After being sworn back into the Tennessee House of Representatives Monday, a lawmaker who was expelled just days ago over a gun control demonstration on the chamber floor says he’ll continue to call for gun reform.
“The first thing I do when I walk into this building as a representative is to continue that call for common sense gun legislation,” Democrat Justin Jones said as he stood on the steps of the Capitol after his reinstatement Monday.
Jones and another Black Democrat, Justin Pearson, were forced out of the Republican-controlled legislature last week, after a protest on the chamber floor spurred by the mass shooting last month at a Nashville Christian school that left six people dead.
A third Democrat who had joined them in protest, Rep. Gloria Johnson, avoided expulsion.
The Nashville Metropolitan Council voted 36-0 Monday to reappoint Jones to the House of Representatives, making him once again the representative of House District 52 – but this time in the interim. State law allows local legislative bodies to appoint interim House members to fill the seats of expelled lawmakers until an election is held.
“Today we are sending a resounding message that democracy will not be killed in the comfort of silence,” Jones said to a cheering crowd Monday after marching back to the Capitol.
Now technically a new member, Jones said he can file 15 bills and he’ll be working on gun reform legislation right away when he returns Tuesday.
“Every single one of those bills is going to have to do with that, because that’s what these young people are begging us to do,” Jones told CNN Monday evening.
The Tennessee House Republicans released a statement on Monday, saying, “Tennessee’s constitution provides a pathway back from expulsion. Should any expelled member be reappointed, we will welcome them. Like everyone else, they are expected to follow the rules of the House as well as state law.”
Meanwhile, Pearson’s still vacant District 86 seat is set to be addressed Wednesday during a Shelby County Board of Commissioners meeting in Memphis, announced Commission Chairman Mickell Lowery, who said Pearson’s expulsion was “conducted in a hasty manner without consideration of other corrective action methods.” (CNN)