The special session of the Tennessee General Assembly ended Tuesday afternoon, as lawmakers in the House and Senate voted to adjourn.
Despite calls from Gov. Bill Lee (R) for lawmakers to bring him a red flag law bill, no such bill was passed.
The major accomplishment of the special session was the passage of an anti-human trafficking bill by both chambers with overwhelming bipartisan support.
House Republicans held firm in their promise not to impose red flag laws.
“Any red flag law is a non-starter for House Republicans,” the House majority party said in April. “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.”
The special session reportedly ended in chaos on the House floor, as Republicans voted to adjourn the session before State Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville), an embattled member of the House who led a gun control riot at the Capitol in April, could bring a no-confidence vote in Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) to the floor.
That led to a brief physical altercation between Sexton and State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), another Tennessee Capitol riot leader.
“After adjourning the session, Sexton left the podium, at which time Pearson approached him while holding a protest sign,” according to WKRN. “Pearson appeared to be bumped by Sexton’s shoulder as the Speaker attempted to pass him, and Pearson was blocked from getting too close to the Speaker by Rep. Scott Cepicky (R—Culleoka), a former football and baseball player.”
Sexton and Pearson reportedly engaged in a shouting match before being separated.
Jones reportedly took the speaker’s podium and banged the gavel, shouting about the House being out of order.
Gun control protestors remained in the Capitol as the proceedings ended, cheering on the Democrat lawmakers as they caused a scene.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Tennesse Special Session” by The Tennessean.
I’m glad I live in Tennessee where the legislature still respects the second amendment.
Lee’s Folly goes down in flames. Thank Goodness. The only problems were (1) the Assembly allowed it to happen; (2) the Assembly did not adjourn the first day.
We all know what would happen if Jones and Pearson were Republicans engaged in similar behavior in a Democrat legislature. Not just permanent expulsions, but prison sentences.
Why did Governor Lee NOT order the murderer’s manifesto from the TBI? Some wanted to restrict access to guns, so that manifesto would have been very pertinent! Also a House or Senate committee could have demanded it! Why NO MANIFESTO? Why the secrecy??
Good it was a clown show. Thank again C Johnson for not showing for the vote to permanently expell Juicy Jones. Now we have a useless loud mouth that gets off on being in front of the camera.
To all the democrats and liberals who are mad that they didn’t get their way…..HA HA HA, too damn bad.
why don’t you get the hell out of Tennessee and move to a liberal $hit hole somewhere. Our State is for constitution loving people who believe in law and order. And to the people in the peanut gallery shouting….you behave like a bunch of spoiled children.
I want to thank our legislators for truly representing us Tennesseans and not giving in to the out of state leftists.
Tennessee doesn’t have a gun problem, America, especially jurisdictions under liberal control, have a serious problem with morality and civic behavior. The lawlessness and gun violence taking place is due to a lack of education and strong family values. We refuse to be penalized for the inexcusable behavior of a minority of the population.
Bad behavior is a learned behavior. I offer no applause for either side of the divided legislature. The passage of more legislation is not going to fix what is broken. The idea that if government acts the people are free from personal responsibility or are afforded some magic protection from evil or others behaving badly is misguided at best.
👏👏👏👏👏. Thank you. Well said
And thank you to the Tennessee legislature for upholding TN values and laws.
No chaos in the State House building until today? Who asked for the state troopers to stand down?
GREAT JOB TENNESSEE LEGISLATORS!!!!
NOW JUSTINS FAN CLUB CAN GO HOME.
GOVERNOR LEE CAN TOO. FOR GOOD.
Tennessee taxpayers should sue him for wasting our money. This is why people are frustrated with Governors. Like another RINO Brian Kemp GA. Covid made them Powerful. Hard to let that Power go.
Well Bill it’s time for you to go.
Bill Lee should stick with plumbing.
Governor, you just wasted time and the money of the taxpayer. You knew, or should have known, the red flag law proposed would not pass. You knew that nonetheless you still called the session. Was it for publicity? Was for the blessings from Oprah, the zealots on the left or those two clowns who were expelled from the Assembly? How about taking a lead and advocating for truly what the people want. Support law enforcement, fund them appropriately, staff appropriately and hold district attorneys accountable. Those who choose not to prosecute crimes should be immediately dismissed as Governor DeSantis did in Florida. Take it one step further, those who refuse to do the duties assigned to that job should not only be dismissed but any benefits, such as retirement monies, should be taken and returned to the general fund. They did not do their work, they did not perform the duties of their positoin thus should not be entitled any benefits accrued. This nonsense has to end!
Speaker Sexton for governor!
I hope Bill Lee is satisfied with himself for sponsoring this clown show. At least leftwing terrorists didn’t hurt or kill people.
“Tennessee Special Session Adjourned Without Passage of Red Flag Laws”
What is almost never mentioned in these debates/arguments concerning Second Amendment Rights is the fact that SCOTUS has ruled that THE POLICE DO NOT HAVE A LEGAL DUTY TO PROTECT YOU. Let that statement ‘sink in’ for a moment.
The police MAY choose to intervene and protect you, but they have no legal duty to do so. And while often the police do choose to respond to your cries for help and protect you, sometimes they do not.
The job of the police is to investigate crime, and to pursue and arrest those probably guilty of committing criminal acts to hold the same for trial or other disposition by the courts. So, by definition, the police are legally duty bound to act only AFTER the commission of a crime. Thus, legally you can only depend upon yourself to protect you BEFORE a crime is actually committed (i.e., if you do not, afterwards may be too late for you in the most tragic sense possible).
Good job, Tennessee General Assembly.