Covenant School Shooting
On the morning of March 27 around 10 a.m., a gunman fired 152 rounds of ammunition inside the Convent School in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville police received a call for the shooting around 10:13 a.m., and within 15 minutes, the police took down the gunman. The gunman was a 28-year-old named Aiden (born Audrey) Hale and within those 15 minutes, Hale shot three nine-year-old students and three adults: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Cynthia Peak, Katherine Koonce, and Mike Hill. It had been reported that Hale had been planning the shooting for months and was under care for an emotional disorder and hid guns at home.
Tennessee is an open carry state meaning most citizens can carry a loaded handgun, open or concealed, without a permit. The reaction to the 2023 Covenant School shooting was immense: hundreds of parents and students marched all the way to the Tennessee Capitol to protest the loose gun restriction and advocate for gun control. Protesters demanded lawmakers to take initiative to prevent another mass shooting from happening in Tennessee again. The protestors yelled and shouted at lawmakers, most of whom were very indifferent to the protestors. Many of the officers in the capital were also reported to be aggressive and physical with protestors. In addition to the protestors, many representatives from other states appeared to vocalize their opinions of the gun laws in Tennessee. Jamaal Bowman, Representative of New York, was a former Vice Principal and an advocate for gun control. Bowman clearly voiced his opinion by stating “Don’t let them talk about TikTok. Don’t let them talk about nonsense. Talk about the lives of American children being killed.” Bowman got into an altercation with Republican Representative, Thomas Massie, after Massie suggested that there has never been a school shooting in a school that allows teachers to carry [guns]. Bowman became very agitated and emphasized that more guns lead to more states.
One mass shooting after the other, little to nothing has been done to prevent mass shootings, especially elementary school shootings like Sandy Hook (2012) and Uvalde (2022). As a result, to these massive protests, the Republican lawmakers of Tennessee have delayed hearings over new laws concerning access to firearms. Three Democratic state representatives: Justin Jones, Gloria Johnson, and Justin Pearson are now facing an expulsion vote from the Republican-Controlled state after these three democratic state representatives broke House rules and led and supported chants for gun control from the House Floor. In addition to this, Tennessee State Governor, Bill Lee, has announced that he wants to invest around 140 million dollars to provide schools with more armed guns, keeping the regulation of guns in schools and refusing to sign stricter gun laws.
It is no doubt that gun shootings are a mass event in the U.S. due to the lack of gun control. However, it is up to Congress to decide what to do now.