The special session convenes in four hours.


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Paid for by Friends of John Ray Clemmons, Sydney U. Rogers, Treasurer

In four hours, your state legislature will convene for an extraordinary session pursuant to Gov. Bill Lee's proclamation ([link removed]) dated August 8, 2023.

Unfortunately, the governor's proclamation prevents us from introducing and debating legislation that would address the root cause of gun violence. The only permissive provision of the 18 clause proclamation that refers to "firearms" reads as follows:

(11) Measures encouraging the safe storage of firearms, which do not include the creation of penalties for failing to safely store firearms.

That's it. The bulk of the proclamation opens the door to rolling back a decade's worth of progress on criminal justice reform, notably taking aim at minors. Rather than investing money in our children and providing positive mentoring and programming for them in a manner that might prevent juvenile crime on the front end, the governor and supermajority appear more interested in spending a lot more money in trying juvenile offenders as adults and incarcerating them in prisons after crimes have been committed and individuals have been harmed. 

The "Our Kids Deserve Better" school bus, Big Yeller, traveled with legislators across the state.

The first leg of the "Our Kids Deserve Better ([link removed])" bus tour will be wrapping up today when Big Yeller pulls up to the State Capitol for our special session. Over the past two weeks, my Democratic colleagues and I  visited Memphis, Jackson, Dickson, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Athens, Maryville, and Knoxville to discuss gun safety policies with Tennesseans in their own communities. The trip was incredibly productive. There is no substitute for being able to look someone in the eyes when you might disagree with them and have an adult conversation in an attempt to find common ground. I am a true believer in the fact that I can learn a lot from those with whom I may disagree, and this tour gave me and others the opportunity to gain valuable insight from our fellow Tennesseans. We found more common ground than I ever expected.

Sen. Charlane Oliver, Rep. Bo Mitchell, Rep. Johnny Shaw, and John Ray visit with residents of Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Henderson, Hardin, Madison and Haywood counties at the West Tennessee Farmers Market.

It is disappointing that Gov. Lee refuse to take this opportunity to allow us to discuss or pass meaningful policies that will better protect our children and address the root cause of gun violence. Protecting children is not and should not be a partisan issue. This is why I personally invited my GOP colleagues and Gov. Lee to join us on our bus tour. They declined. Instead, most of my colleagues across the aisle and several special interest groups have made this a partisan issue and refuse to even debate legislation that may better protect our kids.

When you consider that over five years have passed since four lives were taken at the Antioch Waffle House and 121 days have passed since six lives were taken at The Covenant School, our colleagues' refusal to pass meaningful laws or even debate them is upsetting. It is even more concerning when you know that between April 21, 2023 and yesterday, in Tennessee, there have been at least: 474 shooting incidents; 7 mass shootings; 183 adults killed; 354 adults injured; 24 children killed; 38 children injured; and, an estimated 266 firearm-related suicides.

Dozens from across East TN gathered around Big Yeller with John Ray to talk gun safety policy in Athens, TN. 

What we do in this State Capitol matters. I am excited to know that families will be traveling from across the state today to hold me and my colleagues accountable for what we do and do not do this week. I cannot promise anyone what will or will not happen this week, because I honestly do not know. All I can promise is that I will fight to pass substantive legislation, because our children's safety and Tennessee families are worth fighting for. Thank you for the opportunity and privilege to represent you.

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