Gun safety advocate Sarah Shoop Neumann
Legislation passed near the end of this year’s session of the Tennessee General Assembly will allow qualified staff to carry concealed handguns in public schools. The legislation, which was introduced last year but set aside after the Covenant School shooting in March 2023, passed in the state House of Representatives on April 23 of this year — two weeks after it passed in the Senate. Gun safety advocates filled the galleries for both discussions and were ordered to be removed from the chambers for loudly opposing the bill. When the legislation passed the House, protesters could be heard chanting, “Blood on your hands!” On Friday, Gov. Bill Lee signed the legislation into law.
Under the new law, in order for school staff to carry, they’ll need a handgun permit and must receive 40 hours of training in school policing, plus an additional 40 hours of related training each year. They’ll also need to pass a background check and a mental health check from a psychologist or psychiatrist. The bill exempts local education authorities and local police departments from “claims for monetary damages” that may result from this legislation. It also establishes that information about who may be carrying weapons will be kept confidential.
In order to carry a handgun on school grounds, staff will need permission from the school’s principal, district superintendent and local law enforcement. Several school districts, including Metro Nashville Public Schools, have already stated that they do not intend to allow teachers to carry firearms.
Local students and Covenant parents on watch as conceal carry bill for teachers nears a vote in the House
“We have a strong relationship with the Metro Nashville Police Department and agree that it is safest for only approved active-duty law enforcement officers to carry weapons on campus,” says an MNPS spokesperson. “This has been our consistent practice at MNPS, and we have no intention of changing it.”
Williamson County Schools Superintendent Jason Golden has also said he “will not authorize teachers or staff being armed at WCS schools.”
House Democrats opposed the legislation and introduced several amendments to the bill, none of which passed. Their amendments sought to limit which counties could implement this law (based on their population size) and sought to set storage requirements and make school districts liable for damages, and more.
Gun safety advocates, along with many students and educators, also strongly opposed the legislation. Critics expressed concern over what may happen if a student gets hold of a gun, or if an armed teacher has a mental health crisis. They also fear that, in the event of a school shooting, a teacher might accidentally shoot a student or that police might accidentally shoot an armed teacher. Further, critics point out that a handgun cannot stand up to an assault rifle in a firefight — and note that if a teacher were killed by a shooter, their classroom could be left unprotected.
Covenant School parent Sarah Shoop Neumann presented lawmakers with an open letter in opposition to the legislation, which at the time included more than 5,000 signatures from across the state. Neumann tells the Scene that “there are some good considerations” in the bill, but she takes issue with the fact that staff “with direct student responsibility” could be armed. Her letter cites related guidance from the FBI, the National Association of School Resource Officers and a national school safety report.
Proponents of the legislation, including House sponsor Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville), see arming teachers as a way to deter threats. They also point to the fact that it’s permissive, meaning teachers don’t have to carry handguns if they don’t want to. On the House floor, Williams referenced a similar 2016 law that allows teachers in the state’s most economically distressed counties to carry firearms — though it hasn’t really been utilized. Williams also noted that other states have passed similar legislation.
“One of the biggest questions that people ask me all the time [is] ‘Have you done everything you can possibly do to make our schools safe across the state?’” said Williams. “I believe that this is a method by which we can do that.”
State House votes yes as gun safety advocates voice opposition from the gallery
Immediately following the passage of the bill, a handful of students gathered on the steps of Legislative Plaza to protest its passage. Earlier that week, other students missed school to gather on the steps of the Capitol to discuss and rally in opposition to the legislation.
“I feel very resigned to the fact that this legislature is immovable because they will only vote on party lines,” said local Hume-Fogg Academic High School sophomore Emmie Wolf-Dubin, who co-organized the student event on April 22. “And optimistic in the fact that this is a galvanized state — we are ready and excited to make a change.”
Paige La Grone Babcock teaches sixth- and seventh-grade literacy at Apollo Middle School in Antioch. Her students watched the discussion of the bill during class via livestream. While she doesn’t agree with the legislation, she says she “did not tell the children my own thoughts about this or lead them in any way, other than to say that we were going to listen to everybody’s perspective.”
“These are kids who pay attention,” says Babcock. “They’re in the midst of standardized testing, which is pretty stressful and taxing. But they were honestly more stressed by the idea that these lawmakers — who are supposed to represent them and protect them — are wanting to do something that … actually makes them more endangered."
