MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Georgia Tedford, a sophomore at Covington High School, is leading the gun reform charge at her school.
The special legislative session on public safety starts on August 21. Governor Bill Lee’s proclamation included a long list of items for consideration, and none of them directly addressed red flag laws or background checks like some Tennesseans are pushing for.
“It's not right that we should be living in fear over something that can have preventive measures like red flag laws,” Tedford said.
Her local high school sits in the center of a town of less than 10,000 people, and it's just under three hours away from the Covenant School in Nashville, where a mass shooting happened earlier this year.
Georgia said despite all of this, many of her classmates don't agree with her stance on gun reform.
“The first thing that's usually brought up is, 'Well, I don't want anyone taking my guns.' And I always say, 'No one wants to take your guns. We want to make sure guns aren't in the hands of people who shouldn't be,'” Tedford said.
Shortly after the school shooting in Nashville, she started the first Students Demand Action organization in the area.
“So, I joined a meeting call, and I was like, 'Hey, there's no Memphis chapter for anyone.' and they were like, 'Just start one.' So that's how I started, at least,” Tedford said.
In the meantime, she continues looking up to legislators.
“I'm hopeful for people like Justin Pearson and all of them,” Tedford said. “I'm really proud of what they're doing.”
She’s also hoping other legislators will follow his path.
“It’s scary knowing that people who don’t see it as prevalent of an issue as it is are people who are making the decisions for us," Tedford said. “I really just hope it shows the governor and all of representatives, legislators, everything that this is a serious issue and that this is not going away.”
Putting faith in others is her plan, since she can’t make it to special session herself.
“I really hope that Moms Demand groups and other students' demand groups in Tennessee all show up and show in red and just really advocate for what we need around here,” Tedford said.