People protest outside the House after the passage of a law that would allow some teachers to be armed in schools during a legislative session Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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People protest outside the House after the passage of a law that would allow some teachers to be armed in schools during a legislative session Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee.
George Walker IV/AP
In March 2023, an attacker shot and killed three students and three staff members at Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school in Nashville.
The shooting sparked calls for gun safety legislation. Thousands of people demonstrated outside the Tennessee Capitol to demand universal background checks, safe gun storage laws and accountability for the gun industry.
At the time, there appeared to be bipartisan support for some type of gun control bill.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee urged lawmakers to pass an alert law — a measure that would temporarily confiscate guns from people deemed a danger to themselves or others.
“I think it will protect victims, it will keep dangerous people accountable and away from guns,” he said at the time.
But the bill never passed in 2023. And, during the recently concluded 2024 session, the Republican-led legislature passed bills expanding access to guns , instead of restricting it.
The most controversial of the new laws is one that allows teachers to carry a concealed weapon at school, after training and approval.
Supporters of the measure say it will make schools safer by allowing teachers to “deter” shooters. But there is little evidence that this policy makes schools safer. And several Tennessee school districts have already announced they will not allow teachers to carry guns.
Arm teachers
Under the new law, a local superintendent, education commissioner and sheriff must approve before a teacher can carry a gun at school.
Teachers would have to complete 40 hours of training, pass a psychological evaluation, submit fingerprints and obtain a handgun permit to carry a weapon.
Republican state Rep. Ryan Williams, the bill’s sponsor, says armed teachers can make schools safer. During a floor debate, he said that if school shooters encountered armed teachers, they might “end up going elsewhere because they are deterred.”
Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, answers questions about his bill to allow some teachers to be armed in schools from the House floor during a legislative session Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, answers questions about his bill to allow some teachers to be armed in schools from the House floor during a legislative session Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee.
George Walker IV/AP
Tennessee joins more than two-thirds of all U.S. states in allowing concealed carry by teachers, with some training and approval. But school safety experts say the measure won’t make classrooms safer.
Ken Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services, says training and precautions don’t go far enough.
“A public safety role involves much more than just training someone to shoot, clean and store a firearm and some marginal training on that,” he said.
Elisa Mula, security consultant and founder of Moms in Security, says educators should not be asked to multitask as both teachers and security officers.
“I think the best thing you can do if you’re going to bring weapons into schools…is to do it properly with security professionals designated solely to handle emergency responses,” he said. she declared.
The new law does not require schools to notify parents or other educators if a teacher is armed.
Democratic Sen. Raumesh Akbari is concerned that people don’t know who has a gun at school. “You will have no idea if the gun is there or not, who has it or not,” Akbari said. “I mean, it’s just that there are too many unknowns that promote a lack of security over safety.”
“Tackling the real problem”
The bill to allow teachers to carry concealed firearms was also introduced during the 2023 session, but it was delayed after lawmakers refused to pass gun legislation immediately following the Covenant school shooting.
Before this year’s vote, nearly 200 Nashville high school students walked out of class to protest outside the Tennessee State Capitol.
High school student Ella Brinen said expanding where guns can be carried won’t make schools safer.
“We don’t want guns in schools. Guns are the problem. They don’t belong there. Students belong there,” she said.
Nashville students walked out of class to protest the bill arming teachers outside the Tennessee Capitol.
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Nashville students walked out of class to protest the bill arming teachers outside the Tennessee Capitol.
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Democratic state Rep. Justin J. Pearson said arming teachers doesn’t solve what he considers the “real problem.”
“Every one of us will be responsible for the gun violence that occurs because of this pathetic excuse to address the epidemic of gun violence,” he said.
Republican lawmakers voted to expel Pearson and Democratic Rep. Justin Jones in 2023 after they disrupted proceedings to show support for protesters calling for more gun control.
During this year’s session, lawmakers also passed a bill requiring schools to teach children about gun safety, which won bipartisan support.
While nearly half of Tennessee households own at least one gun, Republican state Rep. Chris Todd said children should know how to be safe around them.
“When they turn eighteen, they’ll probably see a gun and we want to make sure they know exactly what to do,” he said.
But for Democratic Sen. Heidi Campbell, the Legislature missed an opportunity to pass more ambitious gun safety bills.
“We’re not addressing the actual problem and I’ll just say it’s the guns,” Campbell said.
Tennessee lawmakers will be back in 2025 and will likely consider gun bills that didn’t cross the finish line this year, including one aimed at blocking businesses from banning guns on their property, another would allow the open carry of long guns.
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