Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s office did not respond to The Tennessee Star’s Monday inquiries seeking clarification on whether Lee met with State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and a group of students to discuss gun control last week.
Friday, the far-left Tennessee Holler posted a video to Twitter claiming that he was marching to Lee’s office with students to stress the urgency of implementing gun control measures during the upcoming August special legislative session.
“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 the video.
🗣️❤️🔥WATCH: “This state elected Bill Lee governor. NOT THE NRA.”
Rep. @brotherjones_ & students meet with @GovBillLee asking him to “protect kids not guns”, but he still won’t commit to making the August special session about common sense Gun reform… or even say the word.🤔 pic.twitter.com/MVGcIbg1ou
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) May 12, 2023
In response to political pressure from the left, Lee called a special session of the General Assembly to focus on gun control. Since then, he has repeatedly called for red flag laws, which Tennessee House Republicans have already described as a “non-starter.”
The video includes brief interviews with the students walking alongside Jones, who reiterated that they want new gun control laws passed before the new school year begins, and that they don’t feel safe in their schools.
“This state elected Bill Lee to be governor,” one student said. “They did not elect the NRA. They didn’t elect the Tennessee Rifle Association. They didn’t elect radical extremists who want to protect guns at all costs. They elected Bill Lee. And if Bill Lee wants to be a voice for the people, I highly recommend he start listening to those people.”
The same student claimed that Republicans will be “punished at the ballot box.”
“These are the voices that need to be heard in the governor’s office,” said Jones. “The voices of young people and students who have been at the Capitol for weeks protesting for those who are being impacted by these school shootings. There is a very extreme element in the [General] Assembly who is setting the agenda, and so that’s what we have to be cognizant of.”
Jones was expelled by fellow members of the General Assembly for sparking a riot with student activists inside the Capitol in the wake of the mass shooting that killed six at The Covenant School in May.
He was later temporarily reinstated, and will be on the ballot for a special election to be held later this year.
Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as transgender, carried out the mass killing.
Hale left behind a manifesto, which has now been in the custody of the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for more than six weeks.
Last week, The Star News Network sued the FBI, demanding the release of the manifesto.
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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. Photo “Justin Jones” by Justin Jones. Background Photo “Tennessee Capitol” by Andre Porter. CC BY-SA 3.0.
The Faker,
Well no. Re: his Constitutional oath:
If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. —Numbers 30:2
Tennessee has a Constitution and a Declaration of Rights for the People to protect the rights of the minority, even the individual PERSON. That is a Republic, NOT a democracy in which a reactionary group may takeaway the power of the People.
The Governor took an oath to that Constitution. If Justin Jones wants to take away rights to the means of self defense, then advocate it for everyone according to “the equal protection of the laws” (14th Amendment) Then let him and Bill Lee do with NO armed security, just like he and other ruling class elites who have armed security, but want our schools UNDEFENDED!
There are no mass shootings in government buildings because they have ARMED SECURITY. Do the same for schools and leave the rest of us ALONE! Don’t VIOLATE your oaths of office and attack the rights of the People or criminalize us for what one or a few deranged criminals do—especially allowed to do by the ruling class.
“Tyranny may be defined as what is legal for the government is illegal to the citizenry.” —Thomas Jefferson
We won’t be fooled next time around. We need a true conservative that blazes trails for other conservative governors.
You only hide behind the Bible for so long.
Tim Price -Correction. Bill Lee was always a turd. But his money covered up the smell leading up to his election.
going the wrong way Bill……
Bill Lee has always been a RINO turd, he just covered it up and claimed that he was a conservative.
Liberal BS. Good thing Lee’s term is up and that we have a strong republican legislature. The left keeps bringing up the NRA….which is shell of it’s previous self. They have always been the whipping boy for the donks. I don’t blame the students for not feeling safe. At every step of the way the democrats continue to coddle criminals and the mentally ill, instead of treating them in a manner that is both beneficial to society and gets them the treatment they need.
Where we are at this moment as a nation, and that includes the inexcusable violence that is now an every day occurrence, is 100% the fault of the lying and cheating democratic party. Given the release yesterday of the Durham Report it shows how dishonest and despicable they have become. And there is no question in my mind that they will not be held accountable for their illegal activities, and they will just keep breaking the law with impunity. This is where we are as a nation. When it comes to the left’s never ending attack on our right to own firearms….NEVER GIVE AN INCH.
Bill Lee has turned into a turd!