GOP Governor Pressures Party For Gun Control Legislation
Tennessee Republicans are facing pressure from Governor Bill Lee and other gun control advocates as a special session to pass gun control laws and regulations is convening on Monday.
The impetus for the special session, which Gov. Lee called on April 23rd, 2023, was an attack on a Nashville Christian school in March of the same year. Despite the attack, it has not been made clear whether tighter gun control measures would have actually prevented the attack.
That is because the perpetrator's parents had not even known that their daughter had obtained more firearms after selling the one gun that they knew she had. Furthermore, the perpetrator had no criminal record, having bought the guns legally, and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) had not been aware of her existence previously.
Despite the seeming futility of a red flag law, Governor Lee, along with singers Sheryl Crow and Amy Grant who met with him at the end of the Spring, is pressing the Tennessee GOP to adopt one as part of the gun control measures being considered in the special session.
A Nashville advocacy group known as ‘Keeping Every Vision Alive’ has joined the fold in pressuring the Republican legislators to not only adopt the proposed red flag law but also implement substantive police reform in Nashville.
Speaking to the complexity of the issue at hand, MNPD Chief John Drake commented, "as it stands, [we] had absolutely no idea who…[she] was." This highlights the difficulty legislators are facing as they are being asked to enact gun control measures that are not certain to prevent such tragedies from occurring.
Throughout the process, however, Governor Lee has been adamant that legislative action must be taken. After initially calling the session, the governor tweeted, “this is a serious moment and a serious issue, and we must take meaningful steps to protect our communities and our children from gun violence.”
Tennessee Republicans must now weigh the governor's calls for gun control measures against such realities as a perpetrator whose gun ownership was unknown to her parents, and a police department that had no idea who the perpetrator was, in order to decide the best course of action to take.
For now, it is up to the legislators to decide if they will heed Governor Lee's advice and enact gun control measures, or if the traditionally pro-gun state will remain unchanged in its stance on guns.