Tension in Tenessee

 

Hundreds of students and teachers gathered on the Tennessee House floor to demand greater gun control in the wake of a school shooting that killed six people. Three Democratic lawmakers, Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, decided to join the chants of protesters in the gallery and shouted "Power to the people" with a bullhorn. Now, House Republicans introduced a resolution to impeach them for "knowingly and intentionally causing disorder and dishonor" on the floor.

The White House has described the vote as "shocking, undemocratic and unprecedented," and U.S. President Joe Biden has called on Congress to take action to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and require safe storage of firearms. Meanwhile, protesters have returned to the Tennessee Lower House to support Democrats facing possible expulsion. The vote is scheduled to take place at about the end of the full session, which has 29 items on its agenda. Pearson thanked the protesters for boarding a bus at 3 a.m. to "be part of this process" and make sure their voices "are heard." According to a report from the state attorney general's office, the Tennessee legislature has only twice expelled House members. Democratic lawmaker Maxwell Frost, a staunch gun control advocate and the first member of Generation Z to win a seat in the federal Congress, called the vote an "extremist and undue response."

During last week's protests, Jones shouted "No action, no peace!" with a banner with the message "Protect the children, not the guns," while Pearson spoke about gun violence through a megaphone. Tennessee House of Representatives leader Cameron Sexton called it an "insurrection" and asserted that Democrats had committed "multiple violations" of General Assembly rules. Pearson wrote a letter to all legislators admitting that he had broken decorum, but added that "it was impossible to listen to the chants, pleas and cries of thousands of peaceful children outside our chambers and not do or say anything." The situation in Tennessee reflects the intense political polarization in the United States over gun control. While supporters of the right to bear arms argue that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects them, gun control supporters call for stricter measures to prevent gun violence. This controversy has led to numerous shootings in recent decades and has left thousands of people dead or injured.