When Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee began a push in April to address public safety, his family was grieving the loss of two close friends, both educators killed in a mass shooting at a Nashville Christian school.
His call for millions of dollars to harden school security was embraced by Republicans in the legislature, who flanked him during a formal announcement.
But days later, when Mr. Lee, a Republican, decided to go further and ask for an order of protection law that could temporarily restrict an individual’s access to firearms, he stood alone for the announcement. The legislature would wrap up its work by the end of the month without taking a vote to pass it.
Now, Mr. Lee has summoned lawmakers back to Nashville on Monday for a special session on public safety that could include consideration of a limited version of the law. But without the support of most in his own party, that measure appears, once again, destined for failure, underscoring the power dynamics of a Republican supermajority driven by a right-wing base hardened against any potential infringement on gun ownership.
They won’t even go for a temporary restriction on firearms. They’ll agree to fund more mental health, toughencriminal penalties for threats of mass violence, target juvenile crime and incentivize he safe storage of firearms. But they will NOT do anything a outy the guns. Nothing. But at least they’ve found a way to put more Black kids in jail so that’s good.
This sickness lies at the heart of what can only be described as America’s rapid decline. We are a very irrational people in general but this is insane.