After the Kansas City shooting—the latest chapter in a uniquely American story of anguish and inaction—I said a few things my mother wouldn’t have liked. As a native southerner raised by a native southerner, I got daily lessons in being polite. Here are some lessons that stuck:

“Wait your turn.”

“Don’t raise your voice.”

“Take what you’re served.”

Those lessons from Mom made me a better person. And I never had a problem following them until the shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School last year.

After Covenant, people from across Tennessee went to Capitol Hill to ask their state legislators to consider those laws. They were met by a wall of state troopers courtesy of the Republican supermajority, who later said the people weren’t being polite.

When three legislators tried to discuss gun safety on the House floor, the speaker cut them off and then cut their mics. When two of those legislators used a megaphone to speak, the Republican supermajority expelled them for not being polite.

When Governor Lee called a special legislative session to consider a red flag law, which most Tennesseans support, the Republican supermajority refused to discuss it. 

Several people I know met with their Republican reps and asked them to reconsider. Every one was told that legislation addressing gun violence must be “bipartisan,” which apparently means it can’t involve guns. Every one was thanked for being polite and reminded that, indeed, any such discussion must be polite.

In the end we got one new gun law last year. It protects gunmakers from lawsuits.

And this year we got a new rule for visiting the State House: we need a “ticket” from our state rep to sit in the public viewing gallery.

Here are lessons in civility according to our rulers representatives in Nashville:

“Wait your turn.” (You don’t get a turn.)

“Don’t raise your voice.” (It’s easier to ignore you.)

“Take what you’re served.” (Even if it kills your children.) 

Sorry, Mom. I’m not taking what they’re serving us in Nashville.