Kudos to Gov. Bill Lee for signing into law legislation that will place more school resource officers in Tennessee public and private schools and funnel additional money into school security upgrades.

However, the same bill contains make-work provisions requiring every school in Tennessee to submit annual safety plans to the state — as if schools don’t have such plans in place.

For that matter, in June 2021, the governor signed an executive order and launched a statewide effort to enhance school safety by boosting collaboration among parents, schools and local law enforcement across the state.

There are more than 1,700 public schools in Tennessee. Is someone going to review more than 1,700 safety plans? Every year? For what purpose? Don’t local schools know best how to protect themselves and respond to attack?

Lawmakers did, however, move to further protect gun and ammunition dealers, manufacturers and sellers against lawsuits. That bill is awaiting action from the governor, despite that it shouldn’t be needed.

Holding gun makers and sellers liable for violence committed with a gun makes no sense. According to the FBI, an average of 315 people are killed annually by rifles. In comparison, hammers are used in an average of 446 homicides per year. Why is there no talk of banning hammers, or suing manufacturers?

On average, more than 1,500 people are murdered with a knife each year in the U.S., making it the second-most-common weapon used in homicides. Do we need legislation to protect manufacturers from being sued because someone used a knife to commit murder?

Meanwhile, Lee has ordered lawmakers to reconvene in August because they failed to act on a law that is simple, and that makes perfect sense. It would help prevent crazy people from buying guns.

How often do we hear about mass murderers who were known to be mentally ill, yet allowed to legally buy weapons? You can’t stop them all. But written the right way, laws can stop many of them. Under federal law, a person can be tallied in a database and barred from purchasing or possessing a firearm due to a mental illness under two conditions: if he or she is involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, or if a court or government body declares him or her mentally incompetent.

Another way to place mentally ill persons in the database is if a state court or government body were to rule that due to his or her mental health, a person is a danger to themself or others, or is unable to manage his or her own affairs.

Many states have such laws. Tennessee lawmakers needn’t be in special session more than a day or two to pass one.

-Kingsport Times News