Bill to allow more guns on campus fails in House committee
The legislation failed to advance after the House Education Administration Committee voted 9-9 on the bill.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A bill that would allow any law enforcement officer – current or retired – or active-duty or retired military personnel and enhanced handgun carry permit holders to carry a gun on public school campuses and buses failed in a House committee on Wednesday.
House Bill 7064 failed on a 9-9 in the Education Administration Committee after passing in the Civil Justice Committee 13-4 earlier in the day.
The Covenant School parents were present in the committee meetings for a second day, holding signs or dressed in Covenant colors. Those families did not want the bill to pass.
“I am begging you on behalf of my children, who are traumatized, and who will forever have to live with the trauma of being hunted at school, to vote no on this bill,” a parent said during the Civil Justice Committee meeting.
After the bill failed in the Education Administration Committee, the Covenant families present in the room joined hands and sang.
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The State Senate passed four bills on Wednesday, all of which still have to pass in the House, which is going at a slower pace. The House is still considering some bills the Senate has already tabled.
“We have 30-something bills that are still pending in the House and I trust my Senate colleagues at some point to take up many of those bills,” House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, said after Wednesday’s session.
However, it’s not looking likely, according to Lt. Governor Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge.
“It takes both houses to adjourn, so we don’t want to get into a position where we’re just getting on and on and not doing anything,” McNally said.
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