A flurry of bills are being filed as lawmakers prepare for a special session on public safety. The governor called for the session in response to the Covenant School shooting in March, which left three students and three staff members dead. 

In April, Gov. Bill Lee announced that he’d be calling the special session to push lawmakers to pass an extreme risk protection order. It would allow individuals to report to law enforcement if they believed a person was a threat to themselves or others, ultimately dispossessing them of any firearms.

Mostly every Republican, including House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Cookeville, was against that idea back in April — and still are.

More: ‘Nibble at the edges’: One Republican lawmaker contemplates his role as special session kicks off

“I’m not in favor of red flag laws. I’m not in favor of law-abiding citizens getting their rights taken away because someone may have a suspicion that there may be something wrong with them,” said Sexton. “I think we can do better than that.”

But the session is still taking place under a broader umbrella of “public safety.”

Here’s what I’m expecting to come up, as I cover this special session:

What will lawmakers be doing each day? 

Imagine the last days of a regular session. Lawmakers will be working around the clock, likely late into the evening, in and out of multiple committee meetings discussing legislation. And it’ll be like that every day until they get the measures to the floor that they are looking to pass. 

How long will it last?

Whatever gets done, it’ll likely be quick, as most elected officials WPLN spoke to are expecting session to wrap within the week. A proposed schedule released by the Tennessee Senate has the last floor session planned for Thursday.

How different will it be from normal session? 

The main difference between this special session and a normal session will be that not all the committees will meet. The special session is on public safety so committees like judiciary, criminal justice, health, state and local government will probably meet, but for others like commerce, transportation, education instruction, they likely won’t. Then, the other difference will be the speed at which lawmakers will go. I imagine they will enact flow motion, which allows for bills to move a lot faster through the process to the floor. 

The bills

What can they discuss? 

Anything that directly addresses what Gov. Bill Lee has written out in the proclamation for special session.  

So, that covers mental health, school safety, stalking offenses, criminal and juvenile records, blended sentencing for juveniles, mental health orders of protection, and more. Anything outside of what’s on the proclamation is off limits. So, if someone wanted to bring up a bill related to school curriculum or abortion, that wouldn’t be allowed. 

Can other bills be proposed in the middle of session? 

As long as it touches on the topics listed in the proclamation, yes. But an email to members in the House gave them a heads up that bills not filed by Friday at 4 p.m. wouldn’t get passed on first consideration during Monday’s session. With session expected to end on Thursday, that’d make it very difficult for a bill filed on Monday or later to get a real chance to pass.

How will we know when lawmakers are done? 

Well, of course, they would adjourn the special session, where it’s likely they’d hold a press conference. But another sign would be that they’ve ended all committee meetings, and most if not all bills are ready to be heard on their third and final reading. 

What do we know so far about the bills? 

We’ve previewed a few bills in stories already. But some that stick out include one that would require the state to give out gun locks for free, and another that would mandate mental health practitioners to inform law enforcement if a patient made a threat to harm someone. 

What bills are drawing the most attention? 

I think it’s a little too early to tell, but from the people I’ve spoken to, it’s the mental health bill that would require treatment facilities to notify law enforcement if they release an individual who was committed by law enforcement. The push back is that if a person has gone through whatever necessary treatment and been signed off on by a doctor to return to the community, they shouldn’t have to worry about law enforcement looking out for them.

The scene

Do we expect demonstrations? 

I’ve seen a few organized protests — one led by Rep. Justin J. Pearson, and another I’ve heard about is a prayer gathering led by Forward Tennessee. I expect there to be a lot of people there.  And I imagine these won’t be the only ones. 

Will there be nationwide attention on Tennessee? 

There was definitely nationwide attention last year after the shootings took place, and then the expulsion of lawmakers thereafter. And with this special session being focused on the Second Amendment, I think national media will be watching to see what exactly Tennessee lawmakers are willing to do to try and prevent what happened back in March. 

What’s at stake politically? 

For Republicans, while they are in the supermajority and can do whatever they want, they need to show some sort of compassion for the lives lost during the Covenant shooting by passing something meaningful, that will make a difference. But at the same time, many say that their base doesn’t want a red flag law. Some conservative groups have also come out against the idea of putting people who are a danger to themselves or others in a sort of mental clinic. So, to keep their base happy and others, they have to really find a thin line where they can do both. I think whatever they do, some people will be happy, and some will be upset. That’s sort of just how it goes. 

As for Democrats, they have a lot less to lose. They are in the minority and don’t have the numbers to pass a bill on their own. I think what their constituents would like to see is them put up a fight; call Republicans out for not passing laws that really get at what they believe is the issue, which is guns; and also make sure to point out that increasing penalties on juveniles has nothing to do with the Covenant School shooting, which is the reason they are in this special session to begin with.