School Safety: Tennessee GOP Advances Bill Allowing Armed Teachers for Classroom Defense

Republicans on the Tennessee House Education Administration Committee voted Wednesday to advance legislation allowing armed teachers for classroom defense in response to the March 27, 2023, shooting at a Christian school.

Breitbart News reported that the school did not have armed defense when a 28-year-old transgender shooter came on campus March 27 and shot and killed six people.

Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones (D) tweeted video showing members of the Mike Bloomberg-affiliated Moms Demand Action gun control group lashing out at Republicans for advancing legislation that would allow teachers to be armed to protect students:

HAPPENING NOW: Tennessee House Republicans vote to advance bill to allow teachers to carry guns in schools a week after a mass shooting in Nashville.

This is the reaction from the mothers, teachers, and advocates gathered to oppose this reckless legislation.#ProtectKidsNotGuns pic.twitter.com/5DKaSu3TsX

— Rep. Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) April 5, 2023

Prior the passage of the legislation, Moms Demand Action’s Shannon Watts tweeted that her group was “out in force” to oppose the “deadly policy” of arming teachers for classroom defense.

Watts also claimed, “Guns in schools don’t make anyone safer – especially Black students. Teachers aren’t sharpshooters; they should never be asked to shoot students (most school shooters are students). Lawmakers must pass policies to keep guns out of schools BEFORE violence occurs.”

Breitbart News reported that Nashville police indicated that the transgender shooter who attacked the Christian school actually considered striking another target as well, but abandoned those plans after the other location proved to have too much security.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.