Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton threw cold water on “grandstanding” State Representative John Ray Clemmons’ (D-West Nashville) call for a special session to push gun control in Tennessee, demonstrating that there is little support for the idea.
In a press conference that NewsChannel5 reported on, Clemmons said, “Let’s pass mental health care laws. Let’s repeal bad laws that have facilitated this. Let’s use the indicators we see in domestic violence to limit people’s access to firearms. Let’s repeal the open carry law and guns in trunk law. Let’s take legislative action now. Not later, now. Not after another shooting, not after more deaths. Now.”
The Tennessee Star asked Sexton for comment on Clemmons’ statements.
“He is just trying to be relevant while politically grandstanding. He knows Tennessee state law only applies to individuals 21 and over for permitless carry, while the individual in Texas was 18,” responded Sexton.
Clemmons tweeted many times on the gun control issue in the wake of the Texas school shooting tragedy.
“Praying may make you feel better, @GovBillLee, but you and your ilk’s policies and ceaseless pandering to NRA are killing people. So you, @BillHagertyTN, @MarshaBlackburn and GOP legislators should either recognize you’re complicit and change or do us all a favor and STHU,” he said in one tweet.
“Every single day I walk my children to their schoolhouse doors and watch them walk inside. I simply can’t imagine them never walking out. Doing absolutely nothing about #GunViolence and electing people subservient to the NRA makes the unimaginable possible. We must act. Now,” said Clemmons in another.
Earlier, Sexton issued a statement on the idea of a special session on guns.
“I don’t understand the request to call for a special session due to the tragic event in Texas when the active shooter was 18, and Tennessee’s law for permitless carry legislation is for individuals over the age of 21,” he said. “During incidents like these, some will immediately blame the gun – I think we need to better understand our youth and students; we all know teen suicide rates are increasing. What is causing that? Why did this individual believe this action was appropriate? Were any signs missed?”
Sexton did say he supported expanding funding for school resource officers and taking other measures to prevent future tragedies like the one in Texas.
“I am in favor of enhancing and extending funding to continue having School Resource Officers (SROs) at every school to strengthen security measures at the facility, providing active training to our educators on how to prevent, mitigate, and respond to a violent, critical incident, and by adding more wraparound mental health services for students – like additional social workers and psychologists so students can have intervention before a crisis arises,” he said.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
Strange that these same people had nothing to say during the BLM shootouts