In the context of a Republican supermajority state, these efforts reflect genuine political courage. Tennessee legislators aren’t obliged to do their governor’s bidding, or even work with him to reach a compromise, because they have the numbers to override his veto. They are not accustomed to being called on their pious declamations of thoughts and prayers, and the unusual way the aftermath of this particular mass shooting unfolded — with great swaths of Tennesseans ceaselessly demanding gun reform, week after week after week — apparently caught them off guard. Republican legislators seemed genuinely shocked at finding themselves the targets of overwhelming national opprobrium after they ejected Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two Black members of the Tennessee House, for joining protesters in demanding gun reform. State Republican leaders called for the governor to drop his plans for a special legislative session.

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Persons: aren’t, Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, Dudley Brown, Bill Lee, Governor Lee, He’s Organizations: Tennessee, Republican, Tennessee Firearms Association, National Association for Gun Rights Locations: Nashville