Last year after the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee Democrats rushed to introduce dozens of what they considered “common-sense” gun-safety bills.

It was April, and House Republican leadership was keen to end the session as fast as possible as national media descended on Nashville to cover the failed expulsion of Democratic state Reps. Justin J. Pearson, Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson.

None of the Democrats’ gun-safety bills were considered in those final days; neither was Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed red-flag law — which no lawmaker agreed to sponsor in the General Assembly. Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced his committee wouldn’t consider any gun bills — reform bills as well as those expanding gun access — for the rest of the session.

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The next opportunity was during the August special legislative session, which Gov. Bill Lee called in order for the General Assembly to pass bills for which it didn’t have time in April. But the scope of that session was narrowed, and gun-safety bills weren’t even allowed to be introduced.

Now a year later, the 2024 session is nearing its end, and most of those post-Covenant gun-safety bills still have not been debated. Many of them have not been scheduled for hearings; others have failed for procedural reasons without debate.

In total, at least 25 gun-reform bills have been stalled or defeated, including at least one sponsored by a Republican. At least two are scheduled to be heard Tuesday, April 16.

Meanwhile, the Senate passed a bill to allow some teachers to carry guns in schools Tuesday, April 9. The House is scheduled to vote on it on Wednesday, April 17.

In limbo

Among the bills are proposals to ban high-capacity magazines and assault rifles, require the safe storage of firearms, repeal the permitless carry law and more. Some are comprehensive while others make narrow changes.

There are several proposals for extreme-risk protection orders, also known as red-flag laws, that give judges the power to confiscate guns from people deemed a danger to themselves or others.

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One of the more limited red-flag proposals, sponsored by Pearson and state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, allows police to petition for protection orders, not giving members of the public the power to ask for such an order. Their bill was referred to the Senate Delayed Bills Committee, which hasn’t acted. It was on the House Civil Justice Subcommittee’s April 2 agenda; the committee did not discuss or vote on it.

Another, sponsored by Sen. Heidi Campbell and Rep. Bob Freeman, both Nashville Democrats, allows law enforcement and at-risk people related by “blood, marriage or adoption” to petition for a protection order. It awaits a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Civil Justice Subcommittee.

Jones and state Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville, are carrying the Protect Kids Not Guns Act that includes a red-flag process, a safe-storage requirement and limits the types of firearms sales not subject to background checks. The bill was referred to the same committees as Campbell’s and Freeman’s red-flag bill and has not been considered.

Jones’ Demilitarization of Police Act, sponsored by state Sen. Sara Kyle, D-Memphis, would require police departments to get permission from local or state lawmakers before buying military-style equipment such as armored vehicles, night-vision scopes and machine guns. It was assigned to the General Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Failed bills

Some have failed without debate.

Gun owners would have to purchase liability insurance under a bill by Pearson and Akbari; their bill failed in the House Insurance Subcommittee March 12.

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Rep. Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville, proposed a ban on assault weapons. It failed April 2 before debate started; it didn’t receive a motion and a second to begin debate.

“I am deeply saddened and angered by the members of this committee’s refusal to at least have an honest discussion of the issue,” Mitchell said in a statement. “I am tired of them crying and praying with victims of gun violence and not even (having) the courtesy to discuss the legislation.”

“Item number 4, House Bill 2195, by Rep. Mitchell,” House Civil Justice Subcommittee Chairman Lowell Russell, R-Vonore, said at the hearing, “do I have a motion? Do I have a motion — going twice? Third and final call for a motion? Bill fails.”

State Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, one of only a handful of House Republicans who support most reform legislation, sponsored a bill that would increase the penalty for stealing guns with low dollar values.

The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee delayed the bill four weeks in a row before voting against it 7-3 April 3.

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His bill was debated in the Criminal Justice Subcommittee before failing by a 7-3 vote.

“I think most people would agree,” Gillespie said at the hearing, “that a gun that’s worth $50 is just as dangerous as a gun that’s worth $100, or $1,000 for that matter.”

What’s next

This week, at least two gun-safety bills are scheduled for hearings.

One, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, prohibits people under 25 years old from possessing guns if they had been adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for committing certain violent offenses, including aggravated assault and the threat of mass violence. He said he chose that age because the brain is not fully developed until around then.

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The House Criminal Justice Committee passed it April 10; it’s scheduled for a hearing in the House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee April 16. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed it April 2; its next step in the Senate is to be scheduled for a final vote.

The same committee is set to hear one of Pearson’s and Akbari’s bills on the same day. Their bill would direct the sales-tax proceeds on guns and gun accessories to mental-health services in schools.

“We are in an epidemic of gun violence, and we have to do everything that we possibly can to ensure that our students and our communities are safer,” Pearson told the House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee March 13. “And when you’re dealing with a problem of epidemic proportions, you need to do everything possible in order to address it.”

The Senate has not taken action on his bill. It was referred to the Senate Delayed Bills Committee in February.