Dozens of gun reform advocates returned to the capitol for the first day of Tennessee’s legislative session. Among them were several parents of students who attend the Covenant School, where a shooting in March left three 9-year-old children and three adults dead.
The Covenant parents are instantly recognizable from the ribbons in school colors pinned to their chests, and Sarah Shoop Neumann was one of them.
It was her first time back in the House gallery since last year’s special session, which ended without legislators passing any gun reform. Throughout the special session, she and other member of the Covenant Families Action Fund became fixtures at the capitol and Cordell Hall. They met with dozens of legislators, held press conferences advocating for gun reform and attended sessions and committees decked out in school gear and carrying signs.
When the special session ended without any new gun legislation being passed, Shoop Neumann said she was devastated, and took a step back from activism to focus on her family and mental health. Now, she and her fellow moms are back, which she said might come as a surprise to some legislators.
“I think that they hoped that we’d be moved on, to be honest. But that’s not the people that we are,” she said.
The Covenant parents planned to arrive an hour early for the House session to grab seats. While they waited, Shoop Neumann and a couple other moms made a TikTok to announce their return to the capitol.
“We’re back. Did you miss us? We missed you,” they lipsynced.
Rose Gilbert WPLN News One side of the House gallery was reserved for media, lobbyists and ticket-holders.
Only one side of the House gallery was open to the public, with the other side reserved for lobbyists, media and — due to a new rule not even most state representatives were aware of before that afternoon — people with special tickets from representatives. Members of the public who could not get into the galleries gathered outside the chambers, chanting “Whose House? Our House!” and “This is what democracy looks like!” so loudly that they could be heard even inside the chambers.
As she left the gallery, Shoop Neumann stopped to say hello to Rep. Justin J. Pearson, who she called a “gem of a human,” and joined in with the crowd’s chants before heading to the next item on the agenda, a House budget committee.
She and the other Covenant moms were back on the hill Wednesday and plan to be a regular presence throughout the session.
“We’re in it for the long haul,” she said.
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