Special session ends in disappointment, confrontation

The state House and Senate adjourned their special session on Tuesday after six days of debate and protest.

Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, called the GOP-controlled legislature into special session in response to a shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville earlier this year that left three children and three staff members, including a Lee family friend, dead. Lee had advocated for extreme risk protection orders, a way for courts to temporarily remove guns from the possession of people experiencing mental health crises.

Republican leaders in the legislature rebuffed Lee's calls for ERPOs and ended up passing just a few pieces of legislation, including additional mental health funding.

"We aren't doing the will of the people who sent us here," said Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville), who called the special session a waste of taxpayer money.

Tensions were high throughout the session, with Covenant parents and protesters advocating for further action from the Tennessee General Assembly. The House instituted new rules banning attendees from holding signs, though a Nashville court quickly moved to reverse the new rule. House leaders directed state troopers to remove attendees from multiple meetings, and the House voted to restrict the speaking rights of state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) over supposed disruptions. On Tuesday, an encounter between state Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) and House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) left Republicans and Democrats hurling accusations.

Republicans also fought among themselves, as House GOP leaders accused the Republican-led Senate of inaction for refusing to take up a slate of bills considered in the House. 

“We thought there were other bills that would be beneficial and that could have helped the Covenant shooting situation in the future," Sexton said Tuesday. "We passed them. Unfortunately, we couldn't get across the finish line with the Senate and so we'll come back in January and see what we can do.”