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Contributed commentary by Ann Clem in response to the Our Children Deserve Better bus tour on gun violence:
It is not Gov. Bill Lee or the politicians who are working to improve gun control in Tennessee. It is not the NRA. Because the NRA contributes so much money to politicians, no one wants to second guess the NRA’s motives. In essence, politicians have placed getting re-elected ahead of sound governance. And of course, too many Tennesseans like the Legislature’s permitless carry, as they continue to introduce additional harmful legislation, such as the guns on campus expansion to the state’s Shoot First Law. Tennessee politicians also made it easier for domestic abusers to buy guns. It is alarming that 1,385 people die by guns in Tennessee in an average year.
Since 2021, Tennessee has been a permitless carry state for handguns. Over the last few years, gun laws in Tennessee have become less strict after lawmakers approved legislation that removed requirements for permits and background checks. Who is governing the gun shows? Gov. Lee.
Some of the victims killed at the Covenant School shooting in March were adults. It simply doesn’t seem to matter to him. Will one of his grandchildren being killed in a mass shooting make an impression on him? His proposal to have better mental health care is grossly ignoring the problem. All civilized nations have about the same percentage of individuals with mental health issues, but only the U.S. has a plethora of guns. Taking care of mental health problems is after the fact.
If you believe that mass shootings are out of control in the U.S., then Americans have a powerful weapon of their own. That weapon is the ballot box. Vote out the NRA-loving corrupt politicians.
Ann Clem