Tennessee Gun ValleyPart II: More guns in homes, cars
How lawmakers made it easier to have, carry, steal, and find firearms
Eight years ago, in the tiny East Tennessee town of White Pine, an 8-year-old girl named Makayla Dyer was shot and killed by an 11-year-old neighbor with his father's 12-gauge shotgun.
The shooter, who got the loaded shotgun out of an unlocked closet, was angry with Makayla for not letting him play with her puppy. The 11-year-old boy was arrested for first-degree murder, convicted, and sentenced to eight years in juvenile detention. The boy's father, the gun owner who left the shotgun loaded and unsecured, was never charged.
Tennessee has no law requiring gun owners to store their guns to protect against unauthorized access by a minor. Charges against an adult gun owner who allows such access are left to the discretion of local prosecutors.
The following year, state Sen. Sara Kyle (D-Memphis) sponsored "Makayla's Law," which would make it a felony for an adult gun owner to leave a loaded gun unsecured, but only if a child age 13 or younger fired the gun and injured or killed themselves or another person.
Republican legislators defeated "MaKayla's law" in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
A decade of child gun deaths
Since 2013, the Gun Violence Archive and the National Gun Violence Memorial have recorded 130 of Tennessee's more than 600 child gun deaths.
Our three-part series will highlight all 130. Each vignette tells the larger story of a child lost, a family devastated, a community in fear or mourning or both.
May 11, 2019
Jackson
Chrisaiah Arrington, age 3, accidentally shot and killed himself in the bedroom of his family's apartment. The child's mother, 25, and her 43-year-old boyfriend, who kept firearms in the apartment under a pillow, were charged with negligent homicide. The mother told police her son had found a gun under a pillow a month before and she had taken it away from him.
June 10, 2019
Maryville
Clark Reagan, age 8, was shot and killed by his father, a first-grade teacher, who then shot and killed himself. The deaths were ruled a murder-suicide. Clark's mother had been granted a restraining order that prohibited Clark's father from seeing him unless supervised. The restraining order was still in effect when the incident occurred. "This was mental illness," Clark's mother, Miranda, wrote in a Facebook post after the deaths. "We will never understand but please don't hate him."
April 21, 2014
Memphis
Ayden Robinson, age 4, was accidentally shot and killed by his 3-year-old brother with a loaded gun found in a dresser drawer in the family's apartment. A man admitted the gun was his and he'd left it in the dresser when he went to work. He was charged with reckless homicide but was granted diversion. “They feel like if they need it quickly it’s not readily available, so they don’t spend time putting a gun lock, which is a simple thing to do," Lt. Col. Vincent Beasley of the Memphis Police Department told reporters.
Sept. 7, 2019
Hermitage
Ty Dodson, age 6, known at his school as "Ty the Science Guy", was shot and killed with a .357-.cal. revolver by his grandfather, who also shot and killed his wife and then himself. The child's 4-year-old sister escaped unharmed.
In 2021, gunfire became the leading cause of death for children 17 and under in Tennessee.
Child gun deaths aren't just a Tennessee problem.
In 2020, for the first time, more American children ages 17 and under were killed by guns than by car accidents or any other cause of death, according to CDC data. That was true again in 2021 and 2022, and likely will be again in 2023.
Tennessee's rate of child gun deaths is 36 percent higher than the national average.
Some advocates believe gun violence can be reduced through community policing that focuses on developing positive relationships with young people. (Karen Pulfer Focht for The Institute for Public Service Reporting)
Gov. Bill Lee has called a special session of the legislature to begin Aug. 21 in response to gun violence in Tennessee.
But so far, any gun-related legislation has been deemed outside the governor's narrowly defined scope of the session.
Lee is asking legislators to consider 18 topics to "enhance public safety" and "likewise protect Constitutional rights."
One topic includes "measures encouraging the safe storage of firearms," but it specifically precludes "creation of penalties for failing to safely store firearms."
None of the topics include measures to strengthen or reverse state laws that have loosened restrictions on making, owning, and carrying guns, laws that have put more guns within reach of more children.
Over the past decade, Tennessee lawmakers have made it easier to make, buy, carry, and steal guns in Tennessee.
During that time, the number of guns made, sold, stolen and seized in Tennessee has increased dramatically.
During that time, the number of Tennessee children ages 17 and under who have been killed by firearms each year has nearly tripled.
Since 2013, more than 600 children ages 17 and under have been shot and killed in Tennessee.
Gunfire now is the leading cause of death for children 17 and under in Tennessee and across America.
Sept. 14, 2019
Knoxville
Destiny Oliver, age 5, was shot and killed by her mother with a 9mm handgun inside their home. The mother told police she was watching TV when an unknown man entered the home and shot her daughter. A video later showed the woman walking out her front door with the murder weapon. She was charged with first-degree murder.
Nov. 29, 2019
Memphis
An 11-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself while playing with a handgun he found under a mattress in a relative's house. The child's name was not released. No charges were filed. “The adult was not in the apartment at the time but had told the boy and his 13-year-old cousin moments earlier to stay out of her closed-door bedroom," the district attorney's office said in a statement. "The gun was in a holster and the safety was on. After considering all of the circumstances, including the age of the victim and the fact that the pistol was not in an easily accessible location, this tragic death has been ruled accidental."
Dec. 6, 2019
Memphis
Demonte Johnson, age 13, was shot and killed as he walked home from a corner store in North Memphis. No one has been charged with the crime. Authorities have offered a $15,000 reward for information. “This has wrecked my life completely, my whole life and family’s life,” Jamarr Johnson, the child's uncle, told reporters. “It’s torn my heart apart. My sister lives every day, mourning, hurting about her son, she can’t function in the everyday life, because she is missing her child and wondering when they are going to capture the person who done this.”
Dec. 7, 2019
Cookeville
Ian Austin, age 10, a fourth grader and Cub Scout, shot and killed himself. His grandmother said Ian was bullied at school. No information was released about where he got the gun.
Dec. 8, 2019
Memphis
A four-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed by his 20-year-old uncle, who was unloading his pistol. The uncle was charged with criminally negligent homicide. “A 4-year-old killed by a negligent adult. We have problems. We have major problems,” Memphis Police Director Mike Rallings told reporters. “What keeps me up is the bodies keep stacking up.”
Jan. 19, 2020
Memphis
Jadon Knox, age 10, a fourth grader, was fatally shot with a .40-caliber pistol in a drive-by shooting. Jadon was standing on his porch. “They snatched his life that hadn’t even begin,” his aunt Tawanda Knox said at Jadon's funeral. A 23-year-old male was arrested and charged with reckless homicide. The suspect said he was shooting back at someone who was shooting at his house.
Jan. 20, 2020
Memphis
Ashlynn Luckett, age 6, and Lequan Boyd, age 16, were shot and killed during a drive-by shooting. They were inside their home. “I have no understanding as to why,” Luciana Jones, Lequan’s mother and Ashlynn’s grandmother, told a reporter. “Every day someone is losing their life and for nothing.” No one has been arrested or charge in the murders.
Feb. 1, 2020
Jackson
A 4-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself while he was sitting in his father's car at a gas station. The child's name was not released. No charges were filed.
In 2012, Republican legislators tried to pass a so-called "guns in trunks" bill that would have allowed people to keep firearms locked anywhere in their parked cars.
The state's largest employers spoke out against the bill. “Allowing employees to have near-immediate access to firearms at work creates an element of risk that is unacceptable, especially for large employers," FedEx said in a statement.
Semiautomatic rifles confiscated by Memphis police in 2019. (Karen Pulfer Focht for The Institute for Public Service Reporting)
Republican legislative leaders, including state Sen. Debra Maggart of Knoxville tried but failed to offer a compromise that would allow businesses to opt out. The NRA objected and the bill was shelved.
Later that year, the NRA and other pro-gun groups spent more than $150,000 to defeat Maggart, a handgun-permit holder and lifetime NRA member. The two-term senator lost in the primary.
"Because of NRA bully tactics, legislators are not free to openly discuss the merits of gun-related legislation," Maggart wrote after the 2012 election.
In 2013, the state legislature voted 100-27 to allow handgun permit holders to carry and store firearms in their vehicles while driving or parked.
The new "guns in trunks" law applied to any public or private parking area, as long as the permit-holder was parked legally, and the gun or ammo was “kept from ordinary observation" and stored in a glove box or lock box secured to the vehicle.
“It’s opened Pandora’s box,” Linda McFadyen-Ketchum of the Tennessee chapter of Moms Demand Action told reporters at the time.
In 2014, the state legislature expanded the so-called "guns in trunks" law to allow any gun owner, not just gun permit holders, to carry and store firearms in their vehicle, even on private property that prohibits weapons.
“Since then, the theft of handguns from vehicles has skyrocketed in Memphis,” the Shelby County Crime Commission said in a statement issued earlier this summer.
Feb. 16, 2020
Memphis
An 11-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed by his 13-year-old brother with their 24-year-old cousin's gun. The 13-year-old was charged with aggravated assault, and the adult cousin was charged with reckless endangerment. “How many children go home with their uncle, their whoever, got guns on the coffee table," anti-violence activist Stevie Moore told reporters. “It’s normal.”
March 13, 2020
Memphis
Xavier Jackson, age 9, was accidentally shot and killed by his 13-year-old cousin with a handgun that belonged to their mother's boyfriend. Xavier's mother and her boyfriend were charged with criminally negligent homicide for leaving both children alone at home with a loaded gun.
March 26, 2020
Memphis
A 3-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed by a 5-year-old boy with an adult's handgun. The names of the children were not released. No charges were filed.
April 23, 2020
Ooltewah
Jer’monie Vinson, age 3, accidentally shot and killed himself with a family friend's stolen 9mm pistol. A 19-year-old male was arrested and charged with child endangerment and illegal possession of a firearm. He was shot and killed the following January by someone he was robbing, police said.
July 2, 2020
Hendersonville
John Robert Moore, age 2, who loved watching Paw Patrol and Fireman Sam, accidentally shot and killed himself with a 9mm pistol he found in his father's truck while they were visiting a local fire station. No charges were filed.
July 11, 2020
Bristol
A 1-year-old child was accidentally shot and killed by his 4-year-old sibling at their home with an adult's handgun. No charges were filed.
Sept. 15, 2020
Clarksville
Kashton Gadson, age 2, accidentally shot and killed himself with his mother's Smith and Wesson 45-.cal handgun. His 21-year-old mother, who left the loaded gun in a bedroom, was arrested and charged with negligent homicide and aggravated child neglect.
Nov. 17, 2020
Elizabethton
Lillyhanna Rose Canter Davis, age 10, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting as she slept on a couch in her mobile home. Three young males were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Two were sentenced to 40 years in prison, a third to 15 years. The three males told police the shooting was an act of revenge for another shooting at the same home two weeks before when a fourth man was wounded.
Over the past decade, the number of guns reported stolen from vehicles in Tennessee has increased 10-fold.
In Memphis-Shelby County, 287 guns were stolen from cars in 2011. Last year, 2,441 guns were stolen from cars, a record number, according to the Memphis Police Department.
In Nashville-Davidson County, 191 guns were stolen from cards in 2012. Last year, 1,378 guns were stolen from cars, a record number, according to Nashville police.
Memphis and Tennessee lead the nation in gun thefts vehicles, according to the FBI.
A front door riddled with bullets where 7-year-old Kelby Shorty was killed on the Fourth of July in 2021. (Karen Pulfer Focht for The Institute for Public Service Reporting)
Guns stolen from vehicles have become the largest source of stolen firearms in America and in Tennessee.
A decade ago, less than a quarter of all gun thefts were from vehicles. By 2021, more than half of them were.
Memphis police report that more than 40 percent of guns used in crimes are stolen from vehicles.
"They’re not stealing guns to go hunting. They’re stealing guns to commit crime,” Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland told Action News 5.
In 2015, the NRA held its annual convention in Nashville during the legislative session. Nearly every Republican candidate for president spoke, including Donald Trump. More than 75,000 NRA members attended the three-day event.
Two weeks later, Gov. Bill Haslam signed a new "guns in parks" law that allows permit holders to carry loaded guns in any public park or playground, including those used by schools.
“Our enemies are armed. We must do likewise," former Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) said later that year.
Nov. 22, 2020
Memphis
Jordyn Washington, age 8, was shot and killed in her family's apartment by a man who was shooting an assault-style rifle into a crowd in the parking lot. One of the bullets hit Jordyn while she was in her kitchen watching her grandmother cook dinner. The 43-year-old male was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Dec. 11, 2020
Bethpage
Ezekiel Jacob, age 9, and his 31-year-old mother were shot and killed in their home. The suspect, a 31-year-old male, a former employee in the family's business, shot and killed himself at his home two days later.
Jan. 4, 2020
Memphis
Dameon Chalmers, age 10, was accidentally shot and killed by his 14-year-old brother who was taking a gun away from a friend. The brother was charged with reckless homicide.
Jan. 27, 2020
Knoxville
Justin Taylor, age 15, a football player at Austin-East Magnet High School, was accidentally shot and killed by a friend as they rode in a car. A 17-year-old boy was charged with criminally negligent homicide.
Feb. 12, 2021
Knoxville
Stanley Freeman, age 16, was fatally shot in his car as he was leaving Austin-East Magnet High School on his way to work. A 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy were convicted of first-degree murder. Police said Freeman was not the intended target of the gunfire.
Feb. 16, 2021
Knoxville
Janaria Muhammad, 15, a student at Austin-East Magnet High School, was shot and killed outside her home. No one has been charged.
Feb. 17, 2021
Clarksville
Briareus Thomas, age 2, was accidentally shot and killed while he and three other children under age 4 played with a loaded handgun in their home. The mother's 32-year-old boyfriend was arrested for criminally negligent homicide and other charges.
Feb. 23, 2021
Grand Junction
A 7-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed by a 21-year-old family friend who was disassembling a 9mm semiautomatic pistol. The man was charged with reckless homicide.
