Tennessee Senate committee advances 3 bills, House subcommittee gallery emptied

(The Center Square) – The Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee tabled much of its agenda on the second day of the special session of the Tennessee Legislature on Tuesday.

The bills that advanced addressed eliminating taxes on handgun safety devices, the communication timeline of criminal court proceedings to the Tennessee Bureau of Information and a bill creating a statewide report on human trafficking.

The committee tabled 52 other bills from its Tuesday agenda and does not have another meeting scheduled.

Several House committees also met Tuesday and advanced bills but the House Civil Justice Subcommittee received attention for another reason as the gallery was emptied after the audience applauded several times. First it applauded a comment from Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, about how he supported hearing all proposed bills during committee and then it applauded when Rep. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, took a bill off notice.

“I want to hear all of the bills,” Parkinson said. “I don’t care if it’s a Republican bill or a Democrat bill. … Please allow us to just hear the bills and, if you don’t like them, just vote them down.”

Subcommittee Chairman Lowell Russell, R-Venore, then asked the gallery to be cleared from the room after asking the audience to stop clapping three separate times.

“About 1/4 of the room in Civil Justice Committee broke a rule and clapped in committee,” said Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville. “The chairman made everyone leave, including the Covenant moms who are now in the hall crying. I know at least a few media folks were also kicked out. This is what fascism looks like.”

Senate Bill 7086, the handgun safety bill passed through the Senate committee, puts in new requirements to add safe storage training to future handgun safety courses and also eliminates sales taxes on firearm safes and safety devices starting on Nov. 1.

The bill also calls for the Tennessee Department of Safety to provide free firearm locks to residents upon request. The appropriation for those locks will be reviewed annually.

Senate Bill 7086 requires a clerk of the circuit or general sessions court to notify TBI of the result of criminal proceedings within 72 hours instead of within 30 days.

The third Senate bill to pass was Senate Bill 7088, which will create a new child and human trafficking crimes report from TBI’s human trafficking unit.