On March 27, 2023, a multi-victim shooting took place in Nashville, Tennessee at the Covenant Church / Covenant School which involved the murder of six individuals. On May 1, 2023, Tennessee Firearms Association and Sheriff (retired) James Hammond filed, with the assistance of Judicial Watch, an open records request with the Metropolitan Police Department to obtain copies of the shooter’s “manifesto” and other materials that had been collected by the Metropolitan Police Department that might be relevant to the shooter’s motives and that would be important to efforts by Governor Bill Lee and some Republican Legislators to immediately push for the passage of a “Red Flag” law in Tennessee.
The open records litigation has been pending now for more than a year in Davidson County Chancery Court with no resolution. The litigation has however taken several curious turns that are abnormal in open records cases. For example, the Covenant School, the Covenant Church, an anonymous group identified as the Covenant parents have all been allowed by the Court to intervene in the case in order to assert that the investigative records, including the writing of the shooter, should never, ever be made public. Several other private schools (Franklin Road Academy, Road Academy, Montgomery Bell Academy, Oak Hill School, and St. Paul Christian Academy), District Attorney Glenn Funk and a former member of Covenant Church, Austin Davis, have all filed motions for leave to file amicus briefs.
The Chancery Court conducted the show cause hearing starting on April 16, 2024, but has not issued any ruling since that time on the merits of the open records petitions.
Although the Chancery Court has not made a merits decision on the release of the records, records concerning the Covenant matter do seem to be recently available to at least some news media sources. A series of detailed reports over the last 3 days by the Tennessee Star make specific references to information that it has obtained and contains direct quotes from the shooter’s writings.
See full TFA Report and links.
Tennessee Firearms Association Legislative Action Committee Annual Event
The TFALAC Annual Event is Saturday September 7, 2024. It will be held at the Farm Bureau Expo Center in Wilson County.
This year’s keynote speaker is Pete Hegseth of Fox News who is also now a Tennessean. Other speakers include Congressman Mark Green and Erich Pratt, Sr., Vice President of Gun Owners of America.
Tickets and tables are available for a limited time with “early bird” pricing.
Sponsorships and vendor opportunities are also available now and since these are limited are first come, first serve.
Net proceeds from the TFALAC Annual Event are used to support pro-2nd Amendment candidates for the Tennessee Legislature (which sometimes means we are supporting primary challengers to incumbents who are not working to honor their oaths to protect our rights).
John Harris | Executive Director Tennessee Firearms Association
Joining and supporting TFA is an investment in the fight to restore our constitutional rights and to fight against politicians who are willing to sell their votes and your rights to whichever business interest gives them the most money!
