Two days after a shooting marred Tennessee State University homecoming celebrations — leaving one adult dead and nine injured, including three children — some Democratic lawmakers expressed renewed determination for gun reform.
Tennessee Republicans stayed largely mum.
“Let’s be clear, the past few years have shown us how the lackluster and nonexistent gun laws passed by the Republican supermajority affect EVERY community, not just the neighborhood traumatized this weekend,” Rep. Vincent Dixie, a Nashville Democrat, said in an emailed statement to the Lookout.
“This is a State of Tennessee problem and until we can come to the table and discuss serious reforms in our gun laws, every city and every county will continue to have to deal with the heartbreak and trauma like those victims this weekend,” the statement said.
Nashville shooting sparks renewed pleas for an end to gun violence
National Democrats also weighed in, calling for both prayers and political action.
“Far right extremists in the House must stop ignoring America’s gun violence. Congress must confront this epidemic with the fierce urgency of now,” Democratic U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted on X.
And state Rep. Justin Pearson, a Memphis Democrat ejected from his seat last year over a protest for gun policy reform at the state Capitol, called for renewed action to combat gun violence. Pearson was returned to office soon after his expulsion.
“Our state must do better to protect our people & communities to end this epidemic,” Pearson posted on X.
Neither Republican Gov. Bill Lee nor GOP House and Senate members, reached through House and Senate party spokespersons, responded to requests for comment on the mass shooting to the Lookout. Lee had not issued any public statement about the incident, which occurred less than 2 miles from the state capitol.
Nashville Metro police, as of Monday evening, had yet to make an arrest or release information about the types of guns involved in the incident but said they believe two among the injured were involved in the shooting.
Saturday’s violence along Jefferson Street, a historically Black community near downtown Nashville, could revive bitter debate over gun violence that marked much of last year’s legislative session after a mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville.
The Covenant School shooting claimed the lives of three children and three staff members, and set into motion increasingly vocal citizen protests that packed the state Capitol. Mothers of Covenant School survivors were a constant and perceptible presence, advocating for a red flag law that would create a mechanism to take guns away from people at risk for harming themselves or others. That measure failed.
Lee called a special session on gun violence, but the chief piece of legislation that came out of the session was a law to arm teachers opposed by gun control advocates and parents of Covenant school students.
And two Black lawmakers — Pearson, along with state Rep. Justin Jones, a Nashville Democrat — were expelled by Republican colleagues after they protested in favor of gun policy reform on the House floor. Both were reinstated.
