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NASHVILLE, April 29 (AP) Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said a special legislative session may have to be held after July 4 to focus on guns in the state after last month’s deadly school shootings. possible changes in law.
The Republican governor said his office had given lawmakers multiple dates for a special session, and determined it would likely take place after July 4. He provided dates from May to August, his office said.
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“I think the ideal solution is for us to find a way to do what most people think is important, which is to make sure that those who are a threat to themselves or others because of a mental crisis, those who are a threat will not be able to obtain weapons, ’ Lee told reporters in Covington on Friday.
Lawmakers rushed to finish their annual session last week without taking action on Lee’s proposed gun control plan after the March 27 shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School that killed three nine-year-olds and three adults, the timeline released Christian school.
Tennessee Republicans are facing national pressure after they ousted two young black Democratic lawmakers as they protested gun control at the state Capitol, where protesters filled the gallery above.
Lawmakers have been reinstated. For weeks, students, parents, politicians and others have protested at the Capitol to add more restrictions to Tennessee’s gun-friendly laws.
Hours after lawmakers wrapped up their session on April 21, Lee announced he would recall them to a special session to “protect Tennessee communities and uphold constitutional rights.” More details will be announced as they become available, his spokesman Jed Byers said Friday.
Lee suggested creating a “temporary mental health protection order” aimed at keeping guns away from people who might harm themselves or others. Enough Republicans joined the anti-gun lobby to prevent Lee’s proposal from being brought to a vote last week.
Some on the other side of the gun debate believe Lee’s proposed measures don’t go far enough. Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group, said the three to five days between when law enforcement files a court petition to confiscate guns and when a court hearing would typically be held under the proposal “could be the difference between life and death.”
Some Republican lawmakers have since said they want to review the Covenant School shooter’s writings, which police have yet to release, before deciding how to change state law.
Lee told reporters Friday that he thought “Tennesseans want clarity on this issue.” A day earlier, he tweeted that the Nashville police chief had assured him that documents about the 28-year-old shooter would be released “very soon.” released to the public”.
“The investigation has progressed to the point where the writings from the Covenant shooter are now being reviewed for public release. This process is ongoing and will take some time,” Metro Nashville Police Department spokeswoman Kristin Mumford said in a statement Thursday.
During the attack, the gunman fired 152 rounds before being killed by police, the department said.
Police said the shooter was being treated by doctors for an undisclosed “emotional disorder”. However, authorities have not publicly stated a link between that care and the shooting. Police said the shooter was not on their radar before the attack.
Rep. John Ray Clemons, chairman of the Democratic House caucus from Nashville, called on lawmakers to “focus less on what’s in the manifesto” and more on how we’ll cross the aisle together to enact a law that allows timely and temporary Proactively remove firearms from individuals who pose a threat to themselves and others. “
Lee said top lawmakers had commented on his proposal, which he didn’t think was a “red flag law.” He called the term a “toxic political label meant to draw lines in the sand so nothing gets done.”
In the lukewarm reception following the proposal’s release, House Republicans appeared to draw no distinction on terminology, saying in a caucus statement that “any red flag law is out of the question.”
In the wake of the shooting, lawmakers joined Lee on proposals aimed primarily at student behavioral health measures and enhanced school safety, including funding for a school resource officer in every public school and grants for private school safety. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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