But a bipartisan coalition of gun-safety advocates, some of them people who a year ago could not have imagined spending their days at the Capitol, were doing far more than paying attention.
Here in Tennessee, firearms are the leading cause of death in children, and these voters are determined to do something about that.
Poll after poll and referendum after referendum make it clear that Republican legislators are out of step with their own voters on a host of topics.
They want to limit who can speak and for how long on the House floor.
They want to control which Tennesseans can sit in the House gallery to monitor — and possibly protest — legislative proceedings.
Organizations:
Tennessee General, Capitol
Locations:
Tennessee, Nashville