Tennessee's zero-tolerance policy and mass threat law, designed to enhance school safety, face backlash as parents and students challenge the vague language and harsh consequences in court. Critics argue the law criminalizes impulsive adolescent behavior without requiring proof of intent.
In the wake of the Covenant School shooting last March, Tennessee lawmakers faced intense pressure to act. With calls for stricter gun laws echoing through the state’s more progressive lawmakers, the response from the Republican “Super Majority” was a new legal framework aimed at curbing threats of violence in schools.
So, instead of focusing on firearm regulation, a wildly unpopular approach among Tennesseeans who value their 2A rights, the General Assembly enacted measures that now seem to be sweeping more minors into the criminal justice system than targeting actual dangerous criminals.