Outside of the theatrics by the Tennessee House Democrats, SB1325, the bill that would allow teachers and staff to conceal carry a handgun while on school grounds cleared the House 68-28. It has received passage from both chambers and is expected to be signed by Governor Bill Lee. T
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he usual suspects, namely Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action have their panties in a knot.
The gun control organizations tried to influence House members by commissioning one of their student activists to write an op-ed.
“Teachers like me are trained to educate kids. Arming us will make everyone less safe,” was published in the local Tennessean last Thursday. Short of lacking conviction, it also reflects a lack of confidence in the writer and exposes her as a neophyte. The subhead reads: “A teacher’s job is to teach. We all agree that keeping students safe is the priority and I would t ake a bullet for my students.”
So, instead of being willing to take a bullet, why not just defend yourself and the students by being armed? What the writer is really saying is she would rather be a martyr than a protector. You see, a protector would actually save lives and support the cause of armed self-defense, whereas a martyr would help the gun-control agenda. Dead teachers and dead children allow them to scream louder for more laws and restrictions.
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The supposed “teacher” is actually a college student. Barbara “Bobbi” Sloan is a junior at Vanderbilt University, and a student leader for Students Demand Action. Sloan has been a vocal presence (read, strategic plant) since the tragic Covenant Christian School shooting in Nashville. Sloan was first quoted in Vanderbilt’s student publication “The Hustler” (unfortunate name) reacting to the shooting in 2023.
Sophomore Bobbi Sloan said the event reminded her of how dangerous elementary education — her future career — is.
“If I die, I will be another statistic,” Sloan said. “We are all afraid. More so, we are sick and tired of being disposable.”
“Disposable?” Her dramatic and hyperbolic take would appear again in an Everytown for Gun Safety press release on April 9 commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Covenant shooting and warning against the passage of SB1325.
“As a student studying to be a teacher, I know that managing a classroom is already tough enough without adding a deadly weapon into the mix,” said Bobbi Sloan, a volunteer leader with Vanderbilt Students Demand Action chapter. “For every gun that’s placed in a classroom, a new opportunity is created for students to become another statistic. This is not the solution. In fact, it’s absolutely absurd to respond to our cries for change with a bill that will only endanger us more.”
Sloan presented similar arguments in this last-ditch op-ed effort to urge the House to not take up the bill.
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Managing a classroom is taxing, it takes an incredible amount of focus and dedication for not only students, but also teachers, to get through a single lesson.
And these difficulties are all without deadly weapons in the mix. Our <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/readers/2024/04/11/tennessee-governor-bill-lee-veto-bill-arming-teachers/73288934007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":be