Chaos breaks out on Ten­nessee House floor after law­mak­ers pass con­tro­ver­sial teacher gun bill

The Ten­nessee leg­is­la­ture passed a con­tro­ver­sial bill allow­ing teach­ers to car­ry guns, caus­ing pro­test­ers to scream their dis­ap­proval and cause chaot­ic scenes on the state House floor.
The bill was passed just over a year after the Covenant school shoot­ing when a for­mer stu­dent killed three stu­dents and three adults. It was strong­ly object­ed to by Democ­rats and gun con­trol activists, who made a scene in the state Capi­tol build­ing.

Repub­li­can state Rep. Ryan Williams, right, watch­es his bill to allow some teach­ers to be armed in schools pass the House as oth­ers react dur­ing a leg­isla­tive ses­sion Tues­day, April 23, 2024, in Nashville, Ten­nessee. (AP Photo/George Walk­er IV)

“Blood. On. Your. Hands,” the crowd in the gallery shout­ed, bran­dish­ing protest signs.

Repub­li­can and Demo­c­ra­t­ic state rep­re­sen­ta­tives con­versed and argued on the floor, accus­ing each oth­er of break­ing rules.
Repub­li­can House Speak­er Cameron Sex­ton kicked out at least one pro­test­er for being too dis­rup­tive, accord­ing to the Wash­ing­ton Post.
The Wash­ing­ton Exam­in­er reached out to Sex­ton for com­ment.
House Democ­rats, a clear minor­i­ty in the deep red state, protest­ed the mea­sure.
Demo­c­ra­t­ic state Rep. Bo Mitchell shared his out­rage over the pas­sage of the bill in light of the Covenant tragedy. “This is our reac­tion to stu­dents and teach­ers being mur­dered in a school? Our reac­tion is to throw more guns at it. What’s wrong with us?”
At one point, Sex­ton appeared to mute Mitchell’s micro­phone, after he drift­ed off top­ic in apol­o­giz­ing to the par­ents in atten­dance.

Dur­ing debate on a bill to arm teach­ers, Ten­nessee House Speak­er Cameron Sex­ton (R‑Crossville) mutes and laughs at State Rep. Bo Mitchell (D‑Nashville) as he tries to apol­o­gize for Covenant School shoot­ing vic­tims for what the leg­is­la­ture is doing.SEXTON: “His mic’s not on.” pic.twitter.com/CeN3viAdm9
— Heart­land Sig­nal (@HeartlandSignal) April 23, 2024

Also in atten­dance was Demo­c­ra­t­ic state Rep. Justin Jones, who was expelled last year for dis­re­gard­ing House rules before being quick­ly rein­stat­ed. He joined a “die-in” protest, where activists pre­tend­ed to be dead.

The Ten­nessee House just passed …