Gov. Bill Lee signs law to fund school security. Activists say it doesn’t address the root of the problem.

Gov. Bill Lee signed on Wednesday what he says is the first response to the Covenant School shooting. It’s a school safety package that opponents say does not address the real issue.

That’s what prompted dozens of students, parents and community activists to gather at War Memorial Plaza outside the State Capitol that afternoon.   

Katey Parham, a senior at Vanderbilt University, was in attendance.

“I should not fear going to an outlet mall, going to school, eating at a Waffle House, knocking on the wrong door, or pulling into the wrong driveway,” Parham said. “As it is today, everyday interactions are turning into life-or-death encounters.”

The School Safety package provides funding for one school resource officer for every public school in the state, enhanced mental health support and more. But what it doesn’t do is address gun control. 

Safiyah Suara, a student at Hume-Fogg High School, says the new law doesn’t go far enough. 

“Am I the only one who hears how crazy this is? We are treating our schools as war zones instead of places of knowledge,” Suara said. “There’s only one source of where this danger is coming from, and it isn’t the books, it isn’t CRT and it’s not the drag shows. It is the loose and downright appalling gun control laws that this state and country have in place.”

Blaise Gainey WPLN News

House Representative Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and protestors hold a sit-in inside of House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s, R-Crossville, office.

Parham and the group marched to House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s office. They held a sit-in requesting that he come out and accept Rep. Justin Jones’ bill that would enact several gun reforms. Sexton was not in his office at the time.

Since the shooting, Republicans have backed legislation that increases school security and mental health. Democrats and gun control advocates have said enhanced background checks and stricter gun laws are the right answer. 

The governor called for lawmakers to return to Nashville Aug. 21 for a special session focused on public safety and preserving constitutional rights. The group of protestors say that’s too far out and that they want action to be taken sooner than later.