Tennessee senate passes bill allowing schoolteachers to carry concealed weapons in K-12 schools

The Tennessee Senate has just passed a bill that will let some educators bring guns to school.

The state Senate passed SB 1325 by a vote of 26-5 Tuesday, allowing concealed handguns in the classroom.

Republican state senators passed the bill amid angry protests, as left-leaning dissidents campaigned for its demise.

The bill's passing comes weeks after the first anniversary of the mass shooting at The Covenant School, which left six, several of them kids, dead. On Tuesday, several produced signs bearing those victims' names.

Around 200 gun-reform advocates thus descended on the proceedings at the Capitol in Nashville Tuesday to voice their opposition, standing in the Senate's gallery with some having to be removed.

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'Kill the bill, not the kids!' sign-waving opponents chanted overhead, from a confined area overseen by several state troopers.

As lawmakers debated, more chants of 'shame on you' were heard - as many voiced concern over teachers not needing disclose if they are carrying a weapon under the prospective bill.

One of the few Senators to vote against the bill in Raumesh Akbari, cited this before the landslide vote, saying from the floor: 'A teacher is not allowed to put a rainbow flag on her desk, but she's allowed to carry a gun in this state.'

Bill co-sponsor state Sen. Paul Bailey, meanwhile, shot back there is 'a lot of misinformation' about the legislation, which he pointed out 'does not require any teacher in this state to carry a gun while working.' 

The Republican remarked: 'This bill is completely permissive. It simply gives a faculty or staff member the option.'  

Democratic state Sen. London Lamar - another politician opposed to SB 1325 - held her infant son as she spoke from the at-times heated House floor.

Declaring her opposition, she asked her contemporaries to use 'common sense' as they mulled the efficacy of such a legislation.

'We are literally talking about arming educators, who took an oath to teach our kids writing and arithmetic,' she said, child in tow.

'And [now] we're now turning them into law enforcement agents.'

Republican state Sen. Ken Yager spoke in support of the bill, after conceding debate surrounding the subject is 'emotionally charged.'

He went on to point out how rural counties like the ones he represents often have only two deputies on shift, creating opportunity for prospective killers to record causalities.  

Yager said the bill would address that, erasing any delays in future law enforcement responses.

Following some debate in the Republican-dominated house, the vote eventually went through - and almost immediately after, a chorus of chants of 'vote them out' rang out across the auditorium. 

But the bill still needs to make its way through the Tennessee General Assembly before becoming an official law, and a date for it to be tabled as not been set.

If it does pass, Tennessee would join some 34 states that allow school personnel or teachers to carry a firearm - though it's not as simple as them just bringing one into their respective building.

First, educators are required to obtain an enhanced carry permit, which requires an application fee of $100 and an eight-hour training course.

Then, they will need to obtain written authorization from their superintendent, principal, and the chief of their local law enforcement agency, along with 40 hours of basic training in school policing.

Another 40 hours of training for Peace Officer's Standards is also required, at the educator's expense.

A background check and psychological exam conducted by a Tennessee licensed health care provider comes next, after which the applicant will be able to bring a concealed weapon into their place of work.

The bill does not, however, allow weapons to be carried openly 'or in any other manner in which the handgun is visible to ordinary observation,' and does not allow handguns to be carried in 'stadiums, gymnasiums, or auditoriums when school-sponsored events are in progress.' 

Meetings where tenure or disciplinary matters are being discussed are also prohibited sites for teacher-turned gunslingers. 

The bill will now make its way through the proper channels.  

Meanwhile, 2023 was a record year in terms of teens being injured or killed by incidents of gun violence, with an unsettling tally of 1,381 injuries and 3,861 deaths.

That's up from the 1,379 injuries and 3,814 deaths seen last year, which - as was the case for mass murders - was the most ever recorded at the time.

The deadliest shooting happened in October in Lewiston, the second most populous city in Maine.

Months before, transgender Tennessean Audrey Hale stormed the Nashville elementary school in March, killing three 9-year-olds and three adults before being gunned down herself.

Advocates have argued the deaths may have been avoided if any of the staff had been armed. 

State troopers were thus asked to clear the gallery of all observers except the mothers of students at the school where the fatal shooting unfolded.