General Assembly kills red-flag bill days after Lee asked for one
Gov. Bill Lee was surrounded by Republican General Assembly leadership on April 3 when he proposed school safety investments. But days later when he proposed modest regulations to gun access, he stood alone. (Ian Round/The Daily Memphian)
Gov. Bill Lee was surrounded by dozens of the most powerful people in Tennessee when he announced school-safety investments on April 3.
Every top Republican lawmaker, several cabinet members and at least one constitutional officer attended to support Lee’s proposal to direct more than $200 million to security upgrades, add school resource officers and homeland security staff at schools, and more.
The announcement, on the 30th floor of an office tower overlooking the State Capitol, stood in stark contrast to a press conference a week later, when the governor on April 11 called on lawmakers to pass modest regulations on gun access.
That time, he stood alone.
Speaking at the Metro Nashville Police Department precinct that responded to the Covenant School shooting — in front of a sign that said “THANK YOU MNPD” — Lee announced an executive order tightening enforcement of background checks. He said there was a “clear need for action” and urged passage of a bill to keep guns out of the hands of “those who are a danger to themselves or to the population.”
“We can’t stop evil,” he said, “but we can do something.”
Some lawmakers, including House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge), expressed openness to the broad concepts of an “extreme risk protection order” — or red-flag — bill. But they pointed out that Lee didn’t offer any specifics about, for example, who should qualify as dangerous and how long they should lose gun access.
Gun-safety advocates praised Lee, but the Tennessee Firearms Association and at least one House Republican said it was a non-starter.
Then two days later, on Thursday, April 13, a red-flag bill sponsored by Democrats died without receiving a committee hearing.
It appears unlikely that any similar bill will pass this year, since there’s not much time left in the legislative session. After massive protests and intense national media scrutiny, leaders hope to wrap up the session by Saturday, April 22.
Unless they decide to meet in a special session, the Tennessee General Assembly will adjourn until January 2024.
‘We can do both’
The red-flag bill was sponsored by Rep. Bob Freeman and Sen. Heidi Campbell, both Nashville Democrats.
It was part of a package of five gun-safety bills Democrats introduced in the wake of the Covenant School shooting and the subsequent protests.
Freeman said at a press conference that the bill would “allow law enforcement and close family members to see someone in crisis, identify them and allow law enforcement to step in and remove their ability to do harm to themselves or others.”
His bill states that a petition must include an “affidavit made under oath stating the specific statements, actions, or facts that give rise to a reasonable fear of significant dangerous acts by the respondent.”
They filed the bill April 5; on Thursday, April 13, the House Delayed Bills Committee did not approve it.
Lee’s spokeswoman, Jade Byers, emphasized in an email that he wanted lawmakers to come up with a proposal. She did not answer when asked if Lee supported the Democrats’ bill.
Democrats also proposed expanded background checks and bans on bump stocks and high-capacity magazines. They said the state should repeal the 2021 permitless carry law, and should not expand it to 18-year-olds. A bill to expand permitless carry to young adults is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday, April 18.
“Mr. Lee, a Republican governor in a red state, deserves credit for going as far as he did. His ideas may not represent the gold standard. But under the circumstances, bronze is better than nothing.”
Washington Post Editorial Board
The Washington Post Editorial Board applauded Lee’s support of a red-flag law, but said the Democrats’ proposals “are more ambitious and would likely be more effective than those Mr. Lee has presented.”
“Yet Mr. Lee, a Republican governor in a red state, deserves credit for going as far as he did,” the Editorial Board wrote. “His ideas may not represent the gold standard. But under the circumstances, bronze is better than nothing.”
The Tennessee Firearms Association released a statement criticizing Lee, saying red-flag laws violate the Second Amendment and infringe on gun owners’ liberty.
Instead of removing a dangerous person’s access to guns, the association said the state should “remove the person from society by temporarily involuntarily holding them for up to 2 weeks for mental health evaluation and treatment.”
“Governor Lee and the proponents of what he seeks are focused on unconstitutional gun control myths as a means of dealing with a more complicated problem of mental or emotional health,” the statement said.
‘Absolutely a significant step forward’
On the day of the expulsion proceedings against the “Tennessee Three,” lawmakers nearly unanimously passed a school-safety bill.
That bill requires schools to share safety plans and floor plans with local law enforcement and to lock exterior doors. It also requires private schools to match public schools in the completion of safety drills and security guard training.
Classrooms in newly-built schools must be lockable from the inside.
“While it may not be the full solution to the evil and violence that we see out in the world that endangers our children, it is absolutely a significant step forward,” House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) said.
He put it simply in a brief conversation with The Daily Memphian after the expulsions.
“It’s a really good bill,” he said.
Another bill would fund a school resource officer at every school, public and private, and a homeland security officer focused on school safety in every county.
Most Democrats support the school-safety measures, but say they don’t address the root of the problem and must be passed in concert with restrictions on firearm access.
“They’re not mutually exclusive,” Campbell said at a press conference. “We can do both. Obviously.”
“We continue to give aspirin for the cancer,” Rep. Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) said during debate on the school-safety bill, hours before Republicans expelled Reps. Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis) and Justin Jones (D-Nashville), and attempted to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville).
“Let’s cut the cancer out. We know what the problem is. We know it’s weapons of mass killing. It’s AR-15s, it’s AK-47s going into our schools—”
But Mitchell wasn’t speaking specifically about the bill being considered. Sexton cut off his microphone before he could finish.
Topics
permitless carry school safety Bill LeeIan Round
Ian Round is The Daily Memphian’s state government reporter based in Nashville. He came to Tennessee from Maryland, where he reported on local politics for Baltimore Brew. He earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland in December 2019.
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