For about four decades, car accidents were the leading cause of death for American children and adolescents. But in 2020, for the first time in history, firearms surpassed car accidents as the No. 1 cause of death among American children.
In Tennessee, we reached that terrible milestone three years earlier, in 2017.
This shift did not happen overnight. In the Volunteer State, a decade of rolling back state regulations on firearms has had the unintended consequence of increasing access for felons, criminals, the mentally ill and others who should not be able to easily purchase, own or acquire firearms.
We’ve seen firearm thefts skyrocket (we now lead the nation in guns stolen from vehicles) and crimes against individuals involving firearms have more than doubled in just eight years.
We rank third in the nation in unintentional shootings by children. And Tennessee has a firearm suicide rate that is nearly 50% higher than the national average, putting us in the top 10 states for youth suicide by firearm.
These numbers are downright depressing, but there are two-pronged solutions that can change this trajectory. We know from repeated public opinion surveys that the majority of Tennesseans across party lines support pragmatic gun safety policies.
Three things that the various members of our organization agree on
We are part of the grassroots movement of Tennesseans who want to create a safer Tennessee. And we represent some of the diverse voices calling for this change; one of us is an avid hunter and conservative businessman, and the other a Grammy Award-winning artist and community activist.
Yet we agree on three things:
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All sales of firearms must be subject to a background check;
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Owners of firearms must store them responsibly and safely; And
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We must have a court-ordered process to temporarily deny access to firearms to those who are in crisis and pose a threat to themselves or others.
We can respect and preserve the Second Amendment while advocating for responsible gun ownership.
These pragmatic, data-driven changes are the policy goals advocated by the nonpartisan nonprofit organization we are both a part of, Voices for a Safer Tennessee (Safer TN). This group is only a year old and is already on fire. The coalition has grown to nearly 30,000 members in all 95 counties, and has raised $1.3 million for its education and advocacy efforts and its PAC.
Lawmakers must put our children first and passing new gun safety legislation
We have been actively involved in this year’s legislative session with a policy and lobbying team and a consistent, visible volunteer presence at the Capitol.
And we see results.
These are security victories in Tennessee’s 2024 legislative session
After more than a decade of weakening our gun safety laws, this is the first year we haven’t gone backwards.
Instead, lawmakers rejected the Tennessee Firearms Association’s (TFA) top priorities and passed the first substantive restriction on firearm ownership since 2009.
Now, those convicted of violent crimes as juveniles will not be able to legally own firearms until age 25 (an effective policy because data shows that people between the ages of 18 and 20 are the most likely to commit gun homicide and are at increased risk on gun homicides). suicide).
Safer TN was also part of a coalition that ended legislation to allow the unauthorized open carry of loaded long guns – including AR-15s – in public spaces, as well as a bill that would have prohibited license holders from would have allowed carrying of small arms to be carried openly or concealed in public places. Public schools for primary and secondary education.
We also helped increase our state’s background check funding to address a troubling backlog of more than 761,000 records.
We saw Republican leader William Lamberth champion firearm safety legislation in honor of murdered Belmont University student Jillian Ludwig, banning those deemed incompetent from standing trial, purchasing or possessing firearms; and Safer TN supported successful efforts to encourage Governor Bill Lee to fund “Jillian’s Law.”
After the Covenant, Tennesseans wanted to protect children from gun violence. That didn’t happen.
Legislation was also passed in response to the tragic shooting of Chris Wright in Chattanooga to increase charges for repeat violent crime offenders, making them ineligible to purchase or possess firearms, as well as a law requiring annual reporting on firearm injuries and death in Tennessee required. .
No, teachers are not knowingly being armed in Tennessee
The bill that made national headlines, colloquially (but incorrectly) called “arming teachers,” added numerous safeguards so that local school and law enforcement leaders could proactively opt out of the program.
These safeguards were included despite opposition from the TFA. We have already seen at least 33 counties and school districts publicly announce that they will not participate. Contrary to the public perception that every school in Tennessee will now have at least one armed teacher, it will likely be a handful of trained and approved school resource officers in rural counties where it is difficult to hire and retain School Resource Officers.
This is what change looks like on gun safety in a strong Second Amendment state. It’s slow, it’s incremental, and it can be easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. But this progress would not have been possible a year ago. It’s the kind of change that has lasting power and lays the foundation for the long-term policy goals that will save lives.
We are proud Tennesseans. And there are so many things that make Tennessee great – the people, the culture, the music, the faith traditions, the business climate – but the safety of our children and our communities has increasingly become a concern. But we see reason for hope. We are at a tipping point, and with our votes and our votes, we can achieve a safer Tennessee.
Todd Cruse is chairman of the board of directors for Voices for a Safer Tennessee. He has worked in state politics and health care for over thirty years and is an avid sportsman and hunter.
Songwriter and musician Ketch Secor is the frontman of the Grammy Award-winning Nashville roots band Old Crow Medicine Show. They debuted ‘Louder than Guns’ following the March 27, 2023 mass shooting at The Covenant School.
This article originally appeared in Nashville Tennessean: Gun control in Tennessee has made progress since Covenant. Here’s how
