Instead of taking steps to protect students, Republicans in Tennessee have decided to engage in security theater
Tennessee is at again. When they’re not attempting to expel Democratic legislators for protesting, they’re demonstrating once again that they will do anything they can to avoid taking on the gun manufacturers. This time, they have decided to arm teachers.
While arming teachers is nothing new —the idea has been floated several times before, and nearly half the states in the country allow some form of armed teachers—it is especially frustrating to see. Even as parents and teachers alike continue to call out Tennessee’s legislature for its failure to adopt policies that will help, Republican legislators continue to plug their ears and ignore the pleas of their constituents.
In a famous instance, two members of the legislature, Representatives Justin Jones (D) and Rep. Justin Pearson (D), were expelled from the state House after they, along with another Representative, led protests on the floor to demand stronger gun regulations after the Covenant School shooting. The representatives were eventually sent back to the state legislature by their constituents in a rebuke of GOP leadership, but the fact that they were expelled in the first place is illustrative of the fact that the GOP in Tennessee is entirely uninterested in listening to the people they represent.
They don’t want to listen to teachers, who overwhelmingly oppose being armed, or the people who show up at the state capitol to demand greater action. Why? Because it’s easier to pretend to fix a problem than to get things done. Even as Republicans claim they are trying to protect people and act as though anyone who is calling them out is politicizing tragedy, they do nothing to protect the people they claim to represent.
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References
Cochrane, Emily, and Rick Rojas. 2024. “Tennessee Passes Bill to Allow Teachers to Carry Concealed Handguns.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/us/politics/tennessee-teachers-guns.html (April 25, 2024).
Hurst, Kiley. 2024. “About 1 in 4 U.S. Teachers Say Their School Went into a Gun-Related Lockdown in the Last School Year.” Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/11/about-1-in-4-us-teachers-say-their-school-went-into-a-gun-related-lockdown-in-the-last-school-year/ (April 25, 2024).
Kelly, Conor. 2022. “Gun Violence Is Inherently Political.” The Progressive American. https://theprogressiveamerican.com/2022/05/31/gun-violence-is-inherently-political/ (April 25, 2024).
Kelly, Conor. 2023. “Tennessee Attacks Political Dissidents, Expels Two.” The Progressive American. https://progressiveamerican.substack.com/p/tennessee-attacks-political-dissidents (April 25, 2024).
“The Effects of Laws Allowing Armed Staff in K–12 Schools.” https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/analysis/laws-allowing-armed-staff-in-K12-schools.html (April 25, 2024).
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