The Republican governor of Tennessee signed an executive order strengthening background checks for the purchase of guns.
Gov. Bill Lee called on state legislators to pass further gun control laws two weeks after a mass shooting at a Nashville school left six people dead.
- The
executive order requires police to report new criminal activity to the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) within 72 hours.
- It also asks the TBI to review the current procedure for purchasing guns in the state.
- Lee asked state lawmakers to pass "red flag" laws to prevent people with criminal records or documented mental health problems from purchasing firearms.
- He said that passing gun control legislation requires "coming together and laying down our previously held positions."
- In 2021, Lee signed a law allowing most adults to carry handguns in public without a permit, background check, or training.
- Major
law enforcement organizations in the state, including the TBI, the
Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association and the Tennessee Association of Chiefs
of Police, opposed the so-called "constitutional carry" law.
- The 28-year-old who killed six people at the Covenant School in late March purchased seven guns legally, police said.
- The shooter was armed with three firearms during the attack, including a semi-automatic assault rifle.
