Gov. Bill Haslam talks below about the mass shooting in Connecticut. He says Tennessee will not pass state legislation aimed at further regulating guns. Haslam doesn’t support the state arming teachers. He’s anticipating a wider conversation about addressing violence in American culture. He believes the incidence of mass violence in the United States is rising and needs to be addressed. “It happens much more frequently in our country,” said Haslam. “I’ve seen the numbers going back to the sixties, seventies eighties, nineties, thousands — and now the first part of the tens — about the number of the mass, horrific killings we’ve had like this. That number keeps going up. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of variance to gun laws and other things. I’m not saying the issue of guns is not germane to the discussion, there is a whole lot of factors in there.” The governor is speaking with reporters at a press conference in his executive conference room, Dec. 18, 2012.
