Handgun Bill For Tennessee’s Private Schools Moves On To Full Committee
Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
A private school handgun bill will move on to full committee after passing out of the House Civil Justice Subcommittee yesterday.
House Bill 1631 (HB1631) sponsored by Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood-District 61) expands state law that already allows a private school serving grades K-12 to make handgun carry policy for their school. This bill will allow private schools that serve PreK-12 to also make policies for their schools.
Bulso attempted to have similar legislation passed during the 2023 special session on gun safety after the tragedy at the Covenant School in Nashville. While his bill passed on first consideration in the House, the Senate chose not to pick it up.
Bills from a summer session are not automatically carried over to the next general session hence Bulso filing the legislation again this year.
Sarah Shoop Neumann, mother of a child who attends the Covenant School, testified before the subcommittee yesterday afternoon to bring objections to Bulso’s bill. It was her opinion, she stated, that the bill would put students at risk of harm from those who merely had a Tennessee handgun permit and not more extensive training for active shooter situations.
A comment The Tennessee Conservative received on our earlier story regarding this bill suggests that Neumann’s opinion is not accurate.
Gary Johnston, retired from law enforcement, had this to say:
“The only deterrent a potential school shooter would really think hard about is the knowledge that he would likely encounter armed personnel in said school that he was contemplating attacking. These individuals have proven time and time again to be mentally unstable but they are not stupid. They are highly motivated to succeed and hardening the schools would be a serious deterrent.”
House Bill 1631 passed the House Civil Justice Subcommittee, chaired by Representative Lowell Russell (R-Vonore-District 21) by Voice Vote with Ayes prevailing.
Because Chairman Russell chose to use a voice vote to hide the voting records of subcommittee members from public scrutiny, we can only assume Chairman Russell supports HB1641 and is responsible for the passage of HB1631. Chairman Russell could have used a transparent roll call vote, but opted for a voice vote to shield committee members and himself from accountability and in this case, responsibility for the passage of a conservative bill’s passage out of the subcommittee.
According to a statement made by Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson-District 69) on the Mill Creek View Tennessee Podcast, all a legislator has to do in order to have their voice vote recorded is give a thumbs up or a thumbs down to the clerk. This means that it is very easy for legislators to put their vote on the record and create transparency with their constituents if they choose to.
However, only Representative Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis-District 98), the only Democrat on the subcommittee chose to signal the clerk to have his vote counted. Parkinson’s vote was counted as “No”.
HB1631 will now move on to the full House Civil Justice Committee but has not yet appeared on their calendar upon publication of this article.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative.
You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
Well at LEAST Democrats have the courage of their convictions (I speak of Gloria Johnson and Antonio Parkinson on their respective committee vote) as they appear to be the ONLY ‘representatives’ that are willing to go on record with their vote! Shame on the GOP members of the Tennessee legislature that do not want their votes a matter of public record, and instead shroud their votes in secret! I’m sure that it is just in case the political winds start blowing in a different direction. Don’t we all wish that so called conservative Republicans had the courage of their convictions on these important issues.
In the short term, A bill that would allow for the staff of both private and public schools to be armed, and to provide firearms training would go a long way to ending school shootings. **The perpetrator of the Covenant School shooting is known to have considered another school, but chose not to, because it had a resource officer, and security was tight. Instead, this person chose the Covenant School, with tragic consequences. The high school that I attended many years ago had a Rifle Club. Students used to bring their rifles to school. NOBODY GOT SHOT.
Correct, key statement there WITH training!
As the individual who testified this is not an accurate summary of the evidenced based research I provided to the committee or my stance. The comment you mention from Gary Johnston doesn’t go against anything I said but is also just that a comment – not backed by research. I support properly trained security in our schools and the right for both private and public to be able to implement policies to do so. However, that must be done in a responsible way or we are only giving ourselves a false sense of security and putting our kids at risk. An average citizen that has only received a handgun carry permit is not a deterrent for a mass schooler, true security is. If you’re going to allow guns around children you need to ensure knowledge of secure handling, storage, threat assessment, and field training, amongst other things. An untrained individual puts themselves and the students at risk for a multitude of reasons. Happy to send full research your way. If we are going to put forth legislation to protect our kids let’s do it fully and research backed, our kids deserve better. The end result of March 27th was not luck, it was valor and extensive training of both staff and MNPD.
Sarah
Well said