Belmont Event Media Release | October 24, 2024

Belmont University Hosts Critical Discussion on Firearm Safety Policies and Second Amendment Rights with Safer TN

Nashville, TN –  More than 70 students, community members, activists, and lawmakers attended Belmont University’s panel on Wednesday night, which focused on the intersection of firearm safety policies, Second Amendment rights, and community safety.

Todd Cruse, Board Chair of Safer TN, and John Harris, Executive Director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, were invited to engage in a discussion moderated by Professor Vaughn May, Chair of the Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Department at Belmont.

“A large part of our society is now part of a lockdown generation,” Safer TN’s Board Chair Todd Cruse said during the panel. “Now, as a parent of two, you have that tiny voice in the back of your head saying ‘I hope this doesn’t happen in our school today [even] as hard as they’re trying to make sure it doesn’t.’”

The conversation represents an important step toward finding balanced solutions in a state with strong interests in both security and individual freedoms.

“[John Harris and I] disagree on what the Supreme Court says and what its interpretations [of the law] mean,” Cruse said. “And that’s okay because we can have that conversation.”

Safer TN is also available to provide interviews or additional recorded materials ahead of the Lewiston, Maine mass shooting anniversary (October 25, 2023) and Domestic Violence Awareness Month (October). Highlights include:

• Cruse graded Tennessee’s firearm policies as an “incomplete” and pointed to other states that have taken proactive measures after mass shootings. Maine expanded background checks to cover all advertised firearm sales following the Lewiston mass shooting, creating a near-universal background check system.
• Cruse highlighted that nearly 40% of domestic violence firearm homicides in Davidson County since 2007 were committed by individuals prohibited from owning firearms.

Soundbites can be found here. 

About Voices for a Safer Tennessee
Voices for a Safer Tennessee (Safer TN) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition dedicated to prioritizing pragmatic firearm safety laws and promoting responsible firearm ownership to make communities across our state safer. Safer TN was founded by neighbors, friends, colleagues and community members who came together with a shared desire for change following the tragic events of March 27, 2023, at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. The organization brings voters and lawmakers together by leading conversations, sharing diverse perspectives and finding commonality to champion the bipartisan change that the majority of Tennessee voters support. Learn more at safertn.org.

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