KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — So far, the state has received almost 16,000 email responses to the governor from people across Tennessee about one subject — gun laws.
For three months the state of Tennessee has debated gun restrictions following a deadly school shooting in Nashville. After the shooting, Governor Bill Lee announced he would bring lawmakers back together in August for a special session focusing on public safety.
"Right now, there are students having rallies in East Tennessee, in Sevier County, Rutherford County and all over. And they're going to keep it up. They're serious, they're tired of being afraid in the classroom," said Rep. Gloria Johnson (D- Knoxville).
Republican lawmakers in the legislature said they wanted the session to focus on individuals' behavior instead of weapons.
"I think the best thing that can come from the session is that we address people killing individuals with any type of weapon. We need to focus on that instead of a specific weapon," said Rep. Lowell Russell (R - Vonore).
Governor Bill Lee opened a website to collect public comments about the upcoming session. Representative Lowell Russell says he's looking at those responses.
"Public safety should be the first priority of any elected official. I shared the governor's link on my Facebook, and hopefully, we get a lot of public comment with recommendations and then go through them and figure out what is best for Tennessee," said Russell.
Gloria Johnson says she believes the state is very clear on what they want.
"Eighty percent of Tennesseans are saying to do something. We don't have to let kids die. We don't have to have active shooter drills. We don't have to let kids die — these kids are telling you what they want," said Johnson.
The debate continued through the responses. Some called for assault weapon bans, background checks and increased red flag laws while others oppose any further gun restrictions in the state.
WBIR went through a small portion of the responses - 570. Around 430 of them called for stricter background checks and red flag laws, while the other 140 wanted no change to the gun laws.
The special session starts on August 21.