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The Tennessee House of Representatives passed legislation that would allow trained teachers and staff to carry handguns in schools.
The bill heads to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk where he can sign it into law or allow it to become law without his signature.
JUST IN — A bill allowing teachers to be armed in Tennessee schools has passed the House and is headed to Gov. Lee’s desk. https://t.co/S1aKE0sl1o
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) April 23, 2024
“The Tennessee House just passed a bill that allows teachers and staff to carry a gun to protect the students. Staff who want to carry must go through 40 hours of gun training and have a psychological evaluation. Left wing activists including Rep. Justin Jones staged a ‘die in’ and were screaming like lunatics after the bill passed,” Robby Starbuck said.
WATCH:
The Tennessee House just passed a bill that allows teachers and staff to carry a gun to protect the students. Staff who want to carry must go through 40 hours of gun training and have a psychological evaluation.
Left wing activists including Rep. Justin Jones staged a “die in”… pic.twitter.com/i0XbzuUuPg
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 23, 2024
The Tennessean reports:
Dozens of protestors in the galleries began chanting “Blood on your hands” as soon as the legislation passed, prompting House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, to order state troopers to clear the galleries. Many protestors continued to chant and stomp down at lawmakers as the House floor fell into chaos over parliamentary issues.
The bill is all but guaranteed to become law within weeks, as Gov. Bill Lee can either sign it into law or allow it to become law without his signature. Lee has never vetoed a bill.
Armed teachers, who will be required to undergo training that some opponents have argued is not intensive enough, will be allowed to carry handguns in their classrooms and in most campus situations without informing parents and most of their colleagues they’re armed.
The school district’s director of schools, the school principal and the chief of the “appropriate” law enforcement agency must sign off on a staff member’s authority to carry a concealed handgun, so school administrators could theoretically block any teacher from going armed on campus. The legislation also requires criminal and mental health background checks.
WATCH:
Rep. Pearson speaks to people in the rotunda while lawmakers are still in session. @WSMV pic.twitter.com/DyvOqeP3Lk
— Marissa Sulek (@marissa_sulek) April 23, 2024
With the bill passing people are outside House chambers shouting “blood on their hands”, “whose house, our house”.
I’m told it has also derailed on the floor with reps. @WSMV pic.twitter.com/LekeLTd3Ym
— Marissa Sulek (@marissa_sulek) April 23, 2024
Per NBC News:
Lawmakers in Tennessee passed a measure Tuesday that would allow school staff to carry concealed handguns on school grounds, sending the bill to the governor a year after a shooter opened fire and killed six people at a Nashville school.
The Tennessee House cleared the legislation in a 68-28 vote. The state Senate, which is also controlled by the GOP, passed the measure earlier this month.
Republican state Rep. Ryan Williams on Tuesday said the bill would bolster school safety.
“I believe that this is a method by which we can do that, because what you’re doing is you’re creating a deterrent,” he said on the House floor.
Under the legislation, faculty and staff members who wish to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds would need to complete a minimum of 40 hours of approved training specific to school policing each year.
