“In the wake of a deadly school shooting last month, Republican lawmakers in Tennessee awarded final passage Tuesday to a proposal that would further protect gun and ammunition dealers, manufacturers and sellers against lawsuits,” the AP reports.

“The Senate’s 19-9 vote sends the bill to Republican Gov. Bill Lee, despite pushback from Democratic lawmakers saying their GOP counterparts are trying to shield gun companies just weeks after the Nashville school shooting that killed six people, including three 9-year-olds.”

“Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed bills to combat gun violence Thursday, two months after a mass shooting on the campus of Michigan State University left three students dead and five injured,” the Detroit News reports.

“The proposals, which take effect next year, will expand background check requirements for firearm purchases and institute new storage standards for guns kept in homes where children are present.”

Detroit Free Press: “In addition to the bills she signed, Whitmer repeated her call for lawmakers to send legislation to create a so-called ‘red flag law’ her way.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) “stood alone as he asked for lawmakers to pass a bill to keep guns away from dangerous people,” WKRN reports.

“However, it isn’t clear who is working to write that legislation.”

A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds 21% of Americans say they have personally been threatened with a gun, 19% say a family member was killed by a gun (including death by suicide), and 17% have personally witnessed someone being shot.

Smaller shares have personally shot a gun in self-defense (4%) or been injured in a shooting (4%).

In total, 54% of all U.S. adults say they or a family member have ever had one of these experiences.

These numbers are truly insane.

Charlie Sykes: “Yesterday’s murder of five Americans in Louisville was the 145th mass shooting here, so far this year. And it is only mid-April. Last year, there were 647 mass shootings in our country.”

“It is staggering that we are not staggered by this.”

“When children at school are torn apart by AR-15s, the conscience of the nation should be set on fire. And we were horrified by Uvalde, and Nashville, Newtown, Parkland, Santa Fe, and Roseburg, Oregon. For a few days.”

“But we have gotten to the point where coverage of one slaughter is interrupted by breaking news of yet another. And our doom loop of thoughts, prayers, debate, and inertia has become numbingly familiar.”

“California Gov. Gavin Newsom slammed his Florida counterpart Gov. Ron DeSantis for signing a bill allowing permitless carry into law last week, just days after the country’s latest school shooting in Nashville,” Politico reports.

Said Newsom: “They don’t care about our kids. Cause if they did, they’d ban these damn weapons of war. They would have background checks that require some common damn sense.”

He added: “He’s scared to death, scared of the people, scared of the public. I think the majority of NRA members probably oppose that position.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed into law a bill that lets people carry guns without a permit and without any training, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

“Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill Thursday allowing individuals to carry concealed loaded weapons anywhere without a permit,” NBC News reports.

“The bill now goes to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has repeatedly indicated he will sign it.”

“The measure scraps the existing requirements for concealed weapons permits, including an extra layer of background checks, licensing and firearms training.”

New York Times: “In Kentucky, Ohio, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia, Republicans have pushed this year to limit gun-free zones, remove background checks and roll back red-flag laws that seek to remove firearms from those who are a danger to themselves or others. Missouri last year enacted a measure that made it illegal for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities in many gun investigations…”

“In 25 states, no permits are required to carry a handgun — nine more than in 2020.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) has called for prayers in the wake of Monday’s deadly mass shooting at a Nashville elementary school, while noting that “there will be a time to talk about the legislation,” ABC News reports.

A new Harvard Institute of Politics poll found that 63% of young Americans support stricter gun laws.

“North Carolina legislators repealed the state’s requirement that someone obtain a permit from a local sheriff before buying a pistol, as the Republican-controlled legislature on Wednesday successfully overrode one of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes for the first time since 2018,” the AP reports.

“I think the things that have already been done have gone about as far as we’re going to with gun control.”

— Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), on CNN.

Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) called Tuesday for armed officers in every school, Iowa Capital Dispatch reports.

Said Hutchinson: “My belief is that every school should have armed personnel. Ideally, it’s a school resource officer or a trained law enforcement officer, but in Arkansas we have allowed some of our rural schools to have training for the personnel there so that they can be able to respond in the event something happened.”

“If we really want to keep our children safe, we need to spend less time banning books and more time stopping the horrific gun violence in our schools.”

— Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), on Twitter.

“President Biden said that he’s exhausted what he can do through executive action on gun control as he called on Congress to act following the nation’s latest mass shooting,” USA Today reports.

Said Biden: “I have gone the full extent of my executive authority, to do on my own anything about guns. The Congress has to act. The majority of the American people think having assault weapons is bizarre, a crazy idea. They’re against that.”

He added: “I can’t do anything except plead with Congress to act reasonably.”