Gov. Lee Signs School Safety Bill into Law Ahead of Special Gun Control Session

Ahead of August’s special session wherein Gov. Bill Lee (R) is expected to push for “Order of Protection” (red flag) laws, the governor has signed into law a bill that provides financial resources for school security measures.

Namely, HB 0322 allocates $30 million for the state to hire homeland security agents in each county to serve both public and private schools. The new law also provides $140 million for one full-time, armed school resource officer (SRO) for every public school in the state.

The bill also requires each local law enforcement agency to adopt a comprehensive plan for school safety based on a state-level framework that has been approved by the department of safety, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security, the department of mental health and substance abuse services, the emergency medical services of the department of health, the state board of education, the Tennessee association of school resource officers and the department of intellectual and developmental disabilities.

According to the bill summary:

Under present law, each LEA must adopt a comprehensive district-wide school safety plan and building-level school safety plans regarding crisis intervention, emergency response and emergency management. The plans must be developed by a district-wide school safety team and a building-level school safety team and must follow the template developed by the state-level safety team. An LEA having only one school building must develop a single building-level school safety plan, which must also fulfill all requirements for development of a district-wide plan.

The new law also adds requirements for active shooter trainings, including “armed intruder drill, conducted in coordination with the appropriate local law enforcement agency, incident command drill without students present to prepare school staff and law enforcement agencies on what to expect in the event of an emergency situation in the school and emergency safety bus drill without students present to prepare school staff and law enforcement agencies on what to expect in the event of an emergency situation on a school bus.”

HB 0322 also mandates that schools must be locked from the inside during school hours.

Lee’s special session to push for more gun control will begin in August.

This new law and Lee’s push for a red flag comes after Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as transgender, shot and killed six people at The Covenant School in Nashville in late March, sparking intense political debate.

Meanwhile, authorities have been slow-rolling the release of what was originally called a manifesto, and later described as “dated journals” by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been involved in the investigation into the manifesto, but has consistently deferred to MNPD for information on that front.

Wednesday, The Star News Network sued the FBI over its refusal to release the contents of the manifesto.

“The release of these records is critical to understanding the mind and actions of a mass murderer, and can help form public policy to most effectively protect American citizens,” said Leahy, Editor-in-Chief of The Star News Network and CEO of parent company Star News Digital Media, Inc., headquartered in Nashville.

“We believe the public’s right to know is so important that we are willing to challenge the most powerful law enforcement agency in America.”

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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 Bill Lee. 

 

 

 

 

 

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8 Thoughts to “Gov. Lee Signs School Safety Bill into Law Ahead of Special Gun Control Session”

  1. Jack Dodson

    Again, note that Lee refuses to demand the manifesto be released.

  2. Betrayed Voter

    I just want any Red Flag Bill to use the TWO JUSTINS who are in their 20’s. Never had a job.
    But know so damn much about “JUSTICE” RIGHT?
    NO RED FLAG LAWS
    ITS UNCONSTITUTIONAL ON ITS FACE.
    WILL NOT BE UPHELD BY OUR SUPREME COURT
    LEE KNOWS THIS BUT HE MUST PLEASE HIS LIBERALS WHO DONATED TO HIS CAMPAIGN. SO DID I. SO I HOPE HIS POLITICAL AMBITIONS ARE OVER.

  3. william delzell

    Lee is simply gaslighting progressives by pretending to support their demand for REAL gun reform. The fact that he is delaying any action until August gives the lie to Lee’s pro-gun control claim!

  4. Joe Blow

    Don’t you just love the stooges who line up behind Lee as he is signing this bill? Disgusting.

  5. Joe Blow

    Nameless – You hit the nail on the head. His kneejerk EXPENSIVE reaction to a few paid protestors is disgusting. His solution to a problem is the same as Biden’s – just throw money at it. I am more disgusted with my rep and senator than with Lee. They immediately jumped onboard and voted for this monstrosity. I hope that we can survive 3+ more years of Lee’s liberal “leadership”. Of course, some rich liberal will claim to be a conservative Republican in the same vein as Haslam and Lee and just buy the governorship in the next election.

  6. Ron W

    Just protect the children like we do politicians, media broadcast places, pro athletes, entertainers, etc and leave citizens alone with our God-given, pre existing right to acquire, keep and carry the means of self defense we choose. That’s according to Liberty instead of unjustly attacking the rights of law abiding citizens for what criminals do in targeting intentionally undefended schools or other “gun free” zones.

  7. Horatio Bunce

    “what was originally called a manifesto, and later described as “dated journals” by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD). ”

    Still revising the FBI drafts.

    (More) Staged, active shooter drills “going live” will be coming similar to Newtown and Boston Hoaxathon. Gene Rosens and Robbie Parkers, mystery vacationers that just happened to be at the other staged shootings, death certificates hidden by government, crime scenes quickly destroyed by government, every event controlled by fed.gov, just like this one.

    Tennesseans are not in control of Tennessee government. That is obvious. What is the leverage that motivates Lockdown Lee and Per Diem Sexton and Pfizer McNally to protect the child mutilators at Vanderbilt, promote the killer clot shot producers at Pfizer, steal farmland on behalf of Ford for their electric truck boondoggle?

  8. Nameless Hunter

    RINO Lee should just come clean and admit he’s a Demokrat.

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