Tennessee Senate passes bill allowing teachers to carry guns in school
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee residents are divided after the state Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that will allow teachers to carry guns in schools.
In the Tennessee Senate, emotional chants and screams from protesters sparked a response from Speaker Randy McNally, who eventually cleared the gallery.
“What do you mean I’m next? Did you threaten me? Did you say I’m next? Yeah, you did,” said McNally.
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Emotions were running high over a bill allowing some teachers to carry handguns on public school grounds. It also marks one of the state’s biggest expansions of gun access since the deadly Covenant school shooting in Nashville last year.
“Teachers are already getting their guns and belongings stolen out of the parking lot of schools. Do you think it won’t happen in the building? Guys. This is irresponsible. The public school teachers don’t even want the bill,” Senator London Lamar said.
On the other hand, Senator Ken Yager said that allowing teachers to carry guns could protect children in the classroom.
“There are some counties where they may only have two deputies on a shift. It may take 20 or 30 minutes to that school,” Yager said. “What havoc can be wreaked in that 30-minute period. This bill tries to fix that problem and protect children.”
The bill says a principal, school district, and law enforcement agency would have to agree to let staff carry guns.
It also would bar disclosing which employees are carrying guns beyond school administrators and police, including to parents of students and even other teachers.
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“Not allowing parents to be notified if their child is in a room where a handgun, a firearm, is present to me invalidates every single discussion we’ve had about parental choice in this body,” Senator Raumesh Akbari said.
Still, after much debate, the Senate passed the bill in a 26-to-5 vote.
Teachers who decide to carry would have to undergo 40 hours of yearly gun training, along with receiving approval from the school director, passing a mental health evaluation, and passing an FBI background check.
In a statement from MSCS Board Chair, Althea Greene regarding the Senate passing SB 1325, she says the following:
I am disappointed in the state legislature for passing the bill that allows teachers to carry weapons in the classroom. I believe that teaching children about gun safety is the parents’ responsibility if that is something they want their children to learn more about. I have to acknowledge that with so many school shootings, it is something that is always top of mind for me. It is an important issue that our children should be aware of. However, it should not be another responsibility for our teachers to take on. We ask educators to do so much and I believe the best use of their time should be focusing on those topics they are licensed to teach.”
Althea Greene, Chairwoman, Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education
The bill now goes to the House for debate on April 17th.
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