Tennessee House passes bill allowing teachers to carry guns –

On April 23, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed a bill authorizing the training teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns on school campuses. HB1202/SB1321 also doesn’t allow parents or other teachers to determine exactly who’s armed. The bill will go to Governor Bill Lee’s desk to be signed into law.

As reported by the Associated Press, the bill passed the Tennessee House by a 68-28 vote, largely along party lines. All but 4 members of the Tennessee Republican House voted in favor of the bill, which didn’t go down well with members of the state Democratic Party or members of the general public who chanted “Blood on your hands” as Republicans voted for the bill.

The bill is a pointy turn from the response to the Covenant School shooting in 2023. After that incident, Governor Lee expressed his desire to keep guns away from individuals who could pose a threat to themselves or others. State Republicans also refused to add a lot of Democratic amendments, including parental consent, notice when a teacher is armed and college district civil liability for injuries, damages or deaths suffered by staff carrying weapons.

Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones told the AP that he thinks Republicans within the state are too attached to money from gun lobbyists. “My Republican colleagues continue to hold our state hostage, holding our state at gunpoint to appeal to their gun industry donors,” said Jones, a Republican. “It’s morally crazy.”

After the vote, the House voted to reprimand Jones for recording on his phone, leading to him barring him from speaking on the ground until April 24. It is value noting that the Republican response to the shooting was not to introduce gun control. This have to be fought, even when the proposal to restrict gun sales got here directly from Governor Lee himself. Shortly after the shooting, Republicans actually passed a bill giving gun manufacturers, dealers and sellers more protections, in addition to allowing teachers in pre-K and kindergarten classrooms to carry handguns on those campuses.

Meanwhile, parents too protested against the potential law in a letter which was presented to Republican Jones by Sarah Shoop Newman, with the support of his adviser. The letter, which collected over 5,300 signatures, expressed concerns that the weapon posed a threat to children. “Anyone who has not received extensive training resembling that provided to law enforcement officers is probably going to be psychologically unprepared to take their very own life, especially the lifetime of a student aggressor.

Such training should include many elements, resembling threat assessment, de-escalation, how to work with students with disabilities, school law, trauma-informed practice and, most significantly, specific responses to an armed attacker. Many of those requirements were specifically rejected within the proposed amendments to SB1325, contrary to the recommendations of NASRO and the FBI.

The letter continues: “We must ensure that every student in every school has adequate protection so that they are truly safe when their parents walk them off each morning, rather than inadequate security measures that could put students and staff at risk. Ultimately, we need preventative measures against gun violence to ensure that no other community in our state experiences the tragedy that occurred at Covenant School on March 27, 2023.”