on his colleagues to work on gun reform.
“Your work please,” cried one woman from the gallery. “Your hands are bloody. Do your work.”
After butting heads with Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, and Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, Sexton called all leadership to the podium. Pearson and Jones successfully took over the House floor as both Republican and Democratic caucus leaders engaged in heated debates.
Flanked by Rep. Gloria Johnson of the Knoxville Democratic Party, the pair led a gallery in the House of Representatives and began chanting “gun reform now.”
They later walked out of the House floor after a bitter confrontation with their own Democratic leadership. The House has resumed its normal calendar, but Republicans have pushed back some of the incontrovertible Democratic bills.
Pearson and Jones could face potential sanctions for future incidents.
“What’s not good is lawmakers taking over the House and trying to start something within this House. That’s never okay. It’s not about being a member of the General Assembly,” Sexton said. . “In the coming days or weeks, we will handle it appropriately as we move forward.”
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