Update on the Governor's Special Session for Public Safety (Red Flag Laws).

Tennesseans across the state have advocated loudly that voters do not want this special session. Primarily, we do not want restrictions on our 2nd Amendment rights and we do not want to debate complex topics like mental health in the abbreviated course of 3 days.Show more

Fortunately, it seems that our advocacy has taken hold and the General Assembly will recess after having done very little. To our knowledge, the Senate is set to pass only 3 bills having to do with tax abatements on gun safes, TBI reporting requirements, and reports on autopsies. Things are still in process and can change on a dime. But right now, this seems to be the general sentiment.

Yesterday on the first day of session, motions were made in both the House and Senate to immediately adjourn but failed. It has come to our attention that especially in the House, failure came at the hands of Speaker Cameron Sexton and Leader William Lamberth due to their efforts to intimidate and coerce by threatening members of the House of Representatives by removing chairmanships, committee positions, and killing other pieces of legislation if members were found voting to adjourn the special session.

Additionally, we asked you to take action by contacting your senator to express support for her resolution to adjourn session today on August 22, SJR 7101. Thank you for doing that. Unfortunately, though the resolution was indeed filed, Senate leadership did not allow for the bill to be calendared and gave no opportunity for it to be heard on the Senate floor.

But all is not lost. We leave you with this inspirational speech that Senator Janice Bowling gave on the Senate floor yesterday. She had the courage to stand up and say out loud what so many others are thinking.