Crowds erupted into shouting and chanting from the State of Tennessee Capital galleries overlooking the House of Representatives floor as Tennessee’s special legislative session came to a chaotic close on August 29, 2023. The special session was called by Governor Lee on August 8 in response to The Covenant school shooting that occurred down the street from Hillsboro High School earlier this year in March. The special session was supposed to address public safety, gun control, and mental health. Many students, teachers, and parents have criticized the legislature’s lack of action in the spring and had hopes that the special session would enact meaningful legislation.

Protesters crowd the capitol steps demanding gun reform during their regular session this April. Pressure in the wake of the Covenant school shooting led to Governor Lee calling the special session this August. Rights Reserved-Hillsboro Globe, Associated Press Margo Jenkins

Over 100 bills were filed to be addressed during last month’s special session. Only three of these bills were passed into law. As expected, the majority of the bills submitted covered a wide range of topics such as funding for mental health, penalties for those who leave firearms unsecured, and a bill to require certain people to report threats of mass violence.

Crowds erupted into shouting and chanting from the State of Tennessee Capital galleries overlooking the House of Representatives floor as Tennessee’s special legislative session came to a chaotic close on August 29, 2023.

The special session was called by Governor Lee on August 8 in response to The Covenant school shooting that occurred down the street from Hillsboro High School earlier this year in March. The special session was supposed to address public safety, gun control, and mental health. Many students, teachers, and parents have criticized the legislature’s lack of action in the spring and had hopes that the special session would enact meaningful legislation.

Over 100 bills were filed to be addressed during last month’s special session. Only three of these bills were passed into law. As expected, the majority of the bills submitted covered a wide range of topics such as funding for mental health, penalties for those who leave firearms unsecured, and a bill to require certain people to report threats of mass violence.

Unfortunately, many of these bills were blocked by legislators with no debate or public discussion. This was frustrating to many of the parents, students, and teachers who attended the rallies and protests.

The bills that were passed into law were perceived by students, who will soon be voters, as underwhelming, and failed to effectively address school gun violence and teen mental health.

In April, the Hillsboro Globe collected suggestions to help address school gun violence safety and presented a voluntary poll listing the suggestions.

Overwhelmingly, 61% of the Hillsboro Globe readership chose the suggestion that a legislatively created online hotline should be available to access anonymously. John W. stated in the comment section, “Students know when someone is planning something, but we are afraid someone will see or find out who reported it. It shouldn’t take that money to create an algorithm that would sort repeat reports of a certain student or a certain school.”

After the special session, criticism continues to be found outside the capitol’s walls. Too many students believe Tennessee legislators do not care about them and believe legislators are only interested in adults. Jonah Harwood, an 11th grader at Hillsboro stated, “I would like for them [Tennessee Lawmakers] to acknowledge what’s going on because it seems like they aren’t treating it the way they should.” when asked about the special session.

The Interview with Gloria Johnson

The Hillsboro Globe had a chance to speak with Gloria Johnson, a Knoxville TN state representative who was the only member of the Tennessee Three to not be expelled from her position after leading a protest from the Floor of the House of Representatives demanding gun reform during their regular session this spring. As a former teacher, and as an advocate for children’s rights the Hillsboro Globe believed she could shed light on the recent special session that barely address gun violence.

Hillsboro Globe (HG): Students of Nashville saw several bills blocked without any form of debate, and as emerging voters, we as high school students found this to be disturbing.

Is this a common practice to block debate? When the representative of the TN House who is being blocked is black and other white representatives are allowed to bring bills to the floor, how does this action affect the democratic process? Does it violate civil rights?

Representative Johnson: I would say this issue had a lot more to do with partisanship than it did race, though I would not rule out race being part of it. I believe this was a betrayal of Tennessee families who wanted to see us discuss options for keeping our schools and communities safe by discussing guns. When the governor calls for a special session, he includes what we will be discussing.  He intentionally limited the call of the session so that we could not bring legislation that addressed guns.

Even some of our legislation that should have fallen within the call, was refused by the supermajority. However, as unfair as that seems, it does fall within the rules. It is sad how a supermajority can ignore our democratic process and then design the rules so that they are the only players.

HG: In less than two years, many of the students at Hillsboro will have the right to vote. How do you, as a future senatorial candidate, plan to incorporate our voice into future legislation.

Representative Johnson: What you may not realize is that your voices made a huge difference! I do not believe there would have been a special session if students and parents did not show up to the Capitol by the thousands. 

The special session did not go as we hoped, but several things were definitely accomplished. Tennesseans from all parties saw for the first time that the majority of Tennesseans are being ignored by our supermajority. 80% of Tennesseans wanted gun sense legislation, and the supermajority refused to discuss guns.

We need to keep organizing and keep up the pressure. We need to hold these legislators accountable in their next election. Change takes time and we must keep working. I have many high school students on my campaigns. I let them lead in their communities and train them in the skills of a campaign. I also listen to their thoughts and ideas and often incorporate their ideas into my policy plans. I have brought legislation at the state level that I have worked on with students.

HG: That’s exciting to hear that high students work on your campaign! In the next legislative session, do you plan to introduce any new bills, and if so, what is the subject of the legislation?

Representative Johnson: I am bringing my Red Flag bill, my safe storage bill, a voting rights restoration bill, likely 1 or 2 education bills, a women’s reproductive rights bill, and still working on the rest. We are allowed to bring 15 bills total, so I am discussing bill ideas with people in my district. I believe legislation ideas need to come from the people I represent.

HG: Thank you Representative Johnson for your time and honest answers to our questions.

The Tennessee Legislature will reconvene for their 2024 regular session on January 9^th, you can view legislation being considered and watch the session live on their website. Rep Gloria Johnson is seeking a seat in the United States Senate next November.