On March 30, 2023, three state Democrat House members conspired with gun control advocates to disrupt formal legislative proceedings. Their purpose? To stop pending pro-2nd Amendment legislation and to call for Red Flag laws.

Their efforts may have had some success and/or just happened to coincide with gun control agendas held by some state Republican legislators. Republican Lt. Gov. Randy McNally almost immediately voiced his support for Red Flag laws. Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Todd Gardenhire called for lawmakers to stop working on gun legislation and perhaps defer them for the rest of the year.

Did the misconduct by the Democrat legislators and the curiously large gun control presence on Thursday cause this Republican response or was it just coincidental? The question might be immaterial because the response of some Republican leaders speaks volumes without regard to any correlation to a specific cause.

On Friday, news began surfacing that Metro Government school officials might be coordinating or at least aligning with national gun control advocates to have a second gun control rally on Monday, April 3. This time, efforts are openly being made to involve K-12 students as both activists and props in the unconstitutional gun control agenda.

A national gun control group, March for Our Lives, which appears to be connected with David Hogg, has now targeted Nashville, Nashville students and the Tennessee Legislature for what might be expected to be a scaled up version of the events of March 30. The group has made a call for students to walk out of their classes mid-morning (if they go to school at all) on Monday, April 3, for the students to meet at the Tennessee Capitol to demand gun control by the Republican led Legislature. [See image on TFA news post]

Curiously, about the same time that the national gun control group called for students to walk out of their classes and go to the capitol on Monday, Metro Schools Director Adrienne Battle also got involved. She sent out a message under the apparent subject of “Elevating Voices for Change” – emphasis on “for Change”. She was not simply calling for emotional support for Metro School employees and students. She was calling for organized high school student “walk-ins” on Monday to address “gun violence”. Notice, not to address “violence in society” but “gun violence”. She was directing Metro school officials to plan and arrange for high school students to walk out of their classes (perhaps requiring all students to do so) for “meaningful civic engagement and discussions”. Notice the content, she is not calling for a time for students and employees to show support for the victims, families, law enforcement, emergency officials and others impacted by the murder/suicide last Monday. She was calling upon Metro schools to organize and encourage students to engage “for change” to address “gun violence”. She even calls on, or is that directs, other Metro schools to have all other students K-middle schools to engage in a moment of silence and other “age appropriate” action. She proposes that everyone responding to her “gun control” call “for change” to red wear which happens to be the same color that has been adopted by Moms Demand Action, another gun control group.

Despite trying to pitch these out of state and local government organized activities as being supportive of the victims of the Covenant shooting in Nashville, these planned uprising have one agenda – gun control leveraged from the tragedy of a person intent on murder-suicide. News reports indicate that mass killing was carefully investigated and planned by a 28 year old female who has been repeatedly described as transgender and under some form of emotional treatment. It is not clear at present if the murders were revenge motivated or just random murders of completely innocent victims at a location that the killer had selected as a preferred location for her own “suicide by cop”. Nashville police have indicated that the killer had likely planned to strike other targets including her family and perhaps a Nashville mall. One thing is clear is that the objective of the out of state activists and the Metro Schools is to agitate students and families to be advocates for gun control.

The question is really going to be how will Bill Lee, the Legislature and even those having authority over Metro schools respond?

Bill Lee made a campaign promise in 2018 that he would strengthen schools and take action to enable arming of teachers. He has done nothing to honor that promise. Had he done so, would last Monday have seen fewer, if any, deaths if the school and its employees been ready and trained to oppose a deadly threat with necessary force? Numerous bills have been offered and some enacted over the last 15 years to arm schools and enable school employees to effective oppose armed violent intruders.

It is clear from the last few years that there are several House members and Senators who are truly working to honor their oaths of office. They have filed and advanced bills, often without the support of some in Legislative leadership, to repeal existing statutory infringements or to put in place new Second and Tenth Amendment provisions to force Tennessee’s administration and law enforcement to honor the Constitution by prohibiting cooperation with federal laws, regulations and order that violate the Second Amendment. Yet, just as occurred this year with the Senate Judiciary, many of those bills and efforts are defeated by Legislative shenanigans and never receive a floor vote.

Even without more gun control rallies that use students for props, some Republican leaders appear to be willing to ignore the Constitution, the United States Supreme Court, and to instead seek to advance government imposed gun control such as Red Flag laws, blocking real constitutional carry, and preserving gun free zones.

Some Democrat lawmakers appear to be openly and actively conspiring with the gun control agenda.

The impact on our constitutional rights is the same whether its the choices of those Republicans or choices of the Democrats. Their tactics might be different but the rights remain infringed and according to at least Lt. Gov. McNally and the Democrats should be further infringed.

It is critical that conservatives contact their legislators daily. Call them. Go see them. Email them.

When elected officials ignore clearly worded constitutional rights, it is the constant pressure from their supporters and voters that is necessary to refocus and support their sworn obligation to protect and preserve your constitutional rights.