NASHVILLE — A freshman Tennessee Republican House member and two GOP colleagues urged Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday to abandon his plans to call an Aug. 21 special session on state gun laws and public safety following the mass shooting in March at a private Nashville school that left three children and three adults dead.
In his open letter “to be signed by TN Republican lawmakers” posted to Twitter, Rep. Bryan Richey of Maryville charged the Republican governor’s planned effort appears to be an “expensive, disruptive, futile, and counter-productive publicity stunt.”
“As you know, the 113th General Assembly adjourned its 2023 session without passing your proposed ‘red flag law,’ and House Republicans have emphatically expressed their opposition to such measures in the future. Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson has flatly stated that ‘the Tennessee General Assembly will not pass any red flag law, period,'” Richey said.
“The Covenant tragedy would not have been averted by a ‘red flag law’ in any event. Your proposed special session is a solution in search of a problem,” the freshman representative said.
The legislation would be prohibited by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, Richey said, also noting lawmakers could debate firearms issues come January. The Bruen decision struck down a New York gun law, ruling that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public. The opinion also established new standards for courts to consider in lawsuits challenging gun restrictions.