Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says late summer date for special session on guns wasn’t his call

Most public schools in the state will start this August, shortly before a special session on gun reform starts. That has some advocates speculating that Gov. Bill Lee had that in mind when he selected Aug. 21. 

More: Gov. Lee calls Tennessee lawmakers back Aug. 21 for a special session on gun laws

For essentially the last full month of session, the General Assembly had to hear from parents, students and teachers demanding tighter gun restrictions. Citizens gathered in the Capitol nearly every day and packed the galleries to capacity, holding up signs, and calling out lawmakers in the halls.

Many of these advocates believe lawmakers want to avoid crowds like this during special session — when they will debate new laws that would keep guns away from dangerous people. Gov. Bill Lee says he doesn’t think that’s the case. 

“We offered them dates from now until that time, and I think they want the time. There’ll be a lot of meetings. There’ll be a lot of gatherings. There’ll be a lot of work to do. And I think they wanted the time to get that worked on, so we could have something meaningful at the end of it,” Lee said.

The public can share their ideas on what policy changes lawmakers should consider ahead of the August special session online.