House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, center, pushes past Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, left, and Rep. Justin Jones, D- Nashville after a special session of the state legislature on public safety Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

The Republican-dominated Tennessee Legislature adjourned their special session sine die on Tuesday without passing any meaningful public safety bills, resulting in public outcry and a physical altercation between lawmakers on the House floor.

GOP lawmakers quickly ended the session on Tuesday afternoon after state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) called for and was denied a vote of no confidence on House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R). Chants from the gallery to vote out the Republican lawmakers immediately broke out, and Jones and state Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) held gun reform signs behind Sexton. Nashville TV station WKRN showed that while walking past a photographer, Sexton bumped Pearson on the shoulder, which resulted in a heated exchange between the two as Sexton took it as Pearson attacking him.

Jones and Pearson have been taking Republicans to task for their lack of effort on gun reform for months, which prompted them getting expelled from the GOP supermajority (the two were later reinstated and then won reelection.) Both representatives have been repeatedly at odds with Sexton, who utilized the controversial new House rules to silence the Democrats throughout the special session.

Gov. Bill Lee (R) called the special session to address public safety concerns after the Covenant Elementary School shooting in Nashville in March. Lee’s proposal, which was lambasted by Democrats for not being nearly enough to combat gun violence, was not even considered by GOP lawmakers. Hundreds of protesters were in attendance at the capitol for the special session, including parents of the Covenant victims who were seen sobbing in dismay at the lack of concrete solutions from their government. Tennessee House Democrats including Pearson and state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) were seen consoling Sarah Neumann, whose six-year-old daughter attends Covenant.

Lawmakers advanced only a handful of bills that made small changes to state programs that already exist. According to the Associated Press, these bills include adding more money to advertise a program that offers free gun safes and codifying an executive order that sets a 72-hour period for reporting new criminal activity to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Despite the lack of meaningful legislation passed, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R) called the session a “success.”

The Tennessee state government already had little public safety accomplishments after the regular session ended in April. The body will not meet again until next January.