Protesters yelled their anger and created chaotic scenes on the state House floor when the Tennessee legislature passed a contentious law enabling teachers to carry weapons.
Less than a year had elapsed since the Covenant school shooting, in which a former pupil murdered three adults and three children. Democrats and proponents of gun control loudly opposed it, creating a commotion inside the state capitol.
With protest placards in hand, the gallery audience yelled, “Blood. On. Your. Hands.”
State lawmakers, both Republican and Democratic, engaged in heated debate and conversation on the floor while accusing one another of breaching the law.
The Washington Post reports that Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton ejected at least one protestor for being excessively disruptive.
The Washington Examiner contacted Sexton for an answer.
Protesting the bill were House Democrats, a glaring minority in the largely Republican state.
State Representative Bo Mitchell, a Democrat, expressed his indignation over the bill’s passing in light of the Covenant tragedy. “This is how we respond to the murder of instructors and pupils at a school?”We respond by aiming additional firearms at it. What’s the matter with us?
Mitchell apologized to the parents present, straying from the subject at hand, and Sexton once seemed to turn off his microphone.
Democratic state representative Justin Jones, who was swiftly restored after being booted from the House last year for breaking rules, was also there. He participated in a “die-in” demonstration, in which demonstrators feigned death.
“This is the appearance of fascism,” he said in a post on the X Law.
Other proponents of gun control swiftly denounced the legislation.
Everytown for Gun Safety released a statement saying, “RECKLESS: The Tennessee House recently approved a bill that would enable more teachers to carry firearms in schools without telling parents, despite overwhelming community opposition.” A week has passed since the governor of Iowa signed a measure of a similar nature. Tragic school shootings occurred in Tennessee and Iowa, and both states did not take the appropriate action to stop more gun violence and protect children.
It’s chaos in the House as protesters have derailed session.
Representatives all over the floor, Democrats and Republicans going after each other for breaking rules, etc.@WKRN #TNLeg24 pic.twitter.com/3KiPI80q5z
— Chris O’Brien (@THEChrisOB) April 23, 2024
Governor measure We anticipate that Lee (R-TN) will sign the measure. If the highest officials of the school give their approval, then teachers and other staff members are permitted to carry concealed pistols; however, parents, pupils, and other teachers are not permitted to know who is carrying a weapon.
