Tennessee lawmakers have approved a bill to shield gun and ammunition manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits. Republican Governor Bill Lee has promised to sign the legislation, which comes less than a month after three 9-year-olds and three adults were killed by a shooter armed with an AR-15-style semiautomatic assault rifle at The Covenant School in Nashville. In response, Democratic Representative Justin Jones of Nashville tweeted, “There’s a soul sickness in our state when Tennessee Republican legislators are more concerned with protecting gun manufacturers from lawsuits, than children from being killed by mass shootings. We said, protect children not guns — they choose the guns. This is morally insane.”

Meanwhile, special election dates have been set to fill the seats of Democratic Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, after Tennessee Republicans voted to expel them for leading peaceful protests against gun violence inside the Capitol. Both Black lawmakers have been temporarily reappointed to their House seats and are expected to compete in primaries to be held on June 15, with an election set for August 3.