NASHVILLE — Most Tennesseans, regardless of party, said residents should be able to protest at the state Capitol if they go about it peacefully, according to a Vanderbilt University poll of 1,005 registered voters.
Eighty-two percent of registered voters said they strongly or somewhat feel peaceful protests should be allowed. That included 73% of Republican voters self-identifying as Make American Great Again backers of former President Donald Trump and 76% of non-MAGA Republicans. Ninety-one percent of Democrats said peaceful protests should be allowed as did 84% of independent voters.
In the most recent session, the Capitol, chamber galleries and committee rooms saw mass protests following the shooting deaths of three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. The 28-year-old shooter was a former student with a history of mental health problems and was undergoing treatment.
Hundreds of children, parents and others flooded the Capitol demanding gun control measures, none of which were adopted during the regular session.
During last summer’s special session on firearms and other matters, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, ordered a crackdown on protests. Among other things, the House had a new rule barring demonstrators from holding signs. A Nashville judge later issued a restraining order preventing the House from prohibiting signs.