MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee is inching closer to allowing public school teachers to arm themselves on school property.
House Bill 1202 is expected to be heard on the House floor this week after the Senate passed an amended version of the bill.
Memphis Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins is strongly against the initiative.
“I think meeting a measure of safety and general threats to an environment with another threat to an environment is not something that we want to participate in,” Dr. Feagins said.
The vote on Senate Bill 1325 comes one year after The Covenant School shooting in the Nashville, where three students and three adults were killed during a school shooting in March, 2023.
Melissa Alexander, the parent of a Covenant student, has been at the state capitol nearly every week since the shooting, advocating for responsible gun laws.
“We don’t believe adding more guns to a situation is the right approach here,” Alexander said. “We do believe in SRO’s but arming the teachers with direct classroom instruction is only going to have unintended consequences.”
For districts allowing faculty to carry a firearm, the staff member would have to go through a background check, a minimum of 40 hours of training each year and get permission from the school’s principal. The bill passed with several amendments added on, including immunity for local education and law enforcement agencies for an authorized staff members use of, or failure to use, a handgun.
“To ask a teacher and to consider the same about being armed with a weapon is not something that you will ever hear me speak highly of,” Dr. Feagins said.
Covenant parents and some MSCS parents are urging the community to reach out to your representatives with your thoughts on the bill.
You can watch our exclusive interview with Melissa Alexander, whose child survived The Covenant School shooting, below: