As part of an executive order addressing school security in response to recent mass shootings, Gov. Bill Lee is asking parents to use a SafeTN App to send tips to law enforcement and seek help for mental illness.
The recent order, which also encourages hiring more school resource officers and requires school safety inspections to make sure doors are locked, is drawing mixed reviews.
Some critics have said it does not go far enough, but the governor continued to push it Monday in a post on Twitter.
"As we continue to engage with families, educators and law enforcement about school safety, I encourage parents to download SafeTN," the tweet said. "This @TNDeptofSafety resource allows you to confidentially report concerns of violence in your child's school or community."
Among other things, the app offered through the Department of Safety & Homeland Security enables people to provide tips about criminal or suspicious behavior and to seek help on issues dealing with mental health, substance abuse and bullying.
For instance, if someone is having suicidal thoughts, they're encouraged to call 855-274-7471 to talk to a counselor.
Lee made the executive order shortly after the Uvalde, Texas, shooting in which 19 students and two teachers were gunned down by an 18-year-old using a military-style rifle. That came on the heels of the Buffalo, New York, massacre in which an 18-year-old white supremacist killed 10 Black people at a grocery store using the same type of weapon. A day before the governor signed the order, Chattanooga suffered a second batch of shooting deaths in a week's time, which led the mayor there to call for stronger gun laws.
Democrats scoffed at the governor's action.
House Minority Leader Karen Camper said the governor's focus on school security isn't enough.
"Gov. Lee issued an executive order focusing on school safety after the tragedy in Uvalde. But as the list of tragedies shows, we need to do more than turn our attention to locking down schools and adding armed guards as if they were mini-prisons," she said in a statement. "We need to have serious discussions on gun control, and we have to put ideas on the table like an assault weapons ban, raising the purchasing age to 21 and expanding background checks."
During his recent news conference, Lee said his administration isn't considering gun restrictions like a handgun registry to keep track of the number of pistols a person buys, a measure being proposed by state Rep. Vincent Dixie, a Nashville Democrat.
Republicans have been somewhat mum on Lee's executive order. In recent years, they've supported putting more officers in schools, approving a grant fund that districts can tap to hire school resource officers.
But they've typically blamed mental illness, not weapons, for the mass murders nationwide.
And in many cases, they've made it easier to carry weapons, backing the governor's permitless or constitutional carry legislation, which allows law-abiding residents 21 and up to carry handguns without a state permit. The law also enacted harsher punishments for felons caught with weapons.
The governor's news conference was attended mainly by his cabinet members, not key lawmakers, raising the question of whether they were on board with it.
Asked about the order, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said he supports the governor's efforts to improve school security.
McNally said the legislature has been proactive, doubling Tennessee's annual investment in 2019 on school safety to $20 million to initiate the school resource officer grant program.
"In addition, the General Assembly and Gov. Lee established a mental health trust fund and expanded mental health treatment statewide," McNally said. "We have also made it harder for criminals and the mentally ill to obtain firearms. Gov. Lee's executive order goes a long way to amplify what he and the General Assembly have already done on this issue."
While the governor's action is designed to bolster previous legislative efforts, hundreds of people rallied on Nashville's War Memorial Plaza over the weekend, calling for stronger weapons laws in response to the killings.
Numerous mothers with youngsters attended the event, during which protesters demanded more action to protect children and called for the governor to reverse the permitless carry law he signed in 2021. Those speaking said they felt the law is an accident waiting to happen.
On the federal level, the Senate negotiated changes in gun regulations with a framework that could take several steps, including setting up red flag laws that enable family members to petition courts to stop troubled family members from possessing guns and creating more rigorous background checks for gun buyers between 18 and 21. The plan also could help close the gun show loophole by clarifying who must register as a federally licensed gun dealer for background checks.
In addition, federal funds could be made available to states to hire school resource officers and provide for mental health treatment.
Such action at the state level is unlikely, however, in part because of the politics of gun rights, a key factor in garnering votes across rural Tennessee.
Despite public outrage, Middle Tennessee State University political science professor Kent Syler said he is unaware of voters shifting party loyalty because of Republicans' refusal to initiate new gun laws.
A former chief of staff for Democratic Congressman Bart Gordon, Syler believes Republican political advisers are likely trying to gauge voters' reactions to see how their candidates should respond to the spate of deadly shootings.
"It could be a little different this time because you do see a little something happening in the (U.S.) Senate," Syler said.
The U.S. House passed stricter legislation last week, but the Senate bill is more likely to make its way through Congress because of bipartisan support.
Syler, however, doesn't see those types of changes at the state level.
"If you look at what's happened in Tennessee the last few legislative sessions, it's kind of a 'How far can you go?' type thing in loosening gun regulations. It's trying to find a new pro-gun bill every year," Syler said.
Legislation to lower the permitless carry age to 18 passed the House this year but failed to advance in the Senate only after the Republican sponsor declined to push it.
In a red state such as Tennessee, where most elected officials are concerned only with the Republican primary, gun laws are going to be "the last place" where philosophies change, Syler said.
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