Tennessee House Republicans were confronted by protesters shouting “You are accountable for harm” after passing a bill that would allow select teachers and staff to carry concealed firearms in public schools without disclosing their identities to parents or other teachers.
The bill got 68 votes in favor and 28 votes against it, so it will now go to the Republican governor. Please think about Bill Lee. If he makes it a law, it would be the biggest increase in access to guns in the state since a deadly shooting at a school last year.
The public people who didn’t like the bill yelled at the Republican lawmakers after they voted. The House Speaker, Cameron Sexton, told everyone to leave the galleries.
Four House Republicans and all Democrats didn’t support the bill, even though the state Senate had already passed it. The rule would stop sharing which employees have guns with anyone other than school administrators and police, including students’ parents and other teachers. The school principal, school district and police must all agree for the staff to carry guns.
The proposal offers a very different solution to The Covenant School shooting compared to what Lee suggested last year. Republican lawmakers rejected his proposal to prevent people who are considered a threat to themselves or others from having guns.
It is unlikely that Lee will say no, because it has never happened before and lawmakers can easily disagree with him.
“The bill’s sponsor, Republican state Rep. Ryan Williams, said that you are creating something that will stop people from doing something. ” “In our state, we have had problems with shootings. ”
Republicans said no to ideas from the Democrats, like needing parents’ permission, letting people know if someone has a gun, and making the school district responsible if someone gets hurt or killed by staff with guns. Democrat lawmakerJustin Jones tried to change the bill’s name to the “Refusal to Protect Kids in Schools Act. ”
“My Republican friends are keeping our state in a difficult situation to please their gun industry donors,” Jones said. “It is very wrong. ”
It’s not certain if any school districts would use the law if it is approved. For instance, a representative for Metro Nashville Public Schools named Sean Braisted said that the district thinks it’s safest for only approved police officers to have guns on school grounds.
Around half of the US states allow teachers or other employees with concealed carry permits to have guns at school, according to the Giffords Law Center, a group that supports stricter gun laws. The governor of Iowa approved a new law that allows trained school employees to carry a permit to protect themselves from being sued if they need to use force to protect students.
In March 2023, a person shot and killed three children and three adults at The Covenant School, a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. The police later killed the shooter.
After the shooting, people tried to convince the Statehouse to make strict gun control rules, but the Republican-led lawmakers mostly said no. They rejected gun control ideas from Democrats and even from Lee during regular yearly meetings and a special meeting, even though parents of Covenant students talked about the shooting and its long-term impacts.
The new bill says that if a worker wants to bring a gun to school, they need to have a permit and permission from the school principal and local police. They also have to pass a background check and complete 40 hours of handgun training. They were not allowed to bring guns to school events in stadiums, gyms, or auditoriums.
Tennessee made a law in 2016 that said school workers in two rural counties could bring guns to school, but they never actually did it.
Tennessee Republicans have worked to make gun laws less strict, and in 2021 they agreed that people can carry handguns without needing a permit. Lee supported the change.
The first law said that people 21 and older could carry guns in public without needing a permit. Two years later, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti made a agreement in a lawsuit that allowed 18- to 20-year-olds to carry handguns in public.
After the shooting last year, Tennessee Republicans made a new law to give more protection to gun and ammo dealers, makers, and sellers from being sued. This year, the governor and lawmakers agreed that private schools with pre-kindergarten classes can have guns at their campus. Private schools that do not have pre-kindergarten classes can choose whether or not to allow people to bring guns onto their property.
They have made some strict rules about who can have a gun. One law needs the governor’s signature to make it so that certain criminal defendants who are ruled unable to stand trial because of their mental illness or intellectual disability will have to go to a hospital for treatment and temporarily lose their right to have a gun. Another proposal needs the Senate’s agreement. It would take away the right to have a gun for young people who have committed serious crimes until they are 25 years old.
Tag: Tennessee
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Parliament in Tennessee passes bill allowing teachers to carry weapons
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Riley Strain, Missouri student,found dead in Tennessee river by police
Riley Strain, a student from the University of Missouri who was missing in Tennessee‘s capital for almost two weeks, has been found dead in a river, the police said on Friday. No one thinks there was any cheating, the investigators said.
Nashville police found Strain’s body in the Cumberland River, about 8 miles west of downtown, at 7:30 am.
The Police Chief, John Drake, said that workers by the river found Strain’s body first and told the police. Doctors checked and found out it was Strain, he said. They will do more tests on Friday.
“We have information that usually happens in these situations. ” Drake said that based on his height and weight, he could have come up to the surface of the water after 14 to 20 days. Today is the 14th day. “We thought we would definitely find him. ”
The police said that Strain, who is 22 years old, was last seen right before 10 o’clock at night. On March 8th, after drinking in the city center. A big search was started fast to find him. Investigators found small clues like his bank card by a river and used cameras to see where he was last.
Officials from the University of Missouri said that Strain was going to Nashville for a private event.
Strain’s mom, Michelle Whiteid, and his stepdad, Chris Whiteid, went to Nashville when they found out he was missing.
Michelle White said she just wants to know where her son is. “We chat a lot, many times every day. ” This is the most time I’ve ever gone without speaking to him. It’s really sad. I just want to find him and give him a hug.
Drake said he was thinking about Strain’s family and feeling sad about the accident. -
US woman breaks record for world longest mullet hairstyle ever
A woman from Tennessee who is 58 years old has been given the title of having the longest mullet hairstyle among women who compete.
Tami Manis, who lives in Knoxville, has a mullet hairstyle that is 5 feet and 8 inches long, which is about the same height as an average man.
Ms Manis has been wearing a mullet hairstyle since the 1980s. She got this idea from a music video of an American rock band called ‘Til Tuesday. She has not trimmed her hair for 33 years.
Her hairstyle will be shown in the 2024 Guinness World Records book.
Ms Manis, a nurse who works in public health, said that her journey with the mullet hairstyle started when she first saw the music video for the song “Voices Carry” about forty years ago.
“She said to the Guinness World of Records that the girl had a long piece of hair at the back of her head and I really wanted one too. ”
Then, in November 1989, she decided to cut off her mullet hairstyle. However, she immediately felt sorry about it. So, from the next February onwards, she started to let it grow again and has not trimmed it since then.
A mullet is a hairstyle that is often described as having short hair on the front, top, and sides, and long hair at the back. People call it “business in the front and a party in the back. ”
This was a very popular style in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was worn by famous people like Billy Ray Cyrus, Mario Lopez, and Patrick Swayze.
MsManis said that she often surprises people because they don’t realize how long her hair is until she turns around.
MsManis believes that she was able to grow her hair very long because her genes are responsible for it.
She said that she also makes a conditioner with Argan oil in it.
But having such a long mullet can be challenging. First, Ms Manis has very long hair, even longer than her height. Because of this, she usually braids her hair to make it easier to handle.
Before she became a World Record holder, Ms. Manis participated in the 2022 US Mullet Championships and came in second.
Not long after, Guinness World Records created a new category for the longest competitive mullet. They told Ms Manis to apply.
She found out she had the special title when she got a certificate from Guinness delivered to her front porch.
She said, “I thought it was amazing when I opened it. ” -
Patient ‘kills surgeon in exam room by shooting him’
In a deliberate attack, a patient is accused of killing a surgeon in the operating room.
According to Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane, 29-year-old Larry Pickens reportedly waited for surgeon Dr. Benjamin Mauck at the Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics for “a number of hours.”
Pickens is charged with shooting Mauck with a firearm before escaping.
Cops were called to the area shortly after 2:00 pm on Tuesday and Pickens was taken into custody at the clinic’s entrance in Collierville, Tennessee, without further incident.
Police believe the shooting was a targeted attack (Picture: WMC) The motive was not immediately clear, but cops said Mauck was targeted.
‘It’s bad. It’s horrific. It’s terrible,’ said Lane, according to WMBF.
Police on Wednesday morning identified Pickens, of Memphis, and said he has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault. A judge set his bond at $1.2million.
‘The Collierville Police Department would like to send our condolences to the family, friends, and co-workers of Dr Benjamin Mauck,’ wrote Major David Townsend. ‘Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.’
Larry Pickens was taken into custody without incident outside the clinic (Picture: Collierville Police Department) Mauck specialized in elbow, hand and wrist surgeries, according to his Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics biography. He joined the staff in August 2012 and practiced in Collierville, Germantown and Wolf River. Mauck graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine.
‘Earlier today, we experienced a single shooter event inside our Collierville clinic,’ stated the clinic on Tuesday.
‘We are shocked and heartbroken to confirm the incident resulted in the tragic loss of one of our highly respected and beloved physicians, Dr Ben Mauck.’
Mauck is survived by his wife Rhiannon and their two children.
A witness claimed that the gunman had threatened a staffer at the clinic over the past week, Tennessee Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari said on Tuesday.
Pickens did not have a criminal record with the Collierville Police Department, which is checking for any history he had with other law enforcement agencies.
His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in the Collierville Town Court.
The shooting at the clinic, which is about 30 miles east of downtown Memphis, remains under investigation.
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Nashville school shooting: Police report indicates attacker hid guns in parents’ house
According to investigators, the shooter who murdered six people at a Tennessee school on Monday lawfully purchased seven firearms and kept them hidden at home.
According to investigators, the suspect’s parents believed the 28-year-old shouldn’t possess weapons and were unaware that the weapons were hidden in their home.
In the incident at the Covenant School, six individuals were killed, including three nine-year-old children.
According to authorities, the suspect was receiving “doctor’s care for an emotional disorder.”
Officers then disclosed that the goal was not a specific person but rather the school.
Tennessee doesn’t have any laws allowing police to take weapons from dangerous suspects.
Despite the absence of such so-called red-flag laws, police said they would still have sought to have the weapons confiscated if authorities had had any warning that the suspect could have posed a threat.
The pupils killed in the attack were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney.
Three adult employees at the privately run Christian school also died: Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.
Police have spoken to the parents of the suspect, Audrey Hale, who was killed by police less than 15 minutes after the attack began.
Hale, who identified as transgender and was a former student at the school, was armed with three guns, including a semi-automatic rifle.
The attack took place after the killer conducted surveillance of the premises, drew maps and wrote what police described as a “manifesto”.
A police spokesman said the attacker did not target any person in particular, but did target “this school, this church building”.
Hale’s parents thought the suspect had owned only one gun, but that it had been sold.
They believed the suspect “should not own weapons”, and were unaware the suspect “had been hiding several weapons within the house”, said Nashville Police Chief John Drake on Tuesday.
The weapons were legally purchased from five shops around the city.
The killer “was under care – doctor’s care – for an emotional disorder”, Chief Drake said, without providing further details.
If there had been reports of suicidal or violent tendencies, he added, police would have sought to confiscate the guns.
“But as it stands, we had absolutely no idea who this person was or if [the suspect] even existed,” he said.
Police received the first call about the incident at 10:13 local time (15:13 GMT) on Monday.
The suspect drove to the school in a Honda Fit and got into the building by firing through one of the doors, which were all locked.
Video later released by Nashville police shows the shooter opening fire to shatter glass panes on the front doors, then wandering the school’s deserted corridors – at one point walking past a room labelled “Children’s Ministry”.
In the CCTV footage, the suspect is wearing what appears to be a protective vest and carrying an assault-style rifle in one hand, with a second weapon visible hanging from the left hip.
Image caption,Police Chief John Drake said the suspect may have had firearms training The suspect fired shots on the ground floor before moving to the building’s second floor.
As police cars arrived, the shooter fired on them from the second floor, striking one vehicle in the windscreen.
“We believe there has been some training to have been able to shoot from a higher level,” Chief Drake said.
He said the suspect had stood away from the glass to avoid being an easy target for police.
One officer was injured by broken glass. Police rushed inside and shot the suspect dead at 10:24, said Chief Drake.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for Congress to pass new gun control legislation.
“As a nation, we owe these families more than our prayers,” he said. “We owe them action.”
US Attorney General Merrick Garland was asked during a Senate hearing in Washington DC whether the attack will be investigated as a hate crime targeting Christians.
He said it was too early to say and that agents were still working to identify a motive.
The attack was America’s 131st mass shooting so far this year, according to Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit that tracks gun violence data.
There have been 15 mass shootings at schools or universities in the US since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press.
Source: BBC
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Tennessee bans trans treatment, drag shows for children
The governor of Tennessee has passed regulations restricting medical care for young transgender people and outlawing drag shows in front of minors.
LGBT and civil rights organizations pledged to file a lawsuit to prevent the medical care policy from going into force on July 1.
Meanwhile, those who break the new drag legislation risk spending close to a year in jail as well as a fine of up to $2,500 (£2,100).
The regulations were passed by Governor Bill Lee when inquiries arose regarding an old photograph that purportedly showed him dressed as a woman.
When it comes into force next month, the drag law will ban performances “harmful to minors” by “go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators” in public places or venues where they could be viewed by children.
After a recent spate of like measures being suggested in Republican-run states, the statute is the first of its kind to be adopted in the US.
Republican Governor Lee has refuted claims that by signing the measure, he is acting hypocritically.
He has been questioned on a picture that was allegedly taken from a 1977 yearbook and was titled “Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in drag” and shared over the weekend on Reddit. A curly wig, a pearl necklace, and what appears to be a cheerleader’s uniform are all visible on the figure in the photo.
Image caption,Governor Bill Lee is accused of wearing women’s clothing in this 1977 yearbook photo Mr Lee was asked about the photo earlier this week during a press conference.
“What a ridiculous, ridiculous question that is,” he responded, without confirming or denying the authenticity of the image.
“Conflating something like that to sexualised entertainment in front of children, which is a very serious subject.”
His office later issued a statement: “The bill specifically protects children from obscene, sexualised entertainment, and any attempt to conflate this serious issue with light-hearted school traditions is dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families.”
What exactly the law will prohibit is still unclear.
One of its sponsors, state legislator Chris Todd, previously called drag shows “child abuse” no matter what they contain, according to the Tennessean newspaper.
But other Republicans say the law would not broadly affect drag shows that are legal under Tennessee’s existing laws on obscenity.
Opponents of the law, including the state legislature’s Democrats, argue that this new legislation is redundant because they say sexualised performances in front of children are already illegal under Tennessee law.
Image caption,A drag performance at Nashville Pride last year Bills to restrict drag events have been introduced in recent months in at least 14 different states, according to Pen America, a free-speech organisation.
Drag performances at libraries, which usually involve reading storybooks to children, have been the target of protests by religious organisations, parents’ groups, right-wing activists, and extremists including the Proud Boys.
Opponents say such shows aim to groom or sexualise young children. Performers and LGBT groups say the events are age-appropriate and educate children about being different.
LGBT groups say they are worried about the potential chilling effect of the law. Chris Sanders, of the Tennessee Equality Project, says drag show organisers in the state are considering cancelling or delaying performances until there is clarity around the legislation.
The law restricting medical treatment for transgender youth prohibits doctors from providing hormones or surgical treatment for minors, with a few limited exceptions. Children and teenagers under 18 who are already receiving such treatment can continue to receive it until April 2024.
Doctors who violate the law could be fined up to $25,000 (£21,000) per procedure.
House Majority Leader William Lamberth, a Republican, said children are not mature enough to make “life-altering” decisions about such operations or medication.
“These treatments and procedures have a lifetime of negative consequences that are irreversible,” he said, reports the Tennessean.
But the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal, an LGBT civil rights organisation, said they would sue to stop the legislation from being enforced.
“We are dedicated to overturning this unconstitutional law and are confident the state will find itself completely incapable of defending it in court,” the organisations said in a statement.
Enforcement of similar laws in other states, including Alabama and Arkansas, has been paused by lawsuits.
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Tennessee Police Chief dismissed over sex scandal investigation
A sex scandal probe has resulted in the dismissal of five other officers, including La Vergne Police Chief Burrel “Chip” Davis, NBC affiliate WSMV-TV reports.
An outside investigator confirmed that Davis was aware of some of the actions, in which officer Maegan Hall allegedly engaged in a sexual relationship with fellow officers Patrick Magliocco, Larry Holladay, Juan Lugo-Perez, Sgt. Lewis Powell, Sgt. Ty McGowan, and Det. Seneca Shields.
“The third-party investigator concluded Davis was aware of the sexual misconduct within his department and never reported or disciplined any of the officers involved,” the release stated. “The conclusion also states that Davis impeded the initial investigation into sexual misconduct, ‘contrary to City policy and permitted – if not encouraged – conduct potentially contrary to state and federal law.’”
Deputy Chief Brent Hatcher has been named as interim chief of police, according to WSMV.
Davis is now the sixth Lavergne police officer that’s been fired over the scandal. Officers Maegan Hall, Juan Lugo‐Perez, Henry Ty McGowan, Lewis Powell and Seneca Shields were all fired in early January.
“There aren’t words to describe the disappointment and frustration felt by myself and other city leaders. Officers are held to a higher standard, even more so is their chief,” Mayor Jason Cole said in a statement, per WSMV.
“We take the health, safety, and well-being of every employee at La Vergne extremely seriously, and a culture similar to the one uncovered in these investigations is not acceptable,” Cole added. “We will continue to do what needs to be done in order to do what’s right for our officers, our city employees, and our community.”
Source: Complex.com