A school shooting in Tennessee immediately invoked the same outrage, sorrow, hand-wringing and calls for prayer that the multitude of other mass shootings in the United States this year have invoked.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee‘s immediate Twitter post in the aftermath reads: “I am closely monitoring the tragic situation at Covenant, & the @TNDeptofSafety & @TNHighwayPatrol are assisting local law enforcement & first responders at the scene. As we continue to respond, please join us in praying for the school, congregation & Nashville community.”
I am closely monitoring the tragic situation at Covenant, & the @TNDeptofSafety & @TNHighwayPatrol are assisting local law enforcement & first responders at the scene.
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) March 27, 2023
As we continue to respond, please join us in praying for the school, congregation & Nashville community.
An unhappy bookend to the tweet above, Governor Lee’s pinned tweet reads: “Tennessee is leading the nation as a guiding light for opportunity, security & freedom.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom also tweeted as word spread of the tragic school shooing in Nashville. Newsom wrote: “We call ourselves the land of the free–yet our kids & teachers are gunned down in schools and forced to live in fear of being killed while being educated.”
“What kind of freedom is that?” Newsom asked.
We call ourselves the land of the free–yet our kids & teachers are gunned down in schools and forced to live in fear of being killed while being educated.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 27, 2023
What kind of freedom is that?
This isn’t going to stop until we come together to pass basic gun safety laws in our nation. https://t.co/uip0N5bAmq
In June 2022, Governor Lee told the Memphis Commercial Appeal that he looked at gun control and school safety as different issues. “We’re really focusing on the security in the schools themselves, and we’re not looking at gun laws right now,” Lee said, adding that he could consider arming teachers who were “trained and vetted.”
