Return To Seats!

Officials from Nashville and Memphis reinstall Justin Jones and Justin Pearson.

Democratic state lawmakers Justin Jones and Justin Pearson are returning back to their respectable Tennessee House seats after being expelled by Republicans for violations of decor.

Their respective leaders from Nashville and Memphis have reinstated their positions.

They will have to run for reelection in a special election.

Jones and Pearson along with Gloria Johnson stood in solidarity with advocates of gun control after a mass shooting a private school in late March. 

On March 30, thousands of protestors gathered at the Tennessee State Capitol to call for stricter gun control laws. Some children held signs saying "I'm nine" in reference to the age of the children shot. Within the chamber of the capitol, three state representatives, Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson led the public gallery in chants of "no more silence", "we have to do better", and "gun reform now", demanding that lawmakers strengthen gun laws. This protest delayed a hearing on a bill which would expand gun access. The next day the state legislature passed a law allowing private schools to hire school resource officers from police departments to help prevent shootings, effective immediately.

On April 3, Johnson and Jones were stripped of their committee assignments, and alongside Pearson were notified that they could be expelled from the House. House Speaker Cameron Sexton said their actions were unacceptable, breaking rules of decorum and procedure. Jones and Pearson were expelled from the House on April 6, with the vote to expel Johnson failing by a single vote. Within a week, they were reinstated in interim capacities—the Nashville Metropolitan Council unanimously voted to reinstate Jones, and the Shelby County Board of Commissioners unanimous voted to reinstate Pearson. The case garnered national attention.

This whole ordeal spotlights how Republicans enjoy moving on from discussing racism, gun violence and income inequality.

Republicans targeted Black men who dare spoke out against injustice.

Gov. Bill Lee, an ignorant Republican governor made Tennessee a 2nd Amendment friendly state.

Lee signed an executive order Tuesday to tighten the background check process in the state, citing recent "recent tragedies" like the Nashville shooting that left three children and three adults dead at a private religious school. 

The executive order requires responsible parties to ensure that all criminal history and court mental health information is entered into the Tennessee Instant Check System or provided to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation within 72 hours. The executive order also directs those entities to determine how the process for submitting such information can be improved, and report to the governor's office and state legislature within 60 days. 

Lee's executive order said that "recent tragedies in Nashville and throughout our nation have demonstrated the devastating impact of firearms possession by those intending to cause harm to themselves or others and underscore the need for more effective instant background checks" and "effective instant background checks rely on information that is accurate, complete, and submitted in a timely manner."

Lee has also called for state lawmakers to pass a so-called "red flag" law that would enable authorities to temporarily remove guns from people who might endanger themselves and others. While some GOP-led states have passed red flag laws, they remain polarizing among Republicans, some of whom view the laws as limiting individual rights without sufficient due process. After the 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida, 18 states and D.C. implemented such laws, and a bipartisan gun control bill passed by Congress last year boosted federal funding to incentivize more states to enact their own versions.