NASHVILLE — With Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s special legislative session on public safety and mental health fast approaching, lawmakers in the Republican-controlled legislature have started filing a raft of bills.
Republicans’ measures so far appear largely focused on people who commit, threaten or aid in acts of gun violence as well as mental health issues.
Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, a Chattanooga Democrat, said he plans to introduce a bill or two along those lines.
But Hakeem, a former member of the state Board of Parole, said he is looking at another bill that takes a different approach.
“Semi-automatic weapons, which I consider weapons of war, would be banned,” Hakeem said in Tuesday in a phone interview. “We’re not talking about taking away anyone’s gun. We’re talking about new sales or something.