Tennessee
Tennessee Senate passes bill allowing teachers to carry guns amid vocal protests
Covenant moms among USA Today’s Women of the Year for 2024
Melissa Alexander, Mary Joyce, Sarah Shoop Neumann, Becky Bailey Hansen, Covenant Moms with Covenant Parents for a Brighter Tomorrows talk about their experience working in activism
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Senate Republicans passed legislation Tuesday that would allow public K-12 teachers and school staff to carry concealed handguns on school grounds — despite vocal protests from Covenant School families and others seeking stricter gun-control measures.
Senate Bill 1325 allows Tennessee school faculty or staff to carry a concealed handgun on the grounds of their school. Tennessee law already allows school resource officers, assigned through an agreement between local school districts and law enforcement, to carry firearms on campus.
The measure passed in a 26-5 vote that fell along party lines. Discussion over the bill halted as a group of around 200 gun-reform advocates voiced their opposition in the Senate gallery, holding signs and snapping their fingers in support or hissing in dissent as Senators debated the bill.
The school district’s director of schools, the school principal and the chief of the “appropriate” law enforcement agency must sign off on a staff member’s authority to carry a concealed handgun.
Tennessee state Sen. Paul Bailey sponsored the legislation and said Tuesday that a school principal could make a blanket decision not to participate and notify a director of schools they don’t want to allow any teachers to carry. But the legislation itself does not directly outline this opt-out mechanism that Bailey referred to and rather directs school administrators to consider each certification individually.
What are lawmakers saying about the bill
The measure isn’t yet law.
The House companion bill, HB 1202, technically only needs a final vote in the lower chamber after passing through committees last year. The bill is currently being “held on the desk,” a procedural term that means the bill is in a holding pattern unless someone moves to remove it from the table.
Republicans have overwhelmingly supported the bill, which was initially filed in January 2023 but has been cited as a potential school security measure in the wake of The Covenant School shooting last March. Democrats oppose the measure, which has also attracted hundreds of gun-reform protestors who oppose a GOP supermajority-led trend of expanding access to firearms in Tennessee.
Republicans argue it’s a needed security option for schools that have been unable to hire a school resource officer or more rural schools where law enforcement response might be delayed during a security crisis.
Shortly after the Covenant School shooting last year, state officials approved new funding to place a school resource officer at every public school in the state. But personnel shortages have slowed the placement, and hundreds of Tennessee schools still lack an SRO.
“We are not trying to shoot a student but protect a student from an active shooter whose sole purpose is to get in that school and kill people,” sponsor Tennessee state Sen. Ken Yager said Tuesday. “In counties like I serve, rural counties, where they may only have two deputies on a shift, it might take 20 or 30 minutes to get to that school. What havoc can be wreaked in that 30-minute period? This bill tries to fix that problem and protect children.”
Tennessee Democrats sharply criticized the bill, arguing it was “irresponsible” and could put students at risk to have guns in the classroom, open to be stolen or misused in a panicked crisis situation.
“The level of irresponsibility here is befuddling,” Tennessee state Sen. Jeff Yarbro said. “We’re sending people to a 40-hour — one week, less time than kids spend in summer camp — to learn how to handle a combat situation that veteran law enforcement officers have trouble dealing with. It is complicated, to say the least, for someone to handle a firearm accurately, responsibly, effectively with an active shooter and literally hundreds of innocent children in the area. And we’re letting people do that with a week’s training.”
Covenant mom calls Senate’s actions ‘appalling’
After repeated warnings about disruptions, Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally called for state troopers to clear the gallery. He permitted a group of mothers of Covenant School students to stay, saying they had not caused a disruption.
Beth Gebhard, whose son and daughter attend the Covenant School in Nashville, said her children were there last spring as a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three adult staff members. She watched the Senate proceedings Tuesday with tears in her eyes, alongside several other mothers of students at the school.
She staunchly opposes the bill. She said her children, 9-year-old Ava and 12-year-old Hudson, survived the shooting because of well-trained teachers and police officers doing their job. She can’t imagine a teacher having to also deal with confronting a shooter, especially one armed with an assault-style rifle.
“A handgun will do nothing against that,” she said. “If what had happened on March 27 had gone down the way that it did with a teacher armed with a handgun attempting to put the perpetrator out, my children would likely be dead.”
She called the lawmakers “cowardly” for clearing the gallery.
“If they are supposed to be representative of our voice and they are dismissing these people … they are not for us and it is appalling,” she said, holding back tears. “It’s so upsetting. It makes me want to move.”
Melissa Alexander and Mary Joyce, both mothers of students who attend Covenant, huddled with Gebhard after the vote. A Capitol building staff member who spotted the trio brought by a box of tissues, earning grateful smiles.
“As mothers of survivors, all we can do is continue to show up and keep sharing our stories and hope that eventually they will listen to them and take our advice,” Alexander said. “We have real experiences in these tragedies. We are the ones who have been there, experienced this and lived through the aftermath of it.”
Tennessee
Tennessee man held on $1M bond after Adair County fatal crash
COLUMBIA, Ky. (WBKO) – One of two men charged in a fatal crash in Adair County last weekend remains jailed on a $1 million cash bond.
Joel Hammack, 46, of Crossville, Tennessee, appeared in court Monday morning for arraignment, where he pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol.
The crash, which occurred Dec. 21 near Adair Elementary School in Columbia, involved two vehicles. Several individuals were injured, and a child was killed.
In court, Hammack reportedly expressed remorse, telling the courtroom, “I am sorry for all this. I am. I am truly sorry,” according to the Adair Community Voice.
Police who detained Hammack at the scene found three open beer containers in his truck. He was arrested and taken to TJ Samson Hospital in Columbia, where a blood test was administered.
Hammack, who has at least three prior DUI convictions in other states over the past decade, is set to appear in court again on Dec. 30 for a preliminary hearing. If the judge determines probable cause exists, the case will proceed to a grand jury for possible indictment.
A public defender has been appointed to represent Hammack.
Copyright 2024 WBKO. All rights reserved.
Tennessee
Urban Meyer gives blunt response to Tennessee fans turnout at Ohio Stadium
Tennessee fans showed up to Columbus Stadium over the weekend for the First Round of the College Football Playoff, the Volunteers certainly didn’t meet expectations when taking the field against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Despite a massive representation of Tennessee orange in the crowd, Ohio State dismantled the Volunteers, defeating the SEC program by a score of 42-17 — but it felt like even more of a blowout than that. Regardless of the result, former Buckeyes leader Urban Meyer was surprised by the takeover of fans from Knoxville, even going as far to say he was alarmed by the development.
Get your team’s official College Football Playoff watch from AXIA by CLICKING HERE: “Watches that tell so much more than time”
“First time I’ve ever seen that in that stadium. A little alarmed by it,” Meyer proclaimed, via The Triple Option. “But the Buckeyes came out, what was it, 42-10? It was worse than that.”
While it certainly was a surprising turn of events, the result was still the desired one for the Buckeyes. Now, their fanbase can focus on gearing up and making the trip for the Rose Bowl in the Quarterfinal of the CFP.
Moreover, the high turnover of Tennessee fans actually made Ohio State’s domination of the Volunteers more impressive to some pundits, including Paul Finebaum. He made sure to heap some praise on the Buckeyes after their eye-opening performance.
“What I was so impressed with was the resiliency of Ohio State.” Finebaum stated, via SportsCenter. “They heard the noise, especially from the pundits, like me, about Ryan Day’s future and they blocked it out. That was what was so impressive. They just went right to it. Tennessee is a good football team but you wouldn’t have known it last night because Ohio State beat them in every facet of the game — except one. Tennessee actually did the most trash talking coming in. They had almost 35 or 40 percent of the fans. It did not make any difference because of what Ohio State did on the field.
“Credit to Ryan Day. He blocked it out as well. He did not let it get to him. The Michigan loss was nowhere to be found and now they have a chance, again, to make a run.”
The job certainly isn’t finished for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes, and the road only gets more difficult from here. With the Oregon Ducks on the docket, Urban Meyer and the rest of Ohio State’s incredible fanbase will be roaring when New Year’s Day rolls around.
Tennessee
Tennessee handles its 2nd half business on a weird day for the program
Top-ranked Tennessee had an unexpected scare thrown into them tonight in the first half against MTSU before the Vols regrouped and controlled the second half in an 82-64 win.
After the first 10 minutes of play it felt like Tennessee was putting together a little pre-Christmas blowout, leading 25-14 and cruising.
Suddenly without warning, MTSU put together the best offensive stretch that any opponent has slapped on Tennessee this year, outscoring the Vols 26-9 in the final 9:31 of the first half to lead 40-34 at the break.
It was a wake-up call for the Vols who watched the Blue Raiders’ Camryn Weston put up 17 first half points on 7-of-9 shooting.
“At the start of the game, they did what I thought they would do,” Barnes said of MTSU, who he clearly had some respect for.
“I think we’re up eight, missed a couple of layups that we need to make, and then we turned it over four or five times in a row. Changed the whole momentum of the game in the first half.
MTSU didn’t wilt in the second half, but Tennessee took control of the game the way you’d expect to see from the No. 1 team in the nation.
The Vols didn’t look like the top team in the country for the first 30 minutes of the game, but they did for the last 10.
It was still a tie game at 51-51 with 12:21 left in the game when the Vols hit the turbo button.
Tennessee outscored MTSU 31-13 from there on out and when the smoke had cleared on the second half the visitors had been outscored 48-24 and held to 29% shooting.
The Vols also got a helping hand from the crowd, which turned out in force two days before Christmas for this non-conference affair.
With the Vols down six at the half the crowd cranked it up significantly in the second half, almost creating a big SEC-game like environment.
The energy in the building translated onto the court and Tennessee just completely dominated the final 10 minutes of the game.
“I thought at halftime we were locked in and came out and obviously played a lot better,” Barnes said of his team’s second half. “But I told them, this won’t be the last time we would be behind at halftime. (It’s) Good for us, and let’s see if we can handle it. I thought they did a good job coming out and doing that.”
Chaz Lanier—who led the Vols with 23 points—got that final spurt going with a three pointer that put Tennessee up 55-51.
Zakai Zeigler—who had a double-double with 17 points and 15 assists, found Cade Phillips for back-to-back dunks to make it 59-54 with 10:43 left on the clock.
MTSU would make three more shots the rest of the way and get out-scored 25-10.
It was a master class from Tennessee on locking down on defense and finding your groove on the offensive end.
Zeigler had six of his career high 15 assists in the final 11:55 tonight, and just orchestrated the offense at a crazy high level in the final quarter of the game.
He’s playing the point guard position at a high, high level right now, to say the least.
“He’s starting to really understand his teammates. I think the more that he’s out there, he and Chaz are starting to get a little bit more of a connection to it,” Barnes said of Ziegler’s play.
Thanks to the way they regrouped and just throttled MTSU in the second half, barring an absolute stunner next week against Norfolk State Tennessee will start SEC play as the No. 1 team in the country.
But they’ll also start it with (as of now) nine available scholarship players thanks to a strange development on Monday.
The Vols learned today that sophomore Cam Carr plans to redshirt to maintain a year of eligibility and enter the transfer portal. He is no longer with the team.
Carr has been sidelined since suffering a broken thumb against Austin Peay on Nov. 17. He was expected to be out 4-6 weeks, so would have been returning at or near the start of SEC play in a couple of weeks.
That is obviously no longer the case and the already thin Vols are even more short-handed.
Tennessee began the year with 11 scholarship players and have lost JP Estrella (foot) for the year in addition to Carr.
It was even more extreme tonight against MTSU with freshman point guard Bishop Boswell sidelined with a shoulder injury (he’s day-to-day).
Playing with what will apparently be a nine-man bench is hardly ideal, but Barnes wasn’t playing ‘poor me’ over the Vols’ roster situation.
“We have pretty much played eight or nine guys all year, right? Pretty much,” Barnes said of the situation. “I tell everybody, back when I first got into coaching, you ask questions trying to learn all I could about this game and talking to some of the old legendary guys. They always told me, ‘you want to play six, maybe seven, eight only if you have to.’
Barnes was taking the fact that his roster had shrunk to nine guys with equanimity. But he had some thoughts on Carr’s decision to leave the program, which happens to be ranked No. 1 in the nation, during the middle of the season.
Transfers are very much a part of the game in college athletics. But a midseason basketball transfer from a player who was almost certainly going to be in the rotation on a final four contender checking out?
That’s some next level stuff.
“It’s like Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler said a year ago when we lost some guys,” Barnes said of Carr’s departure.
“They said plain and clear, ‘if they don’t want to be here then we don’t want them here.’ We want guys that want to be here and guys that really care about being part of the team. They said that. That’s how I think we all feel.”
Tennessee is off now for several days for Christmas. They’ll return to the court on Dec. 31, hosting Norfolk State in the final non-conference game of the year. Make a note, that Tuesday game tips off at 3:00 p.m.
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