NASHVILLE—A group of parents of students at The Covenant School in Nashville, which was subject to a mass shooting that killed three students and three staff on March 27, commented on the first day of special session in Tennessee.

Covenant Families Action Fund, a grassroots 501(c)4 organization comprising Covenant parents, staff, and survivors, highlights the long way to go that Tennessee has on firearm reform. There is an urgent need to get an order of protection and secure firearm storage requirements passed.

“We have a long way to go in Tennessee on the sort of proposals that would make our schools, churches, and neighborhoods safe,” said Melissa Alexander, a mother of a student at The Covenant School. “We are endorsing bills that will make gun locks more freely available and make the use of a gun while driving a class E felony for the reckless handling, display, or discharge of a firearm while operating a motor vehicle, as well as other specific bills that take steps to grow a culture of firearm safety in the state.”

Covenant Families Action Fund is concerned about the mental health provisions as introduced. While behavioral risk and mental health assessments are critical to assess risk for harm and determine potential interventions, Tennessee currently does not have the capacity and means to reliably provide these services in the state in a timely manner. The legislature risks removing an individual from society for an indefinite amount of time, institutionalizing them without being proven guilty, causing lost wages and loss of family support all while failing to provide meaningful mental health care.

“We are disappointed in the lack of resources going to mental health needs in Tennessee,” said Sarah Shoop Neumann, another parent of a Covenant School student, “If we want to improve the mental health of Tennesseans we have to invest in solving the root of the problem itself.”

The proposed bills do make the most significant advances in the area of school safety plans. From fire alarms in l schools to grant funds for schools to use in their safety plans there is a lot of good that can come out of the sessions work around school safety plans.

“The proposed bills do make significant advances in the area of school safety plans,” said David Teague, a parent involved in Covenant Families Action Fund. “As the spouse of an educator and child of a retired educator, I am acutely aware, especially this time of year, of the heavy demands and lack of margin our teachers currently have. We should not add armed security guard to their list of extracurricular demands.”

The members of Covenant Families for Brighter Tomorrows have a wide range of political views but are united in their faith and shared desire to protect their children and all children in Tennessee from experiencing anything like what happened in March 2023.

Covenant Families Action Fund is in this legislative process for the long haul. They plan to be back in January and the January after that and the January after that to ensure that real change is made to protect kids.

Covenant families just concluded 40 days of prayer and reflection at the Capitol leading

up to the special session, praying for the Tennessee legislature and seeking wisdom on the best way forward.

Members of Covenant Families for Brighter Tomorrows and the Covenant Families Action Fund are available to speak both with lawmakers ahead of the special legislative session and with the press.

As of today, Covenant Families Action Fund has endorsed the following bills.

• HB7002, Leader William Lamberth (R)

• HB7007, Leader William Lamberth (R)

• HB7012, Leader William Lamberth (R)

• HB7037, Rep. Anthony Davis (D)

• HB7938, Rep. Ron Gant (R)

• HB7047, Rep. Anthony Davis (D)

• HB7054, Rep. Mary Littleton (R)

• HB7075, Rep. Bob Freeman (D)

• HB7098, Rep. Sabi Kumar (R)

• HB7100, Rep. Bob Freeman (D)

   

Covenant Families is not affiliated with The Covenant School or Covenant Church. For more information visit: www.covenantbrightertomorrows.org