Most Tennessee voters support gun reforms including background checks and safe storage laws, according to a poll conducted after the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville last month.
The poll, conducted by Embold Research between April 10 and 12, surveyed 877 registered voters in Tennessee contacted by text message and through online advertisements, researcher Jessica Mason said in a Wednesday news conference. The research was commissioned by Protect My Care, a coalition of health care workers, and ForwardTN, a progressive policy nonprofit.
It found that 88% of those surveyed support background checks for all gun sales, 82% support requiring safe storage in cars and boats and 70% support "red flag" policies that allow guns to be taken from people deemed dangerous to themselves and others.
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A quarter of those surveyed said they would support Tennessee dropping the legal age to carry guns from 21 to 18. According to researchers, 41% of Republicans and 4% of Democrats surveyed support that change.
On Wednesday, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly and three other Tennessee mayors sent a letter to Gov. Bill Lee and statehouse leaders urging them to adopt reforms including background checks, safe storage, red flag policies and other restrictions on sales and carrying. The letter highlights the public support for those measures found in the Embold poll.
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"I'm a hunter and a gun owner myself, and I don't think banning guns is realistic or desirable — but we can and must do more to address gun violence in Tennessee," Kelly said in an email Wednesday. "Requiring point-of-sale background checks and safe storage of guns, prohibiting the sale of high-capacity magazines that allow shooters to hurt dozens of people without having to so much as reload — these are all things that will not only help keep illegal guns off the street, they will better equip our law enforcement agencies to do their part to keep people safe."
The mayors cited federal data showing nearly 1,300 people in Tennessee die from guns each year, placing the state ninth in the country in overall gun deaths.
"Nationwide data shows a clear correlation between the strength of a state's gun laws and the rate of gun violence," the mayors — Kelly, Nashville Mayor John Cooper, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris — said in the letter.
Lee signed an executive order last week strengthening background checks for gun sales, and on Wednesday asked lawmakers to pass what he called an "order of protection" law that would allow courts to order guns to be removed from people deemed dangerous to themselves or others. The proposal would also allow a judge to temporarily block such people from being able to buy guns.
Lee has been careful not to call the policy a "red flag" law, as some gun rights advocates have adamantly opposed policies with that name in other states.
Red flag laws are supported by 53% of Republican voters and 97% of Democratic voters in Tennessee, according to the poll.
The mayors said in the letter that Lee's actions were encouraging and called for statements of support and sympathy to turn into action.
"We can incorporate these policies into legislation immediately," the mayors wrote in the letter. "Working together, we can keep guns away from people who shouldn't have them and out of circumstances that are likely to result in more dead Tennesseans."
(READ MORE: Gardenhire, Republican colleagues move Tennessee gun-related bills to 2024)
The mayors made 10 policy suggestions in Wednesday's letter. Those include calls to require owners to report lost and stolen guns, fund teams to assess threats at schools, bar people convicted of violent misdemeanors or stalking from owning guns and ban high-capacity magazines often used in mass shootings.
In response to high rates of guns being stolen from cars in Tennessee, the mayors said the state should require cars containing guns to be locked and guns to be stored inside locked compartments when left in a vehicle. Memphis and Chattanooga lead the country in car gun theft rates, according to a recent study by Everytown for Gun Safety.
To encourage safe storage, the mayors suggest the state should give money to local governments to give out gun locks to their residents. In Shelby County, according to the letter, 600 locks have been distributed so far this year for less than $10,000.
With the current legislative session ending soon, and most gun-related bills put on hold following the Covenant shooting, it's unlikely lawmakers will be able to pass the measures this year, Lenda Sherell with Protect My Care said during Wednesday's news conference.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.