The state of Tennessee is on a roll with a bevy of pro-gun bills coasting through the state!

The bill granting full-time employees with valid concealed carry permits to carry on campus with the exception of sporting events, disciplinary hearings and in hospitals, co-sponsored by Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden) and Sen. Mike Bell (R-Riceville), was passed by the House and the Senate on Tuesday.

While the bill moved through the House swiftly, there was a contentious exchange between Rep. Holt and Rep. Sherry Jones (D-Nashville) when Jones accused the co-sponsor of not understanding his own bill or trying to hide something.

The Senate Committee considered the measure for almost an hour and heard from Ginger Hausser, representing the Tennessee Board of Regents, Linda McFadyen-Ketchum, of Moms Demand Action, and Erin Luper, of the National Rifle Association.

“College campuses as gun-free zones present an environment where murderers, rapists and other criminals may commit crimes without fear of being harmed by their victims,” said Luper.

A measure to allow 18 year olds to carry a weapon was also approved in the Senate Judiciary Committee as well.

A bill to lower fees for a lifetime handgun carry permit from $500 to $200 was successfully passed by the House Civil Justice Committee as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Tennessee House committee also passed a bill allowing school boards the authority to grant permit holders the right to carry public or private school property and while traveling on school functions.

Also going into affect is a law from the permit holder privacy bill which was passed in 2013. The law will take the names of nearly 400,000 Tennesseans with permits to carry off public record, keeping their guns and their identities concealed.

Keep it up, Volunteer State!