The winners and losers of Tennessee’s special session
A feud between chambers. An ostrich egg prank. A challenged signs ban. A House member silenced. Covenant families heartbroken. A physical confrontation on the House floor. A governor out of the spotlight.
Tennessee lawmakers kept busy at the state Capitol during the special legislative session that Gov. Bill Lee called in response to a shooting at The Covenant School that killed six people, including three children. But few seriously engaged in a conversation around firearms that so many Tennesseans clamored for in the wake of the March shooting.
“It’s been a complete waste of time. It’s been a waste of taxpayer money,” said House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis. “People expected us to do something to make the public safer. We did nothing.”
After six legislative days, what do the people of Tennessee get for their $348,000 session cost? A new report on human trafficking, an executive order codified into state law, expansion of a two-year-old gun lock program, permanent removal of sales tax on gun safes, and new money for mental health clinics.
In April, Lee had proposed a policy response aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. He even demanded a vote.
But his emergency protective order proposal faced mounting criticism from Republicans and gun rights groups and never got introduced during the special session.
Lee ultimately pitched seven other bills to the legislature. Only four passed – even has he sought to paint the session in a positive light.
Gun rights groups declare victory
While the session ended in devastation, frustration or disgrace for many, there was one clear winner: gun rights groups who want to block new restrictions on firearms.
Hours after adjournment, two major gun-rights groups declared victory.
“Bill Lee’s special session ends with no meaningful results – which is a victory,” Tennessee Firearms Association Executive Director John Harris wrote in an email to supporters. “It is time to celebrate a victory in this skirmish but the war is not over.”
Likewise, the National Rifle Association urged members to thank lawmakers as they “stood firm to defend Tennesseans’ Second Amendment rights.”
“We are pleased to announce that all gun control legislation failed,” the NRA email said. “Although there were numerous anti-gun bills introduced and an attempt to force through several ineffective gun control measures.”
Senate draws ire but holds firm
It’s not surprising for gun rights groups to see “no meaningful results” as a victory. But even Senate GOP leadership saw the bills as incremental, and used that to convince hesitant members to vote in favor of the limited agenda.
“There is no mandate in this bill, there is no requirement or anything,” Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, told GOP caucus members during a bill review meeting. He was speaking of the legislation to provide free gun locks and tax incentives for gun safes. “This is to encourage you to safely store your weapon, and provide you with the means to do so should you choose to use them.”
“I got the impression that this is something we’re already doing,” said Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, of the same bill. “It doesn’t require anybody to do anything.”
The bill sponsor, Sen. Adam Lowe, RCalhoun, explained the free gun locks program had been in place for two years at the Department of Safety, and the agency already had a stockpile of 14,000 locks left over that have not yet been distributed.
“This just eliminates very low-hanging barriers,” Lowe explained.
Parameters of the special session precluded lawmakers from even considering any bill to impose penalties on residents who do not safely store their guns. On a different bill to codify an already legally binding deadline for courts to report cases to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations for the state’s gun background check system, Johnson again told hesitant colleagues that the bill would make no effective change.
“Again, this is in effect. It’s working very well. There haven’t seemed to be any issues with it,” Johnson said.
It was clear early on that several senators – including some committee chairs – felt that simply coming to Nashville for the special session was compromise enough.
“I didn’t really want to be here in the first place,” Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, said during the same bill review meeting. “I don’t want to go much more on giving to the House.”
“Just tell them they’re lucky to get the three bills we gave them,” agreed Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City.
Their urgency to get out of town was on public display as Senate committee after Senate committee tabled dozens of bills in committee hearings that in some cases lasted mere seconds.
Even so, after adjournment, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, declared the session a success.
“I think there’s a lot in there that is beneficial to the safety of students and people in Tennessee,” he said. “And I think we can also improve on that in January when we have more time.”
Although the House passed dozens of bills, the Senate clearly outmaneuvered the House and got to leave town far more on its terms.
“There are going to be disagreements among themselves because they don’t need to close ranks” due to their supermajority power, said John Geer, a political scientist and co-director of the Vanderbilt University Poll. “This lack of competition allows the battles to boil over within the party, because that’s where the competition lies. They don’t have to worry about competing with the Democrats.”
Covenant families feel sting of inaction
While lawmakers saw political wins and losses, parents of Covenant School children felt the sting over a lack of action in a deeply personal way.
“Today, we will go home and we’ll look at our children in the eyes – many who were sheltered from gunfire that tragic day,” Covenant mom Mary Joyce said. “They will ask what our leaders
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