NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – In the wake of last month’s deadly school shooting, the Republican legislature in Tennessee was awarded final passage Tuesday for a proposal that would better protect gun and ammunition dealers, manufacturers and sellers against lawsuits.
A 19-9 Senate vote sent the bill to Republican Gov. Bill Lee, despite pushback from Democratic lawmakers who said their GOP counterparts were trying to protect gun companies just weeks after the Nashville school shooting that killed six people, including three 9-year-old children. .
The final vote came as Lee’s government was still trying to garner enough support among lawmakers in the party to enact legislation to keep firearms away from people who could harm themselves or others. The fate of the move remains uncertain.
Lawmakers are rushing to wrap up their legislative session this week as they face national scrutiny over the expulsion of two young black lawmakers — who are now reinstated — over a House floor gun control protest. Students, parents and others have also applied pressure for weeks to enact gun safety measures.
Democratic Senator London Lamar, a lawmaker from Memphis, said it was “an absurd time” to push through protections for gun companies while people continue to march on the Capitol for gun control changes. The civil liability bill passed ahead of protests where people formed a human chain through Nashville to the Capitol in support of gun control measures.
“I challenge you not to pass this bill because we need to do more to protect our citizens from gun violence than people making guns that can be used to kill more people,” Lamar said.
In the demonstration, many people gathered in the afternoon on the three-mile road from the children’s hospital at Vanderbilt University, where the victims of the school shooting were brought to the state Capitol, some with arms and hands, and others. linked arm in arm. The demonstration went from a sidewalk near campus to a plaza outside the Capitol where many held signs with messages such as, “I’m A Voice for Gun Safety.”
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Joey Hensley of Hohenwald, said the legislation does not prevent other proposals from passing. The bill passed the House before the March 27 shooting at The Covenant School.
“This is just to try to help businesses in this country that have chosen to come here, to give a little civic responsibility,” Hensley said.
The Tennessee bill spells out a half-dozen circumstances in which gun and ammunition companies can be held civilly liable in Tennessee state courts, excluding others.
Three Republicans voted against the legislation, including Sen. Art Swann of Maryville, who said that “gun manufacturers have supported the environment we have now.”
“He’s responsible, and we need to catch him,” Swann said.
The firearms industry remains largely shielded from liability under federal law. Seventeen states have no special immunity for the gun industry, and Tennessee is no longer among them, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group.
Last year, Remington, the company that made the gun used in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut, settled with the families of those killed in the shooting for $73 million. The family accused the company of targeting younger, at-risk males in its advertising and product placement in violent video games.
And in February, the families of those killed and wounded in the 2018 Texas high school shooting settled a lawsuit filed against Tennessee-based online retailer Lucky Gunner, accused of illegally selling ammunition to students who authorities say shot 10 people. . The company’s owner, Jordan Mollenhour, sits on the Tennessee State Board of Education. The company is accused of failing to verify the age of Dimitrios Pagourtzis — he was 17 — when he bought more than 100 rounds of ammunition on two occasions before the May 2018 shooting at Santa Fe High School.
“Someone needs to be protected this week,” said Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville. “And we’ve been getting emails and phone calls, people holding up signs, telling us to help them. There’s no sign saying protect gun manufacturers.