Tennessee lawmakers pass bill that would allow teachers to carry guns in schools

Tennessee legislators approved a measure that would allow school staff to carry concealed firearms on school grounds, sending the bill to the governor a year after a shooter opened fire and killed six people at a Nashville school.

In March 2023, a mass shooting occurred at Covenant Christian School in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, where six people were killed in addition to the perpetrator, Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

More than a year after that tragic moment, the Tennessee House of Representatives approved the legislation in a vote of 68 to 28. Four Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the measure.

Republican state Rep. Ryan Williams said Tuesday thatThe bill would strengthen school safety.

“I think this is one method by which we can achieve that, because what we are doing is creating a deterrent,” he said on the House floor.

According to the legislation, Faculty and staff members who wish to carry a concealed weapon on school grounds would be required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of training approved specifically for school surveillance each year.

However, students’ parents and most other school employees would not be notified.

The bill, previously passed by the state Senate, will now go to Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, for his signature.

Lee can veto it, sign it or wait 10 days, after which it would become law.

The measure has come under fire from many Democratic and some Republican politicians.

Democratic state Rep. Bo Mitchell rejected the measure, referring to last year’s Covenant school shooting in Nashville.

“This is what we are going to do. This is our reaction to the murder of teachers and children in a school, our reaction will be to throw more weapons at them. What’s happening to us?” Mitchell said on the House floor.

For his part, Democratic state senator London Lamar said, “I ask you not to put the lives of our children at risk by putting more and more guns in schools.”

For his part, Republican state senator Ken Yager pointed out that this measure does not seek to “shoot a student, but to protect him from an active shooter whose sole purpose is to enter that school and kill people.”

Other states across the country have taken similar measures after experiencing school shootings with multiple victims.

That is to say, Tennessee is not the only state that passed legislation allowing teachers to carry weapons. According to the Giffords Law Center, a gun violence prevention group, at least 26 states have laws allowing teachers or other school employees to possess guns on school grounds, with some exceptions.

Keep reading:
• Nashville shooting: Highland Park survivor reacts to reporters
• Nashville shooting: Who is Audrey Hale, alleged perpetrator of the attack at The Covenant School?
• Nashville police reveal video of how they subdued a school shooter where 3 children and 3 adults died