Leader Raumesh Akbari: Political obstruction on gun safety will ‘fuel our movement for change’

NASHVILLE — Senate minority leader Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, issued a statement marking the first week of Gov. Bill Lee’s special session.

Senator Raumesh Akbari:

“Republicans in the legislature loosened gun laws for a decade and now they’re ignoring grieving families who are begging for new solutions to protect their kids from gun violence.

“I’ve cried with parents whose children were killed by gunfire in Memphis. I prayed with moms from The Covenant School. They deserve better from their elected representatives.

“Regardless of what happens here, our work to prevent shootings must continue and political obstruction will only fuel our movement for change.”

Gov. Lee called lawmakers back for special session in response to a March school shooting in Nashville that left three 9-year-olds students and three staff members dead.

But even as gunshots wounds have come to be the leading cause of death for children in Tennessee, the Republican majority dispatched every bill offering new gun safety policy in just four days of legislative work.