Covenant School father speaks about lack of gun reform

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Since the Covenant School shooting , school safety has been a top focus for some state and local lawmakers across Tennessee.

However, 80% of Tennessee parents don’t feel schools are any safer now than they were last year, according to a recently published Vanderbilt University Medical Center child health policy poll, leaving parents who spent hours wondering if their children were alive the day of the shooting feeling like lawmakers are out of touch.

“Most everyone’s willing to listen behind closed doors. There’s a lot of sympathy and support. There’s some interest, but there’s always an excuse for why something couldn’t happen from what I’ve seen,” said Nick Hansen, a father of two Covenant School students.

Hansen’s two children were at the school the day of the shooting and still have nightmares and trauma from that day.

He said even one of his family’s favorite activities, going to Bridgestone Arena to see the Nashville Predators, can’t keep their fears at bay.

“[My son] is so observant now of his surroundings, and [my son] looks around the arena and says, ‘Dad, how can all the good guys protect everybody with all of these exits?’ And saying, ‘How do you know who’s good, who’s not?’ And it’s kind of a heartbreaking conversation to have with a kid that is still learning to read,” Hansen said.

Hansen wants to be able to tell his kids only good guys are walking around with guns, but said that would be a lie because he isn’t sure whether felons are armed or not.

“I mean, at a bare minimum, if we could have universal background checks, I think that would be massive,” he said.

In Tennessee, background checks are not required for private firearm sales.

According to the VUMC poll, nearly 64% of Tennessee parents want background checks on all guns. There is also nearly 60% or more support for laws requiring the secure storage of firearms and temporary restrictions on removing a person’s guns if they are found to be a risk to themselves or others.

“[You] get support behind closed doors, but then [lawmakers say], ‘It’s not something we can do because so and so’s not on board,’ or ‘The party doesn’t want to do it,’ or ‘If I vote this way, then I’m going to have an organization saying they’re gonna back a different candidate.’ That’s the reality of it,” Hansen said.

He said in order to get lawmakers to be more responsive to these kinds of polls and sentiments, it will take more voters coming out to the polls.

According to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, 38% of registered voters cast their ballots in 2022.

“Until we get more people voting, we’re gonna get this, like you know, budget version of actual government, right? This is the B-team,” Hansen said.

A spokesperson for the Tennessee House Republican caucus said they have several bills this session addressing mental health and public safety. In addition, the spokesperson said the state has invested $750 million in school safety over the last five years.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.