NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In front of a conference room full of reporters, lawmakers and state officials, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee outlined his proposal to make schools safer. It came exactly seven days after a lone gunman killed six innocent lives inside Nashville's The Covenant School.
"These are practical, thoughtful solutions that we can all agree upon," said Gov. Lee, during the news conference.
The governor is offering up three proposals. One, he's amending the upcoming budget to offer up millions to public and private schools for security enhancements. He's also double the current funding to provide mental health liaisons in Tennessee public schools.
"So that we not only have one in every county, but that we have multiple in many counties," said Lee.
He also wants to add armed guards to every public school in the state.
"There is no excuse to not have a guard at every school," said Gov. Lee.
But what seemed most significant is what the governor didn't officially propose — some sort of red flag law. Even though it wasn't in the official proposal, the Governor admits he supports the idea.
"A person who is a threat to themselves or a threat to others should not have access to weapons. To the degree that we can do that, protecting the constitutional rights of our people at the same time — including that person — the way we do that together is the way forward," said Gov. Lee.
NewsChannel 5 asked the Governor if he went down the red flag law route, and got opposition from gun lobbying groups like the NRA or the Tennessee Firearms Association, would he be willing to stand against those organizations.
"First, let’s just acknowledge, the term red flag laws mean a lot of things to a lot of different people," Gov. Lee replied. "I’m looking for answers that separate dangerous people from firearms and protect constitutional rights. That is very important that we do that, whatever it’s called, that’s what it should accomplish. I’m standing here saying that’s what we should do going forward."
Lee was flanked, mostly by Republican lawmakers, but there was a lone Democrat Rep. Antonio Parkinson.
"This will be helpful to our schools which are soft targets, but we have a whole plethora of soft targets out there," said Rep. Antonio Parkinson.
While the Memphis lawmaker applauded the governor's proposal, he echoed the need for red flag laws and even more.
"Background checks is absolutely needed, cool off periods, we used to have cool off periods," said Rep. Parkinson.
Gov. Lee admitted this wouldn't be the only step lawmakers should take to make schools safer. That could open the door for more news conferences and more proposals.
"There is a desire to find a way forward that protect kids in schools, in a better way than we have today," said Gov. Lee.
So what are the odds of a red flag law passing in Tennessee? Lt. Gov. Randy McNally told reporters last week, he's open to a version of the law that Florida has, that takes away firearms from those a judge rules as a danger to themselves or a danger to others.
Speaker Sexton told reporters Monday, unless there's a mental health component, he considers it just a gun confiscation law.
