Mom of Nashville Shooting Survivor Turns on GOP Over Gun Reform

Melissa Alexander, the conservative mother of a shooting survivor, called out the Tennessee Legislature today following a lack of gun reform after a school shooting in March.

Alexander's son was among those present when 28-year-old Audrey Hale opened fire on March 27 at Nashville's Covenant School, resulting in six dead, including three children. Hale, who was armed with two rifles and a handgun, was ultimately killed inside the school by law enforcement and later discovered to have comprised a manifesto documenting her months-long killing spree.

"I think we came into this thinking, well, we're not going to get everything we want," Alexander told Newsweek via phone on Monday from the State Capitol. "We endorsed several bills. But we didn't come into this thinking that they weren't going to do anything.

"So, it was just a little bit of a shock when things started to take a turn last week. And it felt like they were prioritizing their own personal agendas over what the people wanted."

On Monday, the Republican-led House and Senate chambers in Tennessee entered their second week of a public safety special session after over 100 bills have been introduced yet very few have passed. Covenant Families in Action, an organization comprised of parents, staff and survivors of the Christian school, has lowered its expectations of meaningful gun reform resulting from this session.

Alexander, along with other Covenant mothers like Becky Hansen and Sarah Shoop Neumann, testified publicly last Thursday about pieces of legislation they feel don't protect their children but actually could put them more at risk—such as House Bill 7604, which if passed would limit restrictions on who could carry handguns on school grounds, including at sporting events and even on school buses.

Another bill the Tennessee Senate has yet to entertain would prevent minor victims' autopsy reports from becoming public unless granted by a victim's parents, or by legal release via a "good cause" lawsuit.

"This lack of action is a choice they are making and speaks volumes about their lack of compassion and their priority of personal agendas over the people of Tennessee—even their own Republican constituents, including myself," Alexander said at a press conference today, adding that state senators are adding insult to injury by "doing nothing."

Alexander, Hansen and Neumann told Newsweek on Monday that they met with over 60 lawmakers from both chambers in the past few months. The press conference today was, as they described, a method to reach out to lawmakers who decided not to previously engage with them on the issues.

"Our approach has very much been to sit down at the table with everybody in a respectful way," Shoop Neumann told Newsweek. "We want to work with everybody. And it became clear that due to a few people not wanting to participate in that, it was going to cause quite an impasse between the House and the Senate."

Her child just started kindergarten, but she missed his first day because of her efforts. She and the other mothers have taken numerous days off work, spent extra on childcare and feel like they may end up with nothing to show for it—including additional safety mechanisms for their children.

During today's press conference, she likened the lack of bill passages to being "caught in the middle of a Cold War."

"We sacrificed so much to be here," Shoop Neumann said. "I mean, to hear them say to our faces they just are gonna refuse to read a bill because they don't like XYZ that the House did is quite honestly insulting.

"After all that we have done to work with them to come to the table and try to find meaningful solutions where we can meet in the middle and to just be told, 'I will not read it' is hurtful."

The peaceful assembly on Monday included a full House chamber of gun control advocates, some who showed up with signs that were removed by law enforcement.

Hansen, who last week discussed how her 5-year-old son and his peers raced towards safety the day of the school shooting, said that the pain and anxiety endure.

"I'm up half the night, half the week with my children who are deep in the throes of trauma and experiencing panic attacks in the middle of the night; having horrible nightmares, and it has been clear to me that several of these elected officials are not here to serve the people of Tennessee," she said.

"They are here to serve themselves and to try and improve and increase their own power, not to do what is best for the people, and that is incredibly discouraging after all that we have been through."

Alexander said that sharing personal stories publicly has reopened old wounds, stressing that while she and other parents can still talk and spend time with their kids, others cannot because their children were senselessly killed—and that's part of why they are all fighting so hard for change.

She described it as a "linear trauma" that "comes in goes and waves," exacerbated by noises such as hearing a starter gun fired at a track meet, or even hearing a loud delivery truck pull up in front of her home. She says it encompasses their lives, but they have learned to live with it.

"I cannot tell you how I wasn't anticipating just the effects of the nerves, no sleep, stomach aches, all the things," she said. "We may look strong on the outside, but we're really dealing with a lot on the inside. And when you put yourself out in the public, you also open yourself up to quite a few comments.

"We went from very private people before March 27 to living these lives out in the public pleading for change. And while we 100 percent feel it's worth it, it is very trying on your mind and your body and your family."

Kris Brown, president of national gun violence prevention group Brady, told Newsweek via email that reforms must be made by Tennessee legislators now before similar incidents occur in the future.

"In the wake of the school shooting at Covenant, the Nashville community and the nation were left reeling and many asked what could have been done to stop such a senseless attack," Brady said. "We cannot bring back the loved ones lost that March day, but taking action could prevent future suffering and trauma.

"How can these lawmakers look in the eyes of the parents whose children were murdered in their classroom and do anything but act?"

Newsweek reached out via email to Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Speaker Randy McNally for comment.

Update 08/28/23, 7:33 p.m. ET: This story was updated with the proper gender of Alexander's child.