As legislators wrapped up for the second day of special session, Covenant families stood on the Capitol steps to discuss their feelings on the direction of legislation.
Right now, the Covenant Families Action fund is supporting a handful of different bills like HB7012, which focuses on gun locks and gun storage.
"We still have a ways to go today,” said David Teague, the father of a Covenant student. “We want to encourage sane and reasonable people to engage in the political process by voting in primaries, seeking office, and supporting those who want to focus on solutions, and not foster anger and division."
However, the fund is opposed to a couple of bills that they believe would put more guns in schools, like HB7086 by Rep. Ryan Williams. This legislation would allow faculty or staff to carry a concealed handgun at schools. Arming educators has always been a contentious fight in Tennessee, the bills usually not reaching the floor for passage.
"Firearms can only worsen the conditions in our school," said Sarah Shoop Neumann, another Covenant parent. "The presence of firearms would fundamentally alter the relationship between teachers and students. This bill can only make the plight of our schools here in Tennessee, already among the worst performing in the nation, so much worse. It would interrupt student learning, drive teachers out of the classroom, and put our schools in more danger, not less."
The bill that would arm teachers at schools and allow for gun storage safety measures will both go before the House Civil Justice Committee at 10 a.m.
