Gov. Bill Lee (R) has earned high praise from Democrats in the state after announcing his August special session that will be dedicated to gun control.
According to NBC, the governor has some new, “strange” allies, including Democrat elected officials and members of anti-Second Amendment groups.
“It really is starting to feel like we’re on the same team,” Raumesh Akbari, the Democratic minority leader of the Tennessee state senate, reportedly said. “It has been fascinating to see him break from his caucus, from his party, given that they have not been willing to embrace the possibility of gun safety legislation, especially after what happened at Covenant.”
However, in ceding ground to the political Left before, Lee has found an ally in Akbari.
“Good to hear. Y’all means ALL! Thank you [Gov. Bill Lee] for continuing to allow #Tennessee to accept the least among us- those who are at the absolute worst place in there life and come from countries with circumstances that have forced them to leave their homeland,” Akbari said in 2019, when she learned that Tennessee would continue accepting foreign refugees.
Good to hear. Y’all means ALL! Thank you @GovBillLee for continuing to allow #Tennessee to accept the least among us- those who are at the absolute worst place in there life and come from countries with circumstances that have forced them to leave their homeland. https://t.co/Vv9X9XJrdb
— Senator Raumesh Akbari (@SenAkbari) December 18, 2019
Lee’s refugee decision struck a major blow to former President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
Akbari also praised Lee in 2020, when Juneteenth was observed by proclamation as a paid state holiday. Juneteenth marks the day slaves were officially freed.
Lee has also forged an alliance with Giffords, one of the staunchest anti-gun group nonprofits in America.
“What Gov. Lee is doing here is rather commendable. It’s an act of political courage, even if the solution he put on the table isn’t a perfect one,” said Sean Holihan, the state legislative director for Giffords.
Holihan said Lee “absolutely” deserves credit for bringing the legislature back into session in an attempt to ram gun legislation through.
Giffords, founded by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who in 2011 was shot during a rally, recently called to ban all guns.
From a recent interview with Time Magazine:
As we wrap our interview in her office, I ask how she keeps coming back to a challenge so deeply ingrained in politics. She pauses for 12 pregnant seconds.
“No more guns,” she says.
Ambler, her aide and adviser, tries to clarify that she means no more gun violence, but Giffords is clear about what she’s saying. “No, no, no,” she says. “Lord, no.” She pauses another 32 seconds. “Guns, guns, guns. No more guns. Gone.”
In mid-May, State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) said he visited Lee’s office with a group of students to discuss gun control with the governor.
“We’re heading to the governor’s office so these students can meet with the governor about the special session and the urgency about having the special session before school starts and to make sure it prioritizes the common sense gun reform that these young people asked him for,” Jones said in a video while marching to Lee’s office.
Lee’s office refused to confirm or deny the meeting.
Members of the Republican-dominated Tennessee legislature have already vowed to oppose Lee’s demand for red flag laws, calling them a “non-starter.”
House Republicans rebuked Lee’s plan in mid-April.
“Any red flag law is a non-starter for House Republicans,” the House majority party said on Twitter. “Our caucus is focused on finding solutions that prevent dangerous individuals from harming the public and preserve the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. We have always been open to working with Governor Lee on measures that fit within that framework.”
Meanwhile, as reported at length by The Tennessee Star, allies of Lee’s new friends are planning to wreak havoc in Nashville during the special session, currently set for late August.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Bill Lee” by Gov. Bill Lee.
Lee was elected to his first term with a lot of demokrat money silently backing his campaign. Several of the people picked as his staff as well as several of the commissioners are part of this leftists cabal.
I’d like to see a list of Lee’s donors. This smells like he’s got promises to keep to certain donors.
How can we get the List?
Is it published in a public document or is it PROTECTED like the Manifesto of the Lady who murdered 6 innocent people knowing she would be committing “SUICIDE BY COP” .
DOES THE GREAT TYRRANT HAVE A SECURITY PLAN? Taxpayers have to foot the bill for the Special Session, Security & Special Election for two expelled varmints who should be in jail. They did exactly what the J6ers are jailed for.
We are sick & tired of cleaning up the messes made by folks we pay a salary to.
Lee is a DemoKrat pretending to be a RINO.
If there is time to report a “red flag’ there is time to report to the police! If there is probable cause (after an urgent investigation), then a search warrant can be issued – by a court, and the guns and other evidence can be confiscated, and name be placed on the NICS list pending adjudication. All items returned and name removed from NICS immediately if ‘State’ looses. Real probable cause is critical! Virtually all the mass shooting events had plenty of forewarning signs; it needs to be easy to make all reports to a single department within Law Enforcement and for all reports to be taken seriously as the department separates the unjustified from the real risks. NO GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES ALLOWED in the process.
Hammers and knives are next‼️
It seems likely Lee has realized that Blackburn and Hagerty will be re-elected, and since he has no political future in the state or nationally, he cut some kind of financial arrangement for after he leaves office. It has made him a lame duck quite early, sort of a Don Sunquist redux. Along these lines, today attorneys for Metro Police flat-out told the chancellor they would not provide her records. This is the type of country the United States has become.
To that first point, include an “asterisk.” This has potential to do tremendous harm to the Republican Party in Tennessee, which may have made whatever arrangements Lee made quite lucrative. It seems the GOP is selling out its voters more and more post-Trump.
If only the GOP/RNC/TNGOP were Conservative.
They’re despicable RINOs, Lee and such are their products.
We have the uniparty.
My concern would be unintended consequences of these laws. If someone is angry with another, could this be used as a revenge weapon? It’s like the censure ship issue, who decides disinformation or in this case that someone be reported.
The Tennessee General Assembly’s flag doesn’t have “In God We Trust” on it. How quickly can we get that accomplished?? In this Special Session, perhaps?
Govern Lee are you planning on taking peoples vehicles too. These people that drive into crowds. It’s the driver not the car. Just like it’s the person with the gun it takes a person pulling that trigger. These people that have the knives hurting/stabbing people are you going to take the knives too. So it’s the person. These people are sick. No one in their right mind want to harm anyone.These people need their heads check. Leave our guns alone. We have our 2amendment right to bare arms.
Last vote for Lee was last time I voted. I will not be voting for him again. I doubt very many conservatives will either.