Here’s a number that’s depressing on its face, but that gives me hope for changing Tennessee’s gun laws (and a lot of other bad laws too):

Tennessee ranks 46th for voter turnout. In the 2020 presidential election, when we had near-historic turnout, only 60 percent of Tennesseans who were registered to vote bothered to do it. In nonpresidential elections, like the one coming up this November, turnout is typically 20 or 30 points worse than that.

That’s sad for democracy in Tennessee. But it’s also a huge opportunity that we can exploit if we’re willing to put in the work. Just boosting our turnout by a few hundred votes could make the difference in a state election—and remember, most gun laws are made at the state level. 

This is the time to build a 21st-century army of single-issue voters focused on commonsense gun laws. That might be the one issue that most Tennesseans agree on and will show up to vote for.

By all means, let’s raise our voices. Let’s flood our state lawmakers’ phone lines and inboxes. Let’s take to the streets and March for Our Lives. But let’s do the harder, more effective work of building that army. Then we can march to the polls and make real change in November.

Allison
[email protected]