NASHVILLE, — A year after the Covenant School shooting, change on laws affecting gun violence has been a slow process.
Yet, advocates say they have not lost hope.
"We’ve seen positive movement this legislative session," said Erin Rogus, policy director for Voices for a Safer Tennessee.
"This includes the advancement of bills to prohibit firearm purchases for those deemed incompetent to stand trial, to criminalize threats of mass violence, and to require annual reporting on state firearm injuries and deaths."
Hundreds of protesters descended upon the Tennessee state Capitol, demanding change in the days after the tragic shooting, but little changed. A special legislative session called by Gov. Bill Lee last August also ended uneventfully.
The parents of 9-year-old shooting victim Evelyn Dieckhaus had shared their frustrations about going to Capitol Hill to tell their story.
"We said, 'Look, we don't know what to do, but we think that something needs to be done on the side of firearms' -- and you could just feel the room change," said Evelyn's dad, Mike Dieckhaus.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates followed up, "It was not a subject that they wanted to discuss."
"It certainly didn't seem like it," Mike agreed.
There have not been a lot of victories since then.
A recent bill by Senator Heidi Campbell — to make it a misdemeanor to give a gun to someone who you know is not legally entitled to possess a firearm — died in a Senate committee.
Just this week, a bill to provide incentives to people to properly store their weapons in their vehicles — to stem the wave of gun thefts from cars — suffered the exact same fate.
And yet as Katy Dieckhaus hinted earlier this year, they were expecting an ongoing process
"As meetings have progressed, it has gotten better, and more conversation is happening," she added.
Voices for a Safer Tennessee also notes that there was legislation that would have allowed gun permit holders to carry handguns in schools — legislation that they opposed — has failed to advance.
"After years of loosening our state firearm safety laws, we're starting to see a shift," Rogus added.