在纳什维尔学校发生大规模枪击事件近一个月后，田纳西州州长比尔·李将召开特别立法会议，以解决枪支改革问题——这对共和党人来说是一个不同寻常的步骤。
就在议员休会几个小时后，李说他将再次召集他们“寻求深思熟虑的、切实可行的解决方案来保障田纳西人的安全。”
“人们普遍认为，那些企图伤害自己或他人的危险、不稳定的人不应该拥有武器，”李在一份声明中写道声明。
2023年4月11日，田纳西州纳什维尔，州长比尔·李在新闻发布会上回答问题。
乔治·沃克四世/美联社
即使在呼吁改革的同时，李指出，他“坚定地致力于维护第二修正案的权利，确保正当程序，并通过加强精神卫生资源来解决问题的核心。”
在立法会议的最后几天，李明博游说立法者通过他所谓的“保护令”法，旨在从那些被认为对周围人有危险的人手中收回枪支。
“田纳西人要求我们抛开政治和个人骄傲。他们指望我们做正确的事情，”李在周三表示录像呼吁立法者。
田纳西·众议院共和党人很快停工他的提议是“不可行的”一些共和党议员表示，他们需要更多时间来审查李明博的提议，美国广播公司子公司WKRN报道。
州立法者周五休会，没有就枪支改革采取行动，李也没有提供立法者返回州议会大厦的正式日期。
“真的很不幸，我们在会期的第27个立法日就匆忙休会，而我们每个会期有90个立法日，却没有通过一项枪支安全法案。这一失败完全违背了我们的立法职责，”民主党众议员约翰·雷·克莱蒙斯说发微博。
在3月27日圣约学校六人被杀后，共和党领导的立法机构面临越来越大的公众压力，要求其解决枪支政策问题。一名枪手手持两支突击步枪和一把手枪，所有这些都是合法购买的，杀死了三名学生和三名工作人员。官员们表示，枪手正在接受不明情绪障碍的治疗。
这三名议员后来因涉嫌违反商会的礼仪规则而面临来自同行的历史性驱逐投票。琼斯和皮尔逊驱逐，而约翰逊躲过了她的开除决议。
“现实是，我们有一个超级多数的共和党立法机构，他们不想看到进展，他们更愿意听取全国步枪协会的意见，而不是选民的意见，”皮尔森说告诉“本周”乔纳森·卡尔被开除后。
皮尔逊和琼斯都是使复原州议会。
2020年，田纳西州每10万人中有673起暴力犯罪，根据联邦调查局。
Republican governor to call special session in Tennessee to discuss gun reform
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee will call a special legislative session to address gun reform nearly a month after a mass shooting at a Nashville school -- an unusual step for a Republican.
Just hours after lawmakers gaveled out of session, Lee said he'll be calling them back to "pursue thoughtful, practical solutions to keep Tennesseans safe."
"There is broad agreement that dangerous, unstable individuals who intend to harm themselves or others should not have access to weapons," Lee wrote in astatement.
Even while calling for reforms, Lee noted his "strong commitment to preserving Second Amendment rights, ensuring due process and addressing the heart of the problem with strengthened mental health resources."
In the final days of the legislative session, Lee made a pitch for lawmakers to pass what he called an “order of protection” law aimed at taking firearms away from those deemed a risk to those around them.
"Tennesseans are asking us to set aside politics and personal pride. They are depending on us to do the right thing," Lee said in a Wednesdayvideoappealing to legislators.
Tennessee House Republicans quicklyshut downhis proposal as a "non-starter." Some GOP lawmakers said they needed more time to review Lee's proposal,ABC affiliate WKRN reported.
State legislators adjourned on Friday with no action on gun reform, and Lee did not offer an official date for lawmakers' return to the state Capitol.
"It’s truly unfortunate that we’re rushing to adjourn our state legislature on only the 27th legislative day of the session when we’re allowed 90 legislative days per session and have not taken up a single gun safety bill. This failure is a complete breach of our legislative duty," Democratic State Rep. John Ray Clemmonstweeted.
Public pressure has mounted on the Republican-led legislature to address gun policy after six were killed at the Covenant School on March 27. A shooter armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun, all of which were legally purchased, killed three students and three staff members. Officials have said that the shooter was being treated for an unspecified emotional disorder.
The three lawmakers later faced historic expulsion votes from their peers for allegedly violating the chamber's rules of decorum. Jones and Pearson wereexpelled, while Johnson survived her expulsion resolution.
"The reality is we have a super-majority Republican legislature that doesn't want to see progress, that prefers to listen to the NRA rather than the constituents," Pearsontold "This Week"co-anchor Jonathan Karl after his expulsion.
Pearson and Jones were bothreinstatedto the state legislature.
Tennessee suffered 673 violent crimes per 100,000 people in 2020,according tothe FBI.
