As both a father and a legislator, I care greatly about the safety of Tennessee’s children. That’s why I understand why a new law requiring gun safety training in our public and charter schools might, on the surface, sound like a good idea. No one wants to see another child hurt or another family shattered by a preventable tragedy.
But when I look closely at this law, I see something else: another distraction from the real problem — our state’s unfettered access to firearms.
Let me be clear: teaching safety is not a bad idea. But it has to be done in the right way, for the right reasons. Making it a state mandate for all students, starting as young as 5 years old, raises questions about whether this is truly about protecting kids — or about politics…