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"You're standing up for our kids, you're standing up for our
communities," Biden told state Representatives Justin Pearson,
Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson during an Oval Office meeting.
Jones and Pearson - two young Black legislators - were expelled
earlier this month but were soon after returned to office by
their localities in special votes. Johnson, who is white,
narrowly survived an expulsion vote.
The Republicans who control the Tennessee legislature called for
their expulsion because they had disrupted House proceedings,
saying the three violated decorum rules by protesting on the
House floor.
The three lawmakers joined children, parents and others
protesting at the state Capitol days after a Nashville school
shooting killed three 9-year-old children and three school staff
members.
The lawmakers said they discussed with Biden red flag and safe
storage laws, an assault weapons ban and strengthening
background checks, among other possible gun control measures.
"There's such incredible interest in getting something done, in
action," Johnson said.
The Tennessee lawmakers did not say what specific actions, if
any, Biden discussed taking at the national level.
"We talked about how Tennessee can be a model for the nation,"
Jones said. "This is not a moment it is a movement."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week
that Biden appreciated the three state representatives calling
for stronger gun restrictions, particularly a ban on so-called
assault weapons - an issue the president has continued to push
for.
Vice President Kamala Harris also attended the meeting with
Biden. Harris traveled to Nashville to meet the three lawmakers
earlier this month and echoed their calls for change.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; editing by Jonathan
Oatis and Bill Berkrot)
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