While Monday officially begins a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly called in response to rising gun violence in the state, planning and posturing has set the tone for what reform skeptics have called “the special session on everything BUT guns.”
Here’s a few things you should know to get ready for next week’s session:
Why is it happening?
Gov. Bill Lee promised to bring legislators back to Nashville this summer after he proposed rules (sometimes called “red flag” laws) that would temporarily take guns away those who could be a risk to themselves or others. Not a single member of his own party sponsored the bill in either they state House or Senate.
Here was the basic thinking at the time:
Lawmakers high-tailed it out of Nashville in April, sprinting through a usually laborious effort to pass the state’s budget. Most was quiet after that.
But about a month later, three GOP lawmakers — Rep. Bryan Richey (R-Maryville), Rep. Ed Butler (R-Rickman), and Rep. Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) — called on Lee to cancel the session. They said his ”red flag” had no traction; called the session a “publicity stunt” that will gather the national media and “woke mob” to the Capitol that will “make the ‘Tennessee Three’ circus look like a dress rehearsal.”
Nevertheless, Lee issued a call for the session earlier this month.
What can and can’t be considered?
Lee’s proclamation puts specific guardrails in place. Special sessions in the past have operated like mini-regular sessions, with lawmakers filing and considering bills on any topic they like.
But Lee’s proclamation for the session is limited to 18 specific topics, most of them on mental health, crime prevention, and criminal sentencing. Only one of the 18 topics mentions firearms. But it is only designed to help encourage the safe storage of guns and does not include any new penalties for failing to safely store them.
What is on the agenda so far?
So far, 47 bills have been filed on the House side and six on the Senate side.
It’s already been widely reported that a great many of them deal with mental health (as a way to better connect people with help and, thus, maybe away from gun crimes), tougher sentencing for criminals, better information for law enforcement, and more.
Some unique proposals, though, would have schools install special alarms for active shooters, another would establish a loan forgiveness program for psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors, while another would shield gun owners from civil penalties if their gun was stolen from their car and used in a crime.
Several bills filed by Rep. Anthony Davis (D-Nashville) would create tougher sentences for those who would stalk or commit a mass killing against those who preform abortions or gender-affirming care.
Many of the earliest bills filed for the session came from House Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland), with most of them seemingly carried on behalf of the administration. However, another one of his bills, called the Child Victims’ Privacy Act, would make private “autopsy reports of minor children who are victims of violent crime.”
“This information should never be used to further victimize and traumatize these families,” Lamberth tweeted Monday.
But many criticized the bill, claiming to see through the bill’s surface and to what they said was actually a protection for gun makers.
Some GOP members issued intent to file certain bills once the session began. Rep. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) really summed up the slate of proposals in a statement last week.
“So much of the conversation about this special session has centered around guns, but inanimate objects are not the problem,” Haile said. ”Violent criminals are the problem.”
On Friday, state Democrats outlined a slate of bills they will file Monday. They include gun safety measures in defiance of the parameters set in place by Lee.
“Our families want gun reform that saves lives by preventing future shootings and that’s exactly what we’re going to fight for in the special session,” said Senate Minority Leader Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis). “We know the controlling party doesn’t want to address the elephant in the room, but the facts are undeniable: Easy access to firearms is killing our kids and loved ones more than ever. It’s time to protect our families.”
The legislative package, sponsored by Senate and House Democrats, includes universal background checks, a red flag law, safe storage requirements, and “repealing the disastrous ‘guns in trunks’ law,” and more.
How do Tennesseans feel ahead of the session?
The grassroots Rise and Shine TN organization, formed after the Covenant School shooting, combed through the more than 20,000 responses to Lee’s call for public comment ahead of the special session.
The group’s review of the comments found that more than 83 percent of them favored gun safety laws. More than 3,600 comments supported bans or restrictions on assault weapons. More than 3,200 favored extreme risk protection orders.