NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After a politicized and emotionally charged couple of weeks after the Covenant School shooting, what is the chance of bipartisanship at the state house as Governor Bill Lee is asking lawmakers to pass a stronger law to keep dangerous people away from firearms?
Lee said Tuesday he wants to see a proposal from state lawmakers that would allow family members, police or doctors ask a judge to remove weapons from a gun owner who may pose a threat to themselves or others.
Lee's proposal describes a measure with a politically-loaded term: a red flag law.
Two former Tennessee governors may be able to offer some insight as to whether state Republicans and Democrats can pass such a proposal by working together.
Republican Bill Haslam and Democrat Phil Bredesen have explored the idea of bipartisanship in the podcast "You Might Be Right" from the University of Tennessee's Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy. The first episode of the nine-part series is titled "What can we do about gun violence?"
While the episode was released last year, long before the Covenant School shooting, the two former governors greed that red flag laws may offer up an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats in Tennessee to work together.
"I guess I have mixed feelings about [red flag laws]," Bredesen said in the podcast, released in September 2022. "I mean, on one hand, I've been for them. I've certainly stated that. On the other hand, boy, I sure don't think there's the solution to everything."
"I do think it would help," Haslam said. "And I do think, for it to be effective, it would have to be funded, because unfortunately in the country, I don't think we have that level of vigilance today where somebody's saying, 'I am really concerned about Joey and I'm going to care enough to follow through on it.'"
Last year, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act -- providing $750 million for states to create and fund laws like the one Governor Lee is proposing.
But the former governors say at the heart of all bipartisanship, both sides must be willing to consider views they may not agree with.
"I do think, like a lot of other challenges, the best hope we have is people having a sense of a commitment to a good beyond just their own," Haslam said in the podcast.
"Maybe try to understand a little bit about where somebody is coming from on either side and what the culture is like there, is part of the answer of just starting to come together," Bredesen said.
As the title of their podcast suggests, the former governors say it's important for lawmakers to be open to the idea that the other side "might be right."
