Tennessee GOP closes out legislative session early without addressing gun reform

The Tennessee General Assembly concluded its legislative session on Monday without addressing the highly publicized calls for gun reform following yet another school shooting where six people were killed (including three children) in late March.

After the shooting at Covenant Middle School in Nashville on March 27, three Democratic state representatives protested on the House floor days later in support of gun reform that the GOP has never really considered passing. In addition to two of the three representatives getting expelled by the Republican supermajority in the House and later being reinstated, hundreds of protesters have been gathering to voice their opinions on gun reform in the last month.

Despite these calls, the Republican-controlled legislature gaveled out of their three-month session early without passing a gun reform bill. The body did pass Senate Bill 1400, a law to implement armed “school resource officers” in every school in the state, but that does not address the issues of non-school shootings and harmful individuals getting their hands on assault weapons.

Amid public pressure, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) has promised to call a special session of the state legislature at an unspecified date to address public safety.

“Tennesseans are asking us to set aside politics and personal pride. They are depending on us to do the right thing,” Lee said in a video.

Despite calling for reform, Lee also doubled down on his commitment to Second Amendment rights, which makes the chances of an assault weapons ban look bleak, at best. Tennessee House Republicans responded to Lee by stating their opposition to red flag laws.

If Lee’s special session fails to produce a solution to the gun problem, the next opportunity for a bill will be when the General Assembly convenes again in January. With overwhelming Republican supermajorities in both chambers, an assault weapons ban is, again, highly unlikely.