Tennessee Gun Reform Group Supported By Some Republicans, Questioned By Others
Image Credit: Voices for a Safer Tennessee / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
A legislative action group known as Voices for a Safer Tennessee cropped up in the wake of The Covenant School shooting in Nashville earlier this year.
“We’re neighbors and friends,” the organization writes. “We’re Republicans, Democrats, and Independents with varying views on gun ownership. We’re Tennesseans who care about our state and the people who live in it.”
At this point, Voices for a Safer Tennessee has garnered support from over 20,000 people across the state.
“These aren’t just names, these are politicians or former politicians I should say, music industry giants, that really care about Tennessee and keeping our community safe,” stated Dori Thornton Waller, one of the group’s board members.
Amy Grant, Vince Gill, and Former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) are some of the names Waller listed.
The organization advocates for three main things: temporary transfer laws, secure storage in vehicles, and consistent background checks.
“Being nonpartisan is so important on this issue,” said Waller. “It is such a hard issue to discuss with anyone and everyone, but we really have found these three issues to be a common ground for all Tennesseans.”
The group was quite active during Tennessee’s extraordinary legislative session on public safety back in August, showing up at the Capitol and conducting gatherings in Nashville communities.
“It is a public health crisis right now,” Waller told Channel 12 News. “If you remember many decades ago, there were a lot more vehicle deaths. […] That was resolved because people said, you know, we don’t want to take your cars, but we want to show you how to safely drive them and how to be a safe car owner. So, we think the same thing is needed for gun reform.”
The organization has remained active since the state’s special session, visiting areas like Chattanooga “to promote gun safety” at the Church of the Good Shepherd and then again for a “men’s lunch and conversation” where multiple local business owners and residents showed up to speak.
Even though the group claims to promote nonpartisan efforts “to make Tennessee safer” through gun safety legislation, some feel this group is simply a way to get conservative voters on board with left-wing policies.
In an op-ed titled “The Left’s Red State Template for Emotive Gun Control Votes,” Mark Alexander likens the group’s efforts to a Trojan Horse.
“‘Gun reform’ is a leftist euphemism for ‘gun control,’ which is and always has been a euphemism for gun confiscation,” Alexander writes.
While the tone of Alexandar’s article may not be to everyone’s liking, he does bring up an important question. Would any of the gun reform laws proposed by Voices for a Safer Tennessee actually have prevented a tragic event like The Covenant School Shooting?
As in most cases where innocent people are murdered, The Covenant School Shooting did not occur because laws were being followed.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
Harden the schools and leave our rights alone!!!!!!!!!
Funny, all those big names can afford armed security. No one is coming to the average persons rescue. The Covenant shooting happened because a woman was mentally ill and the left promotes it as normal. It had nothing to do with the availability of weapons.
I agree 💯
AMEN I am sick of knee jerk reaction to shootings.
I am old enough to remember going to high school with my long gun in my vehicle everyday. A lot of us did. NO school shootings. It has never been about the firearm. Something has changed. Our kids need to be protected MORE than the politicians and celebrities, not less.
Ditto here Mark. You know what else we had in school then? GOD. Remove GOD and evil will flourish. That’s a story told over and over again in the Bible.
Amen Brother! They have taken that and History classes out of our schools and have been indoctrinating them for years with their left wing propaganda. which equates to Satanism…
Same here. I recall when we had to do a how-to for speech class, at least one person showed how to clean a rifle.
SO true MARK most pick ups in my school parking lot and long guns in the back window, and we never had a school shooting.
This group is one of a few similar groups who suddenly appeared after the Covenant school murders, voicing some sort of “common sense” in regards to existing or future firearms laws. There is nothing non-partisan about the organizations or any of their members since all have the intent to subvert a natural right and give criminals and dot gov the upper hand over the people.
Amen Robert and hits the nail on the proverbial head! These people are all about power and control period.
“It is a public health crisis right now,”
That is a common liberal democrat communist marxist fascist gun grabber line. Anything after that is just platitudes in an effort to confiscate and ban guns. There is nothing in the Constitution about the right to drive a car shall not be infringed. Add to that, by 2026 all cars will be mandated to have remote stop capability. If the gubmint wants to keep you from driving, they’ll be able to. Espouse the wrong opinions, car disabled. Vote the wrong way, car disabled. Give money to the wrong group, car disabled. Speak up at your child’s school about transing and indoctrination, car disabled.
amy grant is a known liberal democrat communist marxist fascist.
I refuse to capitalize the names of these evil bigots and their groups because it legitimizes them.
I came here from California a few years back and I can tell you this is a text book play by anti gun groups. I am very surprised how many of our “republicans” are really just democrats with a R behind there name here.
Guns have NEVER been the problem and all this talk about mental health is great but at the end of the day when you remove GOD from these kids lives this is what happens. We all need the Lord and I think we need to see that girls manifesto too while we are at it!
Hey Scott I’m with you. In California when someone told you they were republican they were more often then not conservative Christian’s! Yet here in a supposed Bible Belt most likely there not conservative and definitely aren’t Christian.
Guns are great, except in dimmercrap hands.
More attempts to cover up the fact that letting criminals go free while taking away the rights of law abiding citizens!
I’ve been watching this group, the timing is beyond suspicious. Not difficult to read through the “gun safety” rhetoric to GUN CONTROL, if a body has ANY critical thinking skills left.
Why don’t they FOCUS on the Catch and release Court system and the DEATH penalty instead of Law abiding Citizens??????
I signed up with the group simply to stay abreast of what they were doing and planning for the upcoming legislative session.
Who finances these “Gun Reform” groups? The anti second amendment leftists are now trying to reframe gun violence as a “Public Health” crisis. It has nothing to do with “public health”. This is a crime issue. Get rid of leftist District Attorneys and “activist” judges who let repeat criminals walk free, only to commit more violent crimes. The Administration in Washington completely ignores our immigration laws, and thousands of criminals and terrorists are escaping into the country. Remember what the Governor of New Mexico recently did. She declared gun violence (mainly perpetrated by gangs involved in drugs) as a “Public Health Crisis”, and told law abiding citizens who had concealed carry licenses they couldn’t carry. Don’t believe these people’s lies.