As Tennessee lawmakers continue in their special legislative session on public safety, mental health and gun reform, hundreds of groups and activists are protesting at the state Capitol demanding stronger gun reform.
Every day, 120 Americans are killed with guns and more than 200 are shot and wounded, according to the group Everytown for Gun Safety.
Linda McFadyen-Ketchum, co-lead for Tennessee legislative work for the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in Tennessee and the nation.
She added in this legislative session they have a call to action to lawmakers and Gov. Bill Lee for stronger gun-safety laws.
“The lifesaving bills that could be passed most likely will not even be brought up,” McFadyen-Ketchum lamented. “We are more than disappointed. We’re outraged that the people’s voices are not being heard by our lawmakers and our governor, because the people want, they want this fixed.”
McFadyen-Ketchum emphasized her group works daily to lower the death and injury rate in shootings in Tennessee and across the country. She added Moms Demand Action has more than 10 million supporters, with chapters in every state committed to saving lives.
McFadyen-Ketchum pointed out the governor’s formal call for the special session makes no mention of gun reform, and the word “firearms” was only mentioned once. She noted Moms Demand Action would like to see more bills to protect children from gun violence.
“We had hoped, and what we need, is an extreme risk-protection order bill that would allow family members or law enforcement to temporarily separate someone at extreme risk for self-harm or harming others and their firearms,” McFadyen-Ketchum urged. “That is not a part of the proclamation.”
The Tennessee Lookout reports a list of bills in response to The Covenant School mass shooting died in committee and only three passed.
One of the three deals with safe storage of weapons and provides free firearm locks. McFadyen-Ketchum stressed the safe storage of firearms is one of many priorities for Moms Demand Action.
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Some 74% of young people in the United States believe gun violence is a problem and almost 60% want to see stricter gun laws, according to a new report from American University, Everytown for Gun Safety and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Researchers polled a nationally representative sample of more than 4,100 people ages 14 to 30. Wyatt Russell, senior program manager and policy analyst for the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University, said this generation – raised in an era when mass shootings are common – says school safety is a major concern and is associated with negative mental-health outcomes.
“The average young person knows at least one other person who’s been injured or killed by a gun,” he said. “We’ve seen an astonishingly high 25% of youth have been in an active-shooter lockdown. Not a drill, a lockdown.”
A study from the Kaiser Family Foundation also found that gun violence was the leading cause of death for kids in 2020 and 2021, more than any other type of injury or illness – the highest rate among large, wealthy nations.
Opponents of stricter gun laws cite concerns about personal freedom and self-defense.
Russell said the survey found that a young person’s access to guns, identification with gun culture and exposure to media relating to guns correlated with support for male supremacy, belief that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to overthrow the government, higher levels of racial resentment and post-traumatic-stress disorders.
“We’re working to develop some inoculation strategies to help young people stop harmful myths and disinformation, conspiratorial thinking and supremacist ideologies that can influence gun violence,” he said, “more specifically, extremist violence, as well.”
Around 40% of young people in the survey said they have “somewhat easy” access to a gun, and 21% reported having “very easy” access.
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Some 74% of young people in the U.S. believe gun violence is a problem, and almost 60% want to see stricter gun laws, according to a new report from American University, the Everytown for Gun Safety and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Researchers polled a nationally representative sample of more than 4,100 people, ages 14 to 30.
Wyatt Russell, senior program manager and policy analyst with the Polarization & Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University in Washington, D.C., said this generation – raised in an era where mass shootings are ubiquitous – says school safety is a major concern and is associated with negative mental health outcomes.
“The average young person knows at least one other person who’s been injured or killed by a gun,” Russell pointed out. “We’ve seen an astonishingly high 25% of youth have been in an active shooter lockdown. Not a drill. A lockdown.”
A study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found gun violence was the leading cause of death for kids in 2020 and 2021, more than any other type of injury or illness, which is the highest rate in the world among large, wealthy nations. Opponents of stricter gun laws cite concerns about personal freedom and self-defense.
Russell noted the survey found that a young person’s access to guns, identification with gun culture and exposure to media relating to guns correlated with support for male supremacy, belief that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to overthrow the government, higher levels of racial resentment and post-traumatic stress disorders.
“We’re working to develop some inoculation strategies to help young people stop harmful myths and disinformation, conspiratorial thinking, and supremacist ideologies that can influence gun violence,” Russell explained. “More specifically, extremist violence, as well.”
Among the young people surveyed, 40% said they have “somewhat easy” access to a gun, and 21% reported having “very easy” access.
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Gun-related deaths among children and teens are growing, and no state is exempt from the effects of the growing epidemic.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ohio is one of 10 states where gun-related deaths among youths are highest. Children from affected communities recently visited the Ohio Statehouse to meet with lawmakers on the issue.
Jake Streeter, executive director of the East Cleveland Neighborhood Center, said his kids, many of whom come from neighborhoods where regular gun violence is a reality, drew posters and wrote letters with ideas and solutions now displayed throughout the statehouse.
“Many of our students have a feeling about gun violence that they believe we as adults aren’t taking the situation as seriously as we could,” Streeter explained. “It doesn’t seem to be a priority.”
According to the Children’s Defense Fund, nationwide in 2021, more than 4,700 children and teens were killed with guns, up 40% from 2017, and half of all child and teen gun deaths occurred in just 10 states, including Ohio, North Carolina and Tennessee. Black children and teens were six times as likely to die from gun violence as their white peers.
Streeter added the grassroots organizations working with children need funding to be able to provide positive alternatives to keep kids off the streets. He hopes state representatives work to ensure summer and after-school programming is available to all Ohio kids.
“The people who have these stories, these narratives that they need to hear our place in a position to be able to share these stories to do this mentoring to build these long-lasting relationships,” Streeter outlined. “So that ‘the students don’t have to look to the streets or violence.'”
Taking its name from the Mississippi Freedom Summer project of 1964, the six-week Freedom Schools program focuses on literacy and cultural enrichment, and is aimed at serving children and youths in grades K-12 in communities where quality academic programming is lacking.
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