Tennessee legislators should put children before a thirst to stay in power | Opinion
On the eve of the Tennessee legislature’s Aug. 21 special session on public safety, I am compelled to ask the question: Why does our legislative supermajority seem intent on ignoring the public’s cry to save our children by passing meaningful gun control laws?
The easy and cynical answer is that they are bought and paid for by gun manufacturers and their lobbyists, whose dollars and influence have created in our state a safe haven for anti-gun reform.
But I fear there is a deeper, more dispiriting answer. I fear the supermajority legislators have demonized those of us who don’t look like them, act like them or think like them to such an extent that we no longer matter in their eyes. Even their own voters who disagree with them no longer matter. The legislators who hold the supermajority have a lock on the levers of state power and they are wielding their power without regard for those they serve.
Representing the citizens of Tennessee isn’t the point anymore.
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Tennesseans are united in their call for reform
Meanwhile, gun violence is the tragic unifier plaguing our lives and destroying our future.It is the leading cause of death among Tennessee children and teenagers. Already in 2023, 29 Tennesseans have been killed and 61 injured in mass shootings, a horrifying new record. Ten Tennessee children have been killed in these mass murders, which is 10 too many.
Furthermore, gun violence and its ever-present threat cut across every sector of our society; no one is safe. This month in Memphis, police and security thwarted an active shooter situation at Margolin Hebrew Academy-Feinstone Yeshiva of the South when a former student began firing shots on school property. Five months ago, three children, two teachers and one staff member were massacred at the Christian-based Covenant School in Nashville. Last year in Chattanooga, two mass shootings happened in the span of two weeks, leaving three people dead. Two years ago, a gunman walked into a Collierville Kroger and killed one while injuring several others. And in Memphis, the city where I serve as a pastor, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital treated 71 children from January to June 2023 who were shooting victims; four of them died.
In response to statewide escalation of gun-related violence and death, Tennesseans have become united in our call for stronger gun control legislation. According to a recent Vanderbilt Unity Poll, the overwhelming majority of Tennesseans — including self-described MAGA Republicans — support gun reform. The Unity poll shows 82% of voters support gun background checks and 75% support red flag laws that would take weapons out of the hands of people who pose a threat to themselves or others.
Yet Gov. Lee was under intense pressure from the state’s Republican leadership not to hold the session at all, and ultimately caved to their demands that the primary focus be on mental health and criminal justice. Only two of the 18 topics in the session will deal specifically with gun control, the main issue Tennesseans are begging legislators to take action on.
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Lawmaker, put power aside and sheath the sword
Again, I ask: Where is the sense in this? And I am reminded of the Old Testament, particularly the insight and wisdom of King Solomon in 1 Kings 3, when he determines that the preservation of life should outweigh selfishness, greed and power. King Solomon is asked to decide which of two women before him is the real mother of an infant both claim as their own. He tests the women by ordering that the child be cut in half. The astute king determines that the real mother is the one willing to give up parental rights rather than see her baby slaughtered.
The biblical lesson is this: We must be willing to sacrifice – to give up our greatest desires and strongest impulses – for the greater good. In Tennessee today, the greater good is the health, welfare and futures of our children, who are dying in record numbers from gun violence even as their families, teachers, and communities beg for common-sense laws to end the senseless bloodshed.
Tennessee legislators, this upcoming special session is your test. Our children will be standing before you in the chamber, a sword over their heads. The opportunity is ripe for you to do the right thing. You can put power aside and sheath the sword. An entire state is begging you for their lives. Please stop ignoring us. Please be wise. Please listen.
Rev. J. Lawrence Turner is the senior pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis and the founder of the African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee (AACCT).
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee legislators should put children before a thirst for power
