Crime
Tennessee Makes Guns Legal in Playgrounds, Just a Day After Minnesota School Shooting
In the aftermath of yet another school shooting — this time in Minnesota, where children were left bleeding in church pews — Tennessee faced a choice.
We could have used that moment to pause, reflect, and take meaningful steps to protect our communities and our children.
Instead, our state made a different decision: to allow firearms in playgrounds and public parks.
This decision came almost immediately after tragedy struck in Minneapolis. While families there were still reeling, while children lay in hospital beds, and while parents were left trying to explain gunshot wounds to their other children, a panel of Tennessee judges struck down the law that banned guns from recreational spaces — the very places designed for children to feel safe.
This ruling came the very next day.
If that sounds like a cruel coincidence, it only deepens when we remember our own tragedy here at home.
Just two years ago, Tennessee endured the Covenant School shooting, where three children and three staff members were murdered.
That should have been the moment that changed everything for us. That should have been when the safety of children took precedence over politics and posturing.
But it didn’t. Instead of honoring those lives with meaningful action, our state has continued to move backwards — dismantling protections, loosening restrictions, and signaling once again that the lives of murdered children do not carry enough weight to warrant change.
Let me be clear: this is not about freedom. This is about how many children’s deaths we are willing to tolerate while pretending it is.
I am done with performative grief. I am done pretending this is normal. And I am done accepting the idea that the slaughter of children is simply the “cost” of living in this country.
For 26 years, we have endured this cycle of violence, grief, and inaction. Enough. It is time to do something.
Crime
Attorneys Argue Jacob Bard Actions in Deadly Kentucky State University Shooting Were Legally Justified
Attorneys representing Jacob Bard, the man accused in a deadly shooting at Kentucky State University, contend that his actions were legally justified and undertaken in defense of his family amid what they describe as a violent and uncontrolled situation on campus.
In a press release issued Monday afternoon, Bard’s legal team from the Indiana-based law firm Danks & Danks asserted that Bard “was completely justified under the law in his use of deadly force.”
Bard is accused of fatally shooting one Kentucky State University student and wounding another during an incident at a campus dormitory.
According to the attorneys’ statement, Bard traveled to Kentucky State University after his younger son reported being attacked on multiple occasions.
The release alleges that on Monday, December 8, a group of approximately 20 to 30 individuals gathered outside the son’s dormitory, some allegedly armed, and began beating on the door. Campus police were reportedly called to respond to the disturbance.
The following morning, Bard and his wife met with Kentucky State University police. While the attorneys stated that officers appeared sincere in their efforts, they claimed it was evident to the family that campus police were “ill-prepared to deal with the out-of-control and violent environment.”
The legal team further alleges that both the university and its police department failed to adequately address what they described as multiple armed and violent felonies against Bard’s sons, ages 18 and 19, as well as other students in the days preceding the shooting.
Those alleged incidents included burglaries and armed assaults.
Later that morning, the family attended a meeting at Young Hall with campus police and a university dean.
According to the release, the meeting left the family convinced that the university would not be able to maintain a safe environment, prompting them to begin removing the son’s belongings from the dormitory.
When the family returned to the residence hall, the attorneys claim that individuals previously involved in the alleged assaults were present, despite assurances they would not be allowed inside.
The statement further alleges that those individuals photographed the family and made verbal threats.
The attorneys contend that, even with two armed Kentucky State University police officers present, a group of 20 to 30 individuals gathered in the dormitory lobby and “violently and viciously attacked” Bard’s son and family members.
According to the release, Bard’s son was slammed into the concrete floor and beaten by multiple people, and the officer on scene allegedly lost control of the situation.
“In the chaos,” the attorneys wrote, Bard attempted to pull attackers off his son but was struck himself. Believing his son to be in imminent danger of death or serious physical injury, Bard then drew his firearm and shot two individuals whom the attorneys say were actively assaulting his son.
The legal team also stated that no charges have been filed against others allegedly involved in the confrontation and claimed the Bard family has continued to receive death threats.
The release further alleges that the mother of the deceased student has publicly called for retaliation against Bard’s son and sought assistance from criminal groups—claims that have not been independently verified by authorities.
The case against Bard was presented to a grand jury on December 16.
During a previous court hearing, a detective testified that at least one video reviewed by investigators did not show the shooting victims assaulting Bard’s son.
The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not issued a final determination regarding the circumstances surrounding the shooting.