March 27, 2025
Rep. Justin Pearson Confronts Fellow Lawmaker Over Personal Attacks During Gun Control Hearing
Pearson responded to Farmer's comments, starting by calmly letting him know that his comments made him "very, very angry.”
Things became heated during a Tennessee State legislature gun control hearing when Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis) confronted Rep. Andrew Farmer (R-Sevierville) over allegedly feeling personally attacked, WREG Memphis reports.
After a passionate speech on the House floor correlating gun laws to the tragic death of his brother on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, Pearson charged toward Farmer to confront him over what he called “disrespectful” comments about his work ethic. Pearson has been absent from House duties, taking time to be with his family following his brother’s passing on Dec. 1, 2024, due to gun suicide. “I know every member in this committee has been here this year working during committee, during session, voting on bills. And I know you may have some things going on, but you have not,” Farmer said.
“So, I don’t think it’s fair for you to come in front of this committee and lecture us on hard work and convictions, and hard work for our committee.”
Pearson responded by calmly letting Farmer know that his comments made him “very, very angry.” “It is a pathetic excuse for you to not answer the question of why we are doing nothing about the gun violence epidemic, then to personally attack me. But let me explain to you what I have been doing… since you asked. My brother… one of the loves of my life passed away from gun suicide,” Pearson said.
“And since that happened, it shattered my family like gun violence has shattered so many families… I buried my brother. I planned for his entire funeral, my fiancée made his obituary, I made sure that he was taken care of – even in death. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
The confrontation happened shortly after the committee voted against HB 1392 – 7-2 — a bill supported by Pearson, according to Fox 13 Memphis. Under Tennessee law, a person commits an offense who carries, with the intent to go armed, a firearm or a club. If Pearson’s bill had been approved, exemptions would have been removed that would allow a person to avoid prosecution under that law, with permitless carry being repealed. “We have a responsibility to do all that we can to protect our kids and protect our community to make sure they are safe,” Pearson mentioned.
Pearson allegedly left the meeting after the altercation. However, he says he won’t let what happened stop his fight. While it’s unclear if either Pearson or Farmer will face consequences for the incident, the state leader feels gun violence isn’t just a Memphis problem but a state problem and encourages others to get involved. “We go to too many funerals for gun violence, this is not a way for us to live,” he said.
“We need to consistently draw attention to the issue, which is gun violence being preventable if we get the right leaders in place to act now.”
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