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A week after Republicans ousted two Democratic lawmakers over a gun control protest, both returned to their seats. Despite subsequent coordinated campaigns urging significant gun control measures, lawmakers have largely refused. They dismissed gun control proposals by Democrats and even by Lee during regular annual sessions and a special session, even as parents of Covenant students shared accounts of the shooting and its lasting effects. Republicans rejected a series of Democratic amendments, including parental consent requirements, notification when someone is armed, and the school district assuming civil liability for any injury, damage or death due to staff carrying guns. Sponsor Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, said his bill was aimed at protecting students and acting as a deterrent for potential school security threats.

House of Representatives
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WASHINGTON — There are 99 legislators in the Tennessee House of Representatives, the body that voted on Thursday to expel two of its Democratic members for leading an anti-gun protest in the chamber. The move came about a year after the state’s deadliest school shooting and was opposed by some of the families whose children survived the attack. The original law allowed residents 21 and older to carry handguns in public without a permit. Two years later, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti struck a deal amid an ongoing lawsuit to extend eligibility to 18- to 20-year-olds. Jones said Todd shoved into him near the well, leading Clemmons to call for a rules violation vote against Todd. Republicans easily voted it down, in addition to another rules violation call against a Rep. Jerome Moon, R-Maryville, for recording on the House floor, an official rule that is loosely followed most days.
Diversity among Representatives
Johnson, 60, is a retired teacher who spoke of her experience surviving a school shooting before her vote. She represents the state's 90th district, part of Knox County, and is currently serving her fourth term in the legislature. County commissions in their districts get to pick replacements to serve until a special election can be scheduled and they could opt to choose Jones and Pearson. The larger house, and arguably the more representative one, of Tennessee's bicameral legislature is called the House of Representatives. It occupies the largest space in the State Capitol known as the House Chamber seen at left.
Why is the expulsion so unusual?
Six of those were Confederates who were expelled in the 19th century for refusing to affirm the citizenship of formerly enslaved Black people. In the 20th century, a legislator was expelled after being convicted of bribery, and in 2016, a member was expelled for sexual misconduct. Justin Pearson, 28, was the second member of the group to be expelled from the House and another of its youngest members. He was elected in a January 2023 special election after the incumbent, Barbara Cooper, had died. He represented the state's 86th district, which has about 64,000 residents and is part of Shelby County, where Memphis is located. In 2019, lawmakers faced pressure to expel former Republican Rep. David Byrd over accusations of sexual misconduct dating to when he was a high school basketball coach three decades earlier.
Republican primary
Most state legislatures have the power to expel members, but it is generally reserved as a punishment for lawmakers accused of serious misconduct, not used as a weapon against political opponents. County officials voted on Wednesday to return Justin J. Pearson to the state legislature, less than a week after he and a colleague were expelled. With two House seats left vacant, the authority to name temporary replacements fell to the local governing bodies in the districts that had been represented by Mr. Jones and Mr. Pearson. Other leaders in the House of Representatives include the majority and minority leaders who are the chief floor spokespersons for their respective political parties.
Elections
Meanwhile, shortly after the shooting last year, Tennessee Republicans passed a law bolstering protections against lawsuits involving gun and ammunition dealers, manufacturers and sellers. Lawmakers and the governor this year have signed off on allowing private schools with pre-kindergarten classes to have guns on campus. Private schools without pre-K already were allowed to decide whether to let people bring guns on their grounds. Tennessee House Republicans on Tuesday passed legislation to allow some trained teachers and school staff to carry handguns despite pleas from Democrats, students and gun-reform advocates to defeat the bill. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s Republican-dominant House on Wednesday spiked legislation that would have banned local governments from paying to either study or dispense money for reparations for slavery. “Rather than debating the merits of the issue (of gun control), these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee,” Biden said in a statement.
The General Assembly last year funded school resource officer positions at all Tennessee schools, with the ability for SROs to go armed. Staffing issues have complicated hiring for those positions and nearly 600 schools do not have an SRO in place. Tennessee’s GOP-dominated House expelled two Democratic lawmakers over their roles in a gun control protest. The vote came less than a week after Mr. Pearson of Memphis and State Representative Justin Jones of Nashville were abruptly expelled from the legislature, just the third time such a punishment has been used in the state House since the Civil War era.
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Furthermore, the House, like the Senate, is free to adopt resolutions regarding virtually any issue concerning the state, country or world community. To qualify for election to the House, one must be 21 years old, a U.S. citizen, a state resident for three years, and a resident of the county in which elected for one year immediately preceding the election. The demonstrators echoed fears that have been raised since the legislation was proposed. One awaiting the governor's signature would involuntarily commit certain criminal defendants for inpatient treatment and temporarily remove their gun rights if they are ruled incompetent for trial due to intellectual disability or mental illness.
Alphabetical Listing of Representatives
She described a number of amendments that Covenant parents discussed with the bill's sponsors — none of which passed. Sarah Shoop Neumann's letter criticized gaps in training and burdening teachers with the responsibilities of confronting an assailant with a gun while keeping an entire classroom safe. The decision by Shelby County leaders was prompted by the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by officers in January 2023. A graduate of New York University's Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News' TODAY Digital.
They couldn't carry guns at school events at stadiums, gymnasiums or auditoriums. Protesters chanted "Blood on your hands" at Tennessee House Republicans on Tuesday after they passed a bill that would allow some teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns on public school grounds, and bar parents and other teachers from knowing who was armed. Covenant parents have echoed widespread concern about the secrecy clause in the bill, which bars school administrators from revealing who in the school is armed except to relevant law enforcement and school staff who are responsible for campus security. Williams said the bill seeks to shield gun carriers' identities to protect them from related "hiring and firing decisions." Republicans in favor of the measure have argued trained staff can increase school security, particularly in rural areas where law enforcement may be more sparsely staffed with greater response times to far-flung communities.

He'd been one of the youngest members of the legislature and represented the state's 52nd district, which has about 70,000 residents and is part of Davidson County, the Nashville metro area. His photo and bio have been removed from the Tennessee General Assembly's website, but on his campaign site, Jones describes himself as a Nashville activist and community organizer. The votes, held on Thursday, April 6, resulted in Justin Jones and Justin Pearson being expelled from the Tennessee State House of Representatives, while Gloria Johnson kept her seat by one vote. However, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican who voted to expel all three, denied that race was at play and said Johnson’s arguments might have swayed other members. Jones vowed that even if expelled, he would continue pressing for action on guns.