Tennessee gun safety bill inspired by Waffle House shooting victim passes first House hurdle
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Shaundelle Brooks (D-Hermitage), would make it an offense to sell, offer to sell, deliver, or transfer a gun to a person knowing they've been a patient at a mental institution within the past five years.
Rep. Brooks named the proposed legislation 'Akilah's Law' in honor of her late son, who was one of four people shot and killed in the Nashville Waffle House shooting in April 2018.
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The shooter, Travis Reinking, was deemed by authorities mentally unfit to have a gun, but prosecutors said his father, Jeffrey, gave him one anyway.
'Despite being instructed by each of these oversight agencies to store their firearms safely and not return them to the shooter, the parents knowingly and intentionally disregarded those instructions, broke the law, and were subsequently held accountable because they resided in another state,' Rep. Brooks said during the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday.
According to officials, Reinking's father gave him the gun in Illinois, which already had a similar law to 'Akilah's Law' on the books.
'Thank God he gave him those guns in Illinois because if that happened here in Tennessee, I couldn't have done one thing about it,' Jan Norman, Nashville's assistant district attorney, testified during the subcommittee hearing. 'He wouldn't have been punished at all if it happened in Tennessee.'
During the hearing, Republican lawmakers commended Rep. Brooks for meeting with each of them about the bill.
'That's how you work your bills, that's how you work your legislation and things you care about,' Rep. Andrew Farmer (R-Sevierville) said. 'I think you're going to go a long way in the Tennessee state legislature.'
After Rep. Brooks' bill passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee seven to two, applause erupted.
However, later in the week, she told reporters her work was far from over.
'I'm going to continue to work hard and push and connect with the committees,' Rep. Brooks said. 'I'm new at this, and I'm hoping for the best.'
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Rep. Brooks' bill is scheduled to be debated in the House Judiciary Committee next Wednesday. The Senate version of the bill is set to be debated in the Senate Judiciary Committee next Monday.
Travis Reinking is currently serving a life sentence for the Waffle House shooting. His father, Jeffrey, was sentenced to 18 months in 2023 for giving him the gun.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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