Republican lawmakers in Tennessee advanced a proposal Tuesday to allow some teachers to carry handguns on public school grounds, a move that would mark one of the state’s biggest expansions of gun access since a deadly shooting at a private elementary school last year.
The proposal cleared the GOP-controlled chamber amid emotional chants and screams from protesters against it. Many were eventually ordered to leave the Senate galleries.
After receiving a 26-5 party-line Senate vote, the proposal is now ready for a House floor vote. The bill would bar disclosing which employees are carrying guns beyond school administrators and police, including to parents of students and even other teachers. A principal, school district and law enforcement agency would have to agree to let staff carry guns.
