Fresh off his reinstatement, Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, a Democrat, is vowing to charge ahead with gun control legislation.
Jones was booted from the state House along with Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson last week for using a bullhorn to call for more strict restrictions on firearms in a breach of decorum. He was nominated and then appointed back to the state House by Nashville Metropolitan Council members in a unanimous vote Monday evening.
TENNESSEE THREE: NASHVILLE CITY COUNCIL VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO REINSTATE EXPELLED STATE LAWMAKER
"They told me today that I can file 15 bills because I'm now a totally new member. Every one of those bills is gonna have to do with commonsense gun laws," Jones told CNN's Kaitlan Collins. "That's what these young people are begging us to do."
After he was reinstated, @brotherjones_ said he ran into State Rep. Bud Hulsey in an elevator, who filed the resolution to expel him. Jones asked if he learned anything from this experience and says Hulsey responded by saying it was GOP leadership who asked him to file it. pic.twitter.com/CG7zv9YQQU
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 11, 2023
When asked about a timeline, Jones indicated he would work on the legislation right away and could introduce those bills by the end of the week after "legal returns that legislation to me."
Pearson could also find his way back to the Tennessee House through the Shelby County Board of Commissioners. The pair was joined by state Rep. Gloria Johnson, also a Democrat, during the demonstration, which came in the wake of the Covenant School shooting last month that left three children, three adults, and the shooter dead.
Johnson was not ousted from her seat, being spared by one vote. The expulsion of Jones and Pearson sparked a national outcry from Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the state last week and rebuked the GOP.
Following his return to the Tennessee chamber, Jones crossed paths with the representative who presented the resolution to oust him.
"I actually happen to be on the elevator with Rep. Bud Hulsey, who filed the resolution to expel me," Jones recalled. "He said it was part of leadership's decision to kind of ask him to file this and besides that was very quiet. But I think, you know, the Republicans are in a point of reflection here."
There have only been two other expulsions in the state House, one for sexual harassment allegations in 2016 and another for a lawmaker found guilty of taking a bribe in 1980.
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Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican, revealed through a spokesperson Monday that he will sit both Jones and Pearson if their respective county commissions moved to send them back. Over the weekend, Pearson raised concerns about possible GOP retaliation against the Shelby County Board of Commissioners if it moves to renominate him.
"The speaker of the House is trying to backtrack now," Jones said. "We are calling for his resignation. He is an enemy of democracy, and he doesn't deserve to be in that office of a speaker of the House any longer."