Authorities are expecting protests much of this week as the Tennessee General Assembly meets for a special session. In fact, city police are encouraging folks who commute downtown to instead work from home in anticipation of crowds.
Local gun reform activists have been preparing for months.
Retired educator Linda McFadyen-Ketchum got involved with Moms Demand Action Tennessee after the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. She said they’ve been getting ready for this special session ever since Governor Bill Lee first mentioned it in the wake of the Covenant School shooting.
“We’ve never been this close to gun reform in our state,” she said, “I don’t think that we’re going to get much of anything that we need, but we’ve given it a good try and we will continue to fight.”
Moms Demand Action Tennessee has had a busy summer. They’ve read through proposed bills. They’ve held meetings in smaller, more rural communities like Pleasant View and Pulaski. They’ve coordinated with pediatricians, the League of Women Voters, the Southern Christian Coalition.
And she said everyone they’ve met with has one thing in commons when discussing gun violence and gun reform.
“People are raw — that’s the word — with emotion about this,” she said.
McFadyen-Ketchum says that she and Moms Demand Action will be at the Capitol every day, holding press conferences inside and demonstrations outside.
They’re not the only ones.
Last month, a group of Covenant parents founded the Covenant Families Action Fund to advocate for laws to protect kids from gun violence. David Teague is one of them. He said this special session is just the beginning.
“We will be back this January, the January after that, the January after that and the January after that. For as long as it takes to make our children safer. We will be back until the Lord calls us home, or until the Lord keeps his promise,” he said.
For now, they will be at the Capitol throughout the week.
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