Image Credit: Covenant Families for Brighter Tomorrows
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Families from Nashville’s Covenant School have begun a pair of nonprofits and are pushing Tennessee for gun prevention laws such as expanded background checks, secure storage and red flag laws heading into August’s expected special session of the Tennessee Legislature.
A shooter killed three students and three employees at Covenant School earlier this year. Family members from the school started Covenant Families for a Brighter Tomorrow and the legislative advocacy nonprofit Covenant Families Action Fund.
“Gun owners even support background checks, safe storage, temporarily limiting access to firearms for folks who are a threat to themselves and others until they can get help,” said David Teague, a co-founder of the groups. “These are not controversial items. It’s the fact that they’re not on the books already is what’s controversial, while another Tennessee family loses a loved one every five and a half hours to gun violence.”
Gov. Bill Lee plans to call a special session on public safety beginning on Aug. 21 and has heard opposition to his proposal for a red flag law, which he called a temporary mental health order of protection.
The Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition, which recently met with Lee, spoke with Lee about the group’s opposition to the proposal. Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, and Tennessee House Republicans have spoken out against red flag laws as well.
The Covenant families said they have had dozens of meetings with Tennessee legislators and will continue to take the meetings to advocate for new laws.
“We are advocating for gun violence prevention solutions such as expanded background checks, secure storage and order of protection laws – a life-saving measure that could have prevented the tragedy at the Covenant School,” said Covenant parent Melissa Alexander. “As a native Tennessean and gun owner I think it’s important to emphasize responsible gun ownership, however, I also think it’s important to intervene when there are clear signs that something is wrong.”
Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, held a press conference on gun laws in the Cordell Hull Office Building near the Tennessee Capitol on Friday morning, joined by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Metro Nashville Deputy Mayor Brenda Haywood.
“My colleagues chose to end the legislative session early but we will not allow justice to be denied any longer,” Jones said in a statement. “Rather than excuses we must act in the face of special interest-funded opposition, and on August 21st we urge the legislature to enact a policy that Tennesseans are demanding: Protect Kids Not Guns.”
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
13 Responses
And why would anyone have even the slightest confidence that any of these measures would be effective? If real protection is the agenda here, and it’s not just another leftist gun grab(it probably is), the best thing they could do is follow Mississippi’s example, and pay some of the admins and teachers a stipend to train and carry on campus. That way, you have real time responses and can stop something like this quickly. A cop buddy who I used to ride motorcycles with put it very succinctly: “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away”.
Once again, leftist gun grabbers fail to take responsibility for THEIR failure to provide a safe environment for their children and school staff!! Had there been an SRO in this school, this heinous act would not have occurred. Removing a tool used to commit violence does nothing to stop the violence. It just makes way for a different tool to be used. Do the work and address mental health issues, which is the root cause of all violence.
Yup, lucifer’s dimmercraps. Never let a good crisis go to waste.
When libs say “Safe storage ” they mean that you must have your weapons in a locked area, such as a gunsafe; sometimes the weapons must also be unloaded. For protecting yourself and your family this defeats the purpose of self protection (remember, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. ” So when a burgler, kidnapper, or malicious home invader comes calling what are potential victims to do, say to the criminal, “Hold it, King’s X, time out, while I dial the combination to open the safe, retrieve my rifle or handgun, and find the ammunition for it that I am legally required to store elsewhere, then load the gun. Just hang on and I’ll be right with you. “??? Ridiculous. The inalienable (i.e., God-given) right to keep and bear arms shall NOT be infringed (i.e., encroached).
Quit trying to take away our God given right. ” The 2nd Amendment”. Release the killers manifesto. What are the school and parents trying to hide, that they don’t want it released? Address the real issue which is on the increase in America. “MENTAL ILLNESS”. Since our government has taken God out of every aspect of our daily lives. Because of the big lie. “Separation of church and state”. People educate yourselves, read the United States Constitution. Nowhere in the Constitution does it state a separation between church and state. The Constitution was founded on the Bible. Since God has been removed, satan has filled the void. Just look at the moral decay that is taking place in America. Good is evil and evil is good. End times.
MATTHEW 12:35 KJV
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
In God we trust not government or man.
Have a blessed day.
Not one single proposal would have stopped the Covenant School shooting. I did not see anything about arming teachers or armed guards in their proposals. If my child was at that school I would have the school protected or I would find a new school.
These outside interest are all about taking away people’s rights and have nothing to do with the safety of students.
Govenor Lee should be ashamed of himself for pushing a fat left agenda on the state of TN. If people want to protect children then train and arm teachers and staff.
The root of the problem is not guns but far left radical evil people.
Totally agree with this opinion.
“a life-saving measure that could have prevented the tragedy at the Covenant School,” said Covenant parent Melissa Alexander. ”
So she is saying the other Covenant Parents (the Hales) could have prevented this shooting if there was a red flag law. But not the existing mental health laws that would allow the same arrest/ weapon seizures with due process. They’ve had a long time to recognize issues with Hale. If the very “Covenant Family” she lived with had no knowledge of her mental health condition (they did) and if the existing gun purchase laws were broken in lying on the background checks at purchase (still not released), just exactly who would raise the red flag? Would Covenant just make up a false shooter threat charge to force an arrest – like they did with Austin Davis? It seemed like that worked just fine, with no red flag law- and more importantly, no actual threat made by Davis! (That’s called bearing false witness for the “Covenant Families”) Something at Covenant provoked the targeted attack by the former student of a “Covenant Family”. They want to hide the alleged manifesto because ?????
Do not give these gun grabbers an inch, they will take it all. Release the manifest Lee, what are you and the school hiding? No manifest, no special session. No red flag laws.
This irritates me to no end. I am so very sorry for the loss of the innocent children and adults that passed. That being said, their sorrow doesn’t trump the right of human beings to protect themselves. Restricting the rights of innocent citizens to protect themselves causes more potential tragedy, not prevents it. If the Covenant families really want to be effective, focus on getting the manifesto out.
Why not enforce the Laws already there??? Why doesn’t this so- called Christian school peddle there influence teaching the Bible turning self destructive behavior into something positive!! Same ole song Blame the Gun not the one behind it!! Always somebody’s else fault.
Congress, in one of its big spending bills, included money for the Federal Government to “encourage the States to pass “Red Flag Laws”‘. The Covenant School shooting occurred, and Bill Lee, joined by all the liberals in the State Assembly, wasted no time in pushing for a Red Flag Law. The truth is, if current laws had been used, it would have the same effect as the proposed Red Flag Law. A new law is unnecessary. Taking in to account that the Covenant Parents are blocking the release of the “Manifesto” and other information about the shooting that would have an impact on the passage of any new law, the State Assembly should move for an immediate adjournment of Lee’s Special Session. The majority of Tennesseans do not want ANY “Red Flag” Law, ENOUGH with gun laws that take away people’s right of due process.
Liberal Definition = 1944, NYC, Madison Square Garden. National Convention of Communist Organizations.
Research this big piece of History