MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has signed an executive order that, if passed, would strengthen background checks for guns.
During a news conference Tuesday in Nashville, Lee said the order requires the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to review the current gun-buying process in Tennessee.
Lee’s remarks came as he held a press conference to honor the Metro Nashville officers who responded to the shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville on March 27, 2023, which left three adults and three children at the school, and the shooter, dead.
Lee did not call the proposals ‘red flag laws,’ but new public safety measures.
Gov. Lee said the executive order requires the TBI to report within 60 days on changes that need to be made to the process to buy guns. He said it also requires new criminal activity to be reported to the TBI within 72 hours and ensures courts submit “timely information” directly to the TBI.
Lee said he wants lawmakers to work on ways to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands while also “preserving constitutional rights.” He said he also wants the state’s Order of Protection laws strengthened to include times when a person poses a danger to themselves or the public.