Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill on Tuesday that would allow school staff to carry concealed handguns on school grounds, sparking protests and outrage from opponents. The Tennessee House cleared the legislation in a 68-28 vote, with four Republicans joining Democrats in opposing the measure. The state Senate, also controlled by the GOP, had passed the bill earlier this month.
The bill's passage comes a year after a shooter opened fire at The Covenant School in Nashville, killing three children and three adults before being killed by police. Despite coordinated campaigns urging significant gun control measures in the wake of the shooting, Tennessee lawmakers have largely refused to implement such changes.
Under the new legislation, faculty and staff members who wish to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds would need to complete a minimum of 40 hours of approved training specific to school policing each year. They would also need to have a handgun carry permit, written authorization from the school's principal and local law enforcement, clear a background check, and undergo the required training.
Protesters chanted "Blood on your hands" at Tennessee House Republicans after the vote, leading House Speaker Cameron Sexton to order the galleries cleared. Democratic lawmakers also expressed their opposition to the bill, with state Rep. Justin Jones accusing his Republican colleagues of holding the state "hostage" and "at gunpoint" to appeal to gun industry donors.
"What you're doing is you're creating a deterrent," argued Republican state Rep. Ryan Williams, the bill's sponsor, before the vote. However, Democratic state Rep. Bo Mitchell pushed back, saying, "This is what we're going to do. This is our reaction to teachers and children being murdered in a school, our reaction is gonna throw more guns at it. What's wrong with us?"
The bill would bar disclosing which employees are carrying guns beyond school administrators and police, including to students' parents and even other teachers. A principal, school district, and law enforcement agency would have to agree to let staff carry guns. The measure also prohibits carrying guns at school events at stadiums, gymnasiums, or auditoriums.
It remains unclear if any school districts would take advantage of the new law if it is signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. A spokesperson for Metro Nashville Public Schools, Sean Braisted, stated that the district believes "it is best and safest for only approved active-duty law enforcement to carry weapons on campus."
According to the Giffords Law Center, a gun control advocacy group, about half of the U.S. states in some form allow teachers or other employees with concealed carry permits to carry guns on school property. Iowa's governor recently signed a similar bill creating a professional permit for trained school employees to carry at schools, protecting them from criminal or civil liability for the use of reasonable force.
The passage of the Tennessee bill marks the biggest expansion of gun access in the state since last year's deadly shooting at The Covenant School. Republican legislators quickly cast aside Gov. Lee's push to keep guns away from people deemed a danger to themselves or others, and have continued to loosen gun laws in the state, including a 2021 permit-less carry law for handguns backed by Lee.
