Democrats rally for gun control at state Capitol
NASHVILLE — Mostly Democratic state lawmakers from Tennessee, Ohio and other parts of the country challenged home-state Republican leaders Wednesday to quickly enact new laws to stem gun violence after the nation’s latest deadly mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas.
“All across the country, people are worried. They’re worried for the safety of their children,” Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Stewart said as he was flanked by colleagues attending this week’s meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Nashville.
Yet, Stewart added, “we have many politicians who are saying ‘We can’t do anything, we need to go slow, we don’t need to take actions.’”
Stewart was joined by some 70 lawmakers from other states on the steps of Tennessee’s state Capitol.
Citing inaction in Washington, the legislators called for states’ passage of universal background check laws to close loopholes in background checks for prospective gun purchasers as well as approval of “red flag” laws.
The latter laws authorize courts to temporarily take firearms from people deemed a danger to themselves or others by a judge acting on information provided by police or concerned family members.
“Sadly, with all these people in town, our own governor leads the charge and says it’s too early to make decisions on gun law changes,” Stewart said in a jab at Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who earlier this week said he and top officials are exploring a number of possible efforts to pursue but aren’t ready to act now. “That’s what Gov. Lee says. That’s ridiculous. Of course we can take steps to solve this problem.”
Pointing to the Dayton shooting, where a lone gunman killed nine people, wounded 14 and left 13 others injured, Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Akron, said such deadly shooting sprees are “not normal” and after 20 years the time for “offering thoughts and prayers” should end and action should be taken.
“We need to do something — we need to act,” said Sykes, noting her colleague from Dayton stayed home this week to help constituents.
Lee reiterated to reporters on Tuesday that he and top aides are “looking at options, and there are a lot of them. There are a lot of things being talked about now, as they should be.”
In El Paso, police charge the suspect in a killing rampage at a Walmart looked for Mexicans to kill in an attack that left 22 people dead and more than two dozen others wounded or injured.
“Those tragic, heartbreaking events require that we look at things seriously in a new light,” said Lee, who took office in January. “So we’re doing that. This whole problem didn’t occur overnight and the answers to this will not be created shortly. But they’re important answers and they’re ones that we’re working on.”
He previously called gun violence a “very complex issue that involves mental health and radicalization, ideological radicalization” where there often are “a lot of indicators early on for some of these folks. We need to figure out how to get to them before they get to others.”
Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, the Republican Senate speaker, said in an interview earlier this week that background checks are “something to look at. We’ll probably look at ‘red flag’ [legislation] and a number of things. I know [President Donald Trump] has some things on the federal agenda that would trump anything we do.”
Asked specifically about a Tennessee universal background check to fill in current gaps on person-to-person gun sales, gun show purchases and firearms sold over the internet, McNally said, “I’d say it’d be something we’d talk about.” But he said, “I can’t say whether it would pass or not.”
As for whether he would lend support to such a measure, McNally said, “It’d depend on how it’s written, I think. I certainly wouldn’t want to encumber people who are legitimately purchasing firearms for hunting, shooting events or things like that. Certainly people who have criminal records or people who have mental issues, [it] would probably be good to screen those.”
A number of attendees at Wednesday’s state Capitol event were members of American State Legislators for Gun Violence Prevention, which has both Democratic and Republican members. Organizers said most if not all attendees were Democrats.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.