When Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee started a push in April to deal with public security, his household was grieving the lack of two shut mates, each educators killed in a mass taking pictures at a Nashville Christian faculty.

His name for thousands and thousands of {dollars} to harden faculty safety was embraced by Republicans within the legislature, who flanked him throughout a proper announcement.

But days later, when Mr. Lee, a Republican, determined to go additional and ask for an order of safety regulation that would briefly limit a person’s entry to firearms, he stood alone for the announcement. The legislature would wrap up its work by the top of the month with out taking a vote to move it.

Now, Mr. Lee has summoned lawmakers again to Nashville on Monday for a particular session on public security that would embody consideration of a restricted model of the regulation. But with out the help of most in his personal get together, that measure seems, as soon as once more, destined for failure, underscoring the ability dynamics of a Republican supermajority pushed by a right-wing base hardened towards any potential infringement on gun possession.

“There’s issues that, really, the governor might have an opinion on, but the majority of the legislature has another opinion,” mentioned Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, one of many few Republican lawmakers to overtly again Mr. Lee’s proposal. He added, “It just sometimes takes time, and sometimes won’t happen.”

In the lead as much as the particular session, Mr. Lee and senior Republicans have as an alternative prioritized laws that focuses on shoring up psychological well being sources and coverage, toughening legal penalties for threats of mass violence, focusing on juvenile crime and incentivizing the protected storage of firearms.

Some specialists have warned that the supermajority’s stance leaves open the likelihood that the legislature’s work will do little to stem the toll of gun violence, the leading cause of death for American children, and should exacerbate present inequalities within the state.

“We need to get away from asking ourselves if anything is going to be good enough and really ask ourselves if the policies that are being put forward are going to be effective, and if they will not be harmful to vulnerable communities,” mentioned Jen Pauliukonis, the director of coverage and programming on the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Johns Hopkins University.

The March 27 taking pictures on the Covenant School devastated Nashville, leaving three 9-year-old college students and three adults lifeless. The assailant legally bought seven firearms and had been underneath therapy for an emotional dysfunction earlier than opening hearth within the faculty. (The taking pictures stays underneath investigation.)

The painfully acquainted tragedy prompted days of impassioned gun management protests, as hundreds of scholars, dad and mom and lecturers demanded that Republicans take substantial steps to limit entry to weapons within the state.

But by the top of April, the Republican supermajority had expelled two younger Black Democrats for main a protest from the House ground — each have since gained re-election — and punted any legislative motion dealing immediately with firearm entry.

Mr. Lee shortly mentioned he would ask the legislature to return to deal with public security, whilst his central proposal, a restricted model of a “red flag law” that would permit a choose to briefly confiscate weapons from individuals decided to be a attainable risk to themselves or others, was vilified by Republicans as an assault on constitutional rights.

This just isn’t the primary time Mr. Lee’s coverage agenda has been formed by private loss and a deep-rooted Christian religion: In his memoir and on the marketing campaign path, he has described the trauma and restoration inside his household after the sudden demise of his first spouse in a horseback-riding accident.

In his first Republican major, he slipped previous a bitter battle between extra established politicians after which continued to lean on his private experiences and enchantment as an outdoor businessman to clinch his first political workplace and the governor’s mansion.

Unlike a few of his predecessors, Mr. Lee has maintained a low profile, signing off on a number of far-right priorities with little fanfare or publicity. Before the Covenant taking pictures, he had championed gun rights, together with a regulation permitting individuals 21 and older to hold handguns without a permit in public.

“I’m one who believes that if we focus on what we believe can get done, if we focus on what we all can agree upon, then we will get something done that will make our state safer,” he advised reporters this month.

But some observers applauded Mr. Lee for ignoring complaints from inside his get together and pushing forward with the particular session.

“We didn’t ask for this moment, but we know the special session can bring about much-needed change as we head into another school year,” mentioned Kramer Schmidt, one in every of a number of Covenant School dad and mom who praised Mr. Lee for following via.

Though his restricted gun management measure has help exterior the legislature — a Vanderbilt University ballot this summer time confirmed that about three-quarters of registered voters had been in favor of a red-flag regulation — most elections in Tennessee are determined within the Republican primaries.

And the state’s conservative bent and intense gerrymandering have given the far-right portion of the citizens outsize affect.

“Everybody wants to keep focusing on the gun, but there’s a lot of other things out there that we think that we should do and can do that would be very beneficial,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton mentioned in an interview.

“The issue is the person,” he added. “A lot of times we want to focus on the weapon, but we need to focus on the person.”

John Harris, the chief director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, mentioned Mr. Lee had determined to “throw the entire pan of spaghetti up on the wall, and let’s see what sticks.”

“Governor Lee has made no effort, publicly or otherwise, we’re aware of to try to show that what he’s proposing meets the standard that the Supreme Court has established, at least with respect to the Second Amendment proposals,” he mentioned.

Democrats mentioned they might introduce their very own laws, together with a more durable order of safety regulation. None of their measures are more likely to obtain critical consideration.

“He’s put himself in a corner,” Representative John Ray Clemmons of Nashville, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, mentioned of the governor.

Like a number of different Democrats, Mr. Clemmons blamed far-right Republicans for pressuring the legislature to veer away from gun management.

“Not only do they not care enough to actually have an adult conversation about it, clearly, they’re going to try to use it as a tool or a vehicle to sneak through a whole bunch of other crappy stuff in three days,” he mentioned.

Kitty Bennett contributed analysis.