For approximately 40 years, motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause of death for U.S. children and adolescents. But in 2020, for the first time in history, firearms surpassed car accidents as the No. 1 killer of American children.

In Tennessee, we reached that horrible milestone three years earlier, in 2017.

This shift didn’t happen overnight. In the Volunteer State, a decade of rolling back state firearm regulations has had the unintended consequence of increasing access for felons, criminals, the mentally unwell, and others who should not be able to easily purchase, possess or acquire firearms.

We’ve seen firearm thefts skyrocket (we now lead the nation in guns stolen from vehicles) and have had the number of crimes against persons involving firearms more than double in just an eight-year span.

We rank third in the nation for accidental shootings by children. And Tennessee has a firearm suicide rate that’s nearly 50% higher than the national average, placing us in the top 10 states for youth suicide by firearm.

These figures are downright depressing, but there are bipartisan solutions that can change this trajectory. We know from repeated public opinion surveys that the majority of Tennesseans across party lines support pragmatic firearm safety policies.

Three things our organization’s diverse membership agrees on

We are part of the grassroots movement of Tennesseans who want to create a Safer Tennessee. And we represent some of the diverse voices calling for this change; one of us is an avid hunter and conservative business executive, and the other a Grammy Award-winning performer and community activist.

Yet we agree on three things:

1. Every firearm sale should be subject to a background check;

2. Owners of firearms should responsibly and securely store them; and

3. We should have a court-ordered process to temporarily remove firearm access for those in crisis who pose a threat to themselves or others.

We can respect and preserve the Second Amendment while also advocating for responsible gun ownership.

These pragmatic, data-driven changes are the policy goals advocated for by the non-partisan, nonprofit organization we are both a part of, Voices for a Safer Tennessee (Safer TN). Only a year old, this group has caught fire, growing its coalition to nearly 30,000 members in all 95 counties, raising $1.3 million for its educational and advocacy activities and its PAC.

Lawmakers must put our children first and pass new gun safety legislation

We actively engaged in this year’s legislative session with a policy and lobbying team as well as a consistent, visible volunteer presence in the Capitol.

And we are seeing results.

These are pro-safety wins in the 2024 Tennessee legislative session

After over a decade of weakening our firearm safety laws, this is the first year we didn’t go backward.

Instead, lawmakers voted down top priorities of the Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA) and passed the first substantive restriction on firearm possession since 2009.

Now, those who are convicted of violent crimes as juveniles won’t be able to legally possess firearms until age 25 (an effective policy as data shows those ages 18-20 are most likely to commit firearm homicide and are at an elevated risk of firearm suicide).

Safer TN was also part of a coalition that stopped legislation to allow the permitless open carry of loaded long guns – including AR-15s – in public spaces, as well as a bill that would have allowed handgun carry permit holders to carry openly or concealed in K-12 public schools.

We also helped increase our state’s background check funding to address a concerning backlog of more than 761,000 records.

We saw Republican Leader William Lamberth champion firearm safety legislation in honor of slain Belmont University student Jillian Ludwig to prohibit those deemed incompetent to stand trial from purchasing or possessing firearms; and Safer TN supported successful efforts to encourage Gov. Bill Lee to fund “Jillian’s Law.”

After Covenant, Tennesseans wanted to protect kids from gun violence. That didn’t happen.

Legislation was also passed in response to the tragic shooting of Chris Wright in Chattanooga to increase charges for repeat violent misdemeanor offenders, thus making them ineligible to buy or possess firearms, as well as a law to require annual reporting on firearm injury and death in Tennessee.

Nope, teachers aren’t being armed willy-nilly in Tennessee

The bill that made national headlines, colloquially (but inaccurately) termed “arming teachers,” had numerous safety provisions added to it so that local school and law enforcement leadership could proactively opt out of the program.

These safeguards were included despite opposition from the TFA. Indeed, we’ve already seen at least 33 counties and school districts publicly announce they won’t be participating. Counter to the public perception that every Tennessee school will now have at least one armed teacher, it will likely be a handful of trained and approved school employees in rural counties where they’ve had a hard time hiring and retaining School Resource Officers.

This is what change looks like on firearm safety in a strong Second Amendment state. It is slow, it is incremental, and it can be easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. But this progress would not have been possible a year ago. It is the type of change that has staying power, and it builds the foundation for the long-term policy goals that will save lives.

We are proud Tennesseans. And there are so many things that make Tennessee great – the people, the culture, the music, the faith traditions, the business climate – but the safety of our children and our communities has increasingly become a concern. But we see reason for hope. We are at a tipping point, and with our voices and our votes, we can achieve a Safer Tennessee.

Todd Cruse is chairman of the board of directors of Voices for a Safer Tennessee. He has worked in state politics and healthcare over three decades and is an avid sportsman and hunter.

Songwriter and musician Ketch Secor is the frontman for the Grammy Award-winning Nashville roots band Old Crow Medicine Show. They debuted “Louder than Guns” after the March 27, 2023 mass shooting at The Covenant School.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee gun control made progress since Covenant. Here’s how