Results for: School Shootings

In the wake of recent school shootings, Republican-controlled legislatures in Tennessee and Iowa have passed laws allowing teachers and school staff to carry concealed handguns on campus. These measures, supported by the National Rifle Association, are met with fierce opposition from gun control advocates, who argue that arming teachers does not address the root cause of school shootings: access to guns. While the laws claim to prioritize school safety, critics warn of the dangers of creating a ‘guns everywhere culture’ and question the lack of transparency surrounding who is armed on campus.

The Tennessee state legislature has passed a controversial bill that would allow teachers to carry concealed firearms in schools. The bill was met with fierce opposition from Democrats and some Republicans, but ultimately passed in a 68-28 vote. The passage of the bill comes just over a year after a deadly school shooting in Nashville that claimed the lives of three children and three staff members. According to the Giffords Law Center, approximately half of all states in the US permit teachers or other school staff to carry firearms on school grounds.

Tennessee’s House Republicans passed a bill allowing some school staff to carry concealed handguns on public school grounds, despite objections from parents and other teachers who were barred from knowing who was armed. The measure, which passed 68-28 and will now go to Republican Governor Bill Lee for consideration, would be the biggest expansion of gun access in the state since last year’s deadly shooting at a private elementary school in Nashville. Protesters chanted “Blood on your hands” at Republican lawmakers after the vote, and the House Speaker ordered the galleries cleared. The proposal comes as a stark contrast to Lee’s push last year to keep guns away from people deemed a danger to themselves or others, which was dismissed by Republican legislators.