Students Demand Gun Control at Capitol, State Republicans Offer Money for Armed Guards

Thousands of students and community members filled Legislative Plaza on Monday for a March for Our Lives rally. The event, organized in part by Wyatt Bassow, Vivian Carlson and Jasmyn Faith, featured members of Students Demand Action as well as city and state leaders, among them Vice Mayor Jim Shulman and state Rep. Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville), who addressed the crowd about gun violence and gun control.  

Beforehand, the Scene caught up with a group of Hume-Fogg Academic High School students who organized a protest near their school in downtown Nashville.

“We’re not safe, and we don’t feel safe, none of us do — at least I don’t,” said Vivian Carlson. Carlson helped organize the event via an Instagram account called @nash_studentsforchange, which features student art and poetry about gun violence.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools encouraged students to participate in “walk-in rallies” inside schools, citing safety and equity concerns for students who wouldn’t be easily able to travel downtown. An email sent to students by Hume-Fogg administrators read: “Should a family want their HF student to attend this event, you will need to treat the absence as any other using our normal attendance protocols and procedures. We ask students planning to attend the rally report directly to the Capitol and NOT school. … Leaving school during the day without following school and district protocols is a violation of our MNPS Code of Conduct. Any student who elects to leave campus (AKA ‘walkout’) will be subject to out-of-school suspension.” 

One Hume-Fogg teacher opened a window and waved to the crowd outside while students inside the building held signs up to a window. Students then started walking to the Legislative Plaza, chanting phrases including “Hey hey, ho ho, the NRA has got to go.” Once they arrived, they shared stories and sang before the scheduled speakers began. 

Once gathered in the Cordell Hull State Office Building downtown, students and allies confronted state lawmakers including House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland), calling for gun restrictions. Students questioned Lamberth on topics including the so-called drag ban, gun access, school resource officers and mental health.

“I represent Sumner County, OK,” Lamberth told the protesters. “My children go to school there, all right? You’re frustrated, you’re upset, you’re scared. … If nothing else comes from this conversation, please understand this: I will do anything within my ability to make sure that you are safe at school, and that you feel safe at school, there is no topic that’s off the table here.”

Shortly after, Gov. Bill Lee and Republican leaders in the legislature jointly announced a series of proposals in response to the shooting — but none of them related to gun control.

The $200 million announced by the governor includes $140 million to put a school resource officer in every Tennessee public school, $27 million for security upgrades at public and private schools, $8 million for school-based behavioral health liaisons and $30 million for an expanded “statewide homeland security network” for private and public schools. 

“I say this to young people: Please don’t let this be the last time you come to the Capitol,” Gov. Lee said at a press conference at Tennessee Tower as the protest went on below. 

Last week, the governor signed a bill allowing private schools to contract with local law enforcement and hire SROs, but studies show that armed guards may not actually prevent school shootings. 

Outside of the new budget proposals, the only piece of legislation Lee addressed was HB322/SB274, which would penalize schools for having unlocked exterior doors. The Covenant School shooter entered a locked door by shooting through its glass, according to law enforcement and security footage.

When reporters asked if Lee would support a red-flag law, which allows police and loved ones to petition for someone’s guns to temporarily be taken away, the governor did not offer a firm answer.  

“I think that one of the things that we probably all agree on is that a person who is a threat to themselves or to others should not have access to weapons,” Lee said. “We should look at ways to accomplish that. That’s what I anticipate the members of the General Assembly will contemplate and work together to provide. There are any number of ways that that can be accomplished.”

The governor added that “protecting the constitutional rights of our people” would be required for any such legislation. 

Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), who joined the governor at the press conference, said last week that the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, would not be taking up any gun-related legislature for the rest of the session. Lee said he has not spoken to Gardenhire, who left without taking questions from reporters. Senate Speaker Randy McNally said last week he was open to some form of red-flag law. 

Following the press conference, Sexton told reporters he has not seen any red-flag laws around the country that he would support. 

Following a chaotic Thursday floor session that saw Democratic Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson interrupt legislative business in support of protesters, Sexton this week is seeking to punish the trio. The Democratic members said in a press conference Monday that their committee assignments and security badge access had been revoked. 

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