amna: Protests are ongoing in
Tennessee after six people lost
their lives at the covenant
elementary school in Nashville
last week.
Stephanie sy reports now on the
calls for action.
Stephanie: More than 1000
students in the Nashville area
walked out of their schools
yesterday at 10:13 A.M., the
same time the shooter opened
fire at covenant elementary a
week earlier.
They marched to the Tennessee
state capitol to call for
stronger gun laws.
Since last week, demonstrators
have convened at the capitol,
even entering the building to
shout "Save our kids" and grab
the attention of lawmakers.
Now, Tennessee house Republicans
are moving to expel three
democratic lawmakers who joined
those protests.
Among them, state representative
Gloria Johnson who represents
part of Knox county.
Thank you so much for joining
us.
The expulsion threats stem from
what you and your colleagues did
in the house chamber last
Thursday.
I understand you breached house
rules when you took over the
podium to lead protest chants.
The Republican leader says this
amounted to disorderly behavior.
What led you to do what you did,
and did it cause disorder?
Rep. Johnson: Since that
morning, we had been silenced.
We usually have something called
welcoming and honoring.
They did not call on us.
We wanted to welcome the
protesters there.
We wanted to honor the issue
they were talking about and we
were not given the opportunity.
Several times during that day,
we tried to make it during the
morning, we tried to make that
effort and were shut down.
We decided between bills, we
were going to walk to the podium
and thank the protesters for
being there, acknowledge the
issue of gun violence and how
important it was and tell them
we were committed to work on
issues to solve the problem of
gun violence.
We were up there for about 20
seconds when the mics got cut.
One of my colleagues did have a
small megaphone then used that
to continue speaking.
We did chant for a few minutes
with the people in the gallery.
After 20 seconds when they cut
the mic, they also called a
recess.
So, but time that we were up
there, probably about five
minutes after they cut the mic,
it was during a recess.
Stephanie: I understand one of
the chants was no action, no
peace.
I read an interview where you
said Republicans have called to
support you since that protest.
Do you have enough support to
survive an expulsion vote?
Rep. Johnson: The Republicans
that called me were not the
elected representatives and that
body.
Those were the folks in my
district.
And across the state.
Because overwhelmingly in my
district, more than 50% of
Republicans support gun measures
such as red flag laws and safe
storage laws.
Republicans in my district, a
majority of the Republicans in
my district are calling for
solutions to gun violence and
they support measures to limit
weapons and certainly limit
weapons for people who are a
danger to themselves or others.
Stephanie: When it comes to the
safety of schools, Republicans
say they are taking action.
Governor bill Lee is proposing
allotting $140 million for
school resource officers, $20
million for public school
security improvements, $7
million for private school
security, as well as mental
health liaisons in schools.
Why do you think that is not
enough to protect children from
gun violence?
Rep. Johnson: We need to prevent
the guns from getting to the
schoolhouse door.
He is just talking about dealing
with them once they are there,
where people are at risk of
being hurt.
He did not mention guns in any
of his solutions.
The reality is one of our
members, our leader actually
said I will put a tank in every
school if that is what it takes.
We don't need to harden our
schools and make them look like
prisons.
We need to address the issue of
the guns that are coming to the
schoolhouse door.
Let's prevent the guns from ever
getting to our schoolhouse door.
And the reality is they are
common sense things we could do
and we have the data and
research that shows us what
works.
Red flag laws work.
Safe storage laws work.
Why aren't we addressing that
issue as well as security within
schools?
If we can prevent those guns
from ever getting to the
schoolhouse door, then we can
prevent death and injuries.
Stephanie: I know that you are
calling for yet another protest
on Thursday, that is the day the
body is supposed to vote on this
motion to expel.
Not only are you facing a
pro-gun super majority in
Tennessee, but Smith & Wesson is
already building its
headquarters in Tennessee.
You have a very pro-gun state
wide constituency.
Are attention-grabbing protests
the only recourse you have in
this state right now, just to
draw attention to the issue?
Rep. Johnson: Because of the
problem of redistricting in
Tennessee, even though 40% to
45% of tennesseans are
Democrats, we don't have that
voice, we only have 25% of the
statehouse.
The voices of the people are not
being lifted up.
Yes, we need the people to show
up to help us lift up that voice
and to let people know that it
is not just Democrats that want
some gun sense legislation but
it is Republicans and
independents as well.
We will continue to speak up
until someone takes action
because thoughts and prayers are
clearly not getting it done.
Stephanie: Representative Gloria
Johnson joining us from
Knoxville.
Thank you.
Rep. Johnson: Absolutely.
Thank you.