WAVERLY, Tenn. – U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty says he opposed a Senate gun compromise engineered in part by fellow Republican and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell because it provided “far too much autonomy to bureaucrats” on “red flag” issues that allow them to ask judges to temporarily take firearms from people deemed dangerous.
“I appreciate the effort my Republican colleagues put in to try to come to a conclusion,” Hagerty said Monday during a trip to Waverly. “But there were red flag issues with it that gave far too much autonomy to bureaucrats.”
As a result, Hagerty said, it “really put them in a position to take away Second Amendment rights that I didn’t feel were appropriate.”
Hagerty, who was joined by U.S. Rep. Mark Green, a Clarksville Republican, also both pushed back on criticism following last week’s 6-3 Supreme Court ruling that overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion across the U.S.
Both lawmakers’ comments came as they toured this small community of just more than 4,000 people a year after torrential rains swept through, killing 20 people residing in low-lying areas as a creek transformed into river. Waverly and Humphreys County leaders are in the midst of preparing damage estimates to present to the federal government for aid and other assistance aimed at preventing any future such tragedy.