OSV News photo/Katie Peterson, Tennessee RegisterWomen sign a banner at St. Edward Catholic Church in Nashville, Tennessee, during a March 28 prayer service for victims of the Covenant School shooting a day earlier. Tennessee’s Catholic bishops have signed a petition calling for additional gun safety measures in the state.
Nashville
REGISTER THROUGH TENNESSEE | Released April 18, 2023
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (OSV News) — Tennessee’s three Catholic bishops — Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville, Bishop David P. Talley of Memphis and Bishop Richard F. Stika of Knoxville — and the Tennessee Catholic Conference have added their names Letter to Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly urging passage of gun safety measures.
The letter, signed by faith leaders across the state, was authored by Voices for a Safer Tennessee, a newly formed, bipartisan statewide coalition dedicated to prioritizing gun safety and advocating common sense gun laws to empower communities across Tennessee for all to make it safer.
Written in response to the recent tragedy at Covenant School on March 27, when an attacker shot and killed three students aged 9 and three adults, the letter supports Lee’s “investment in school safety and funding” and urges lawmakers to do the following to do steps:
— Allow authorities to temporarily remove guns from people who pose a risk to themselves or others by implementing extreme risk laws that allow family members and law enforcement to seek an “extreme risk protection order” in a civil court request to temporarily remove weapons from such persons.
— Keep guns away from dangerous individuals by requiring background checks on all purchases and closing the background check gap.
— Prevent firearms from falling into the wrong hands by encouraging gun owners to keep guns safe and reporting lost and stolen guns.
“Together, we agree on much more than we disagree, and can work together to build a safer Tennessee,” the letter concludes. “Offering our collective public support will help us all do the next right thing as we heal together.”
Several clergymen joined the Tennessee bishops and the Tennessee Catholic Conference in signing the letter. Education leaders signed a similar letter.
Since the school shooting, calls for gun control, and just days after the tragedy, hundreds of school children, teens, and parents have protested at the Tennessee Capitol for stricter gun laws as lawmakers began considering such measures. On April 11, Gov. Lee signed an executive order to strengthen background checks on firearm purchases and expressed encouragement for lawmakers to pass a “red flag” law that would ban dangerous individuals from gun ownership.
Voices for a Safer Tennessee also planned to host a Linking Arms for Change event on April 18 in Nashville and Knoxville.
The event, in Nashville, from 5:15 to 5:45 p.m. local time, will show people making their way along a three-mile route from Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where the victims of the school shooting were taken were to give a helping hand. to the Tennessee Capitol. The Knoxville event will be held simultaneously (6:15-6:45 p.m. EDT) and will circle the Market Square in downtown Knoxville.
The supporters will form a “human chain expressing solidarity with the chorus of voices campaigning for safer communities across the state through common sense adoption of gun safety policies,” according to the event’s press release. Registered participants were asked to wear red in honor of the Covenant School sacrifices.
“Linking Arms for Change is an opportunity for Tennesseans on both sides of the political aisle to come together to honor the lives lost and affected by the shooting at The Covenant School and all lives lost to gun violence in our state said Carlie Cruse, a founding member of Voices for a Safer Tennessee. “It’s not a political issue. It’s a public safety issue. By coming together as one, unified voice, we can put our grief into action and advocate for stronger gun safety measures.”
