Editors, Vineyard Gazette;

On March 30, following the March 27 shooting at the Covenant School that left three children and three staff members dead, students and parents came to the Tennessee statehouse to demand stiffer gun laws. Tennessee is an open-carry state with no permit required, and the legislature was considering lowering the age from 21 to 18.

Three Democratic state representatives, Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson, addressed the protesters on the House floor.

Rather than listen to their constituents and consider stronger gun-safety legislation, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives instead voted to expel Mr. Jones and Mr. Pearson, both of whom are Black, for breaking “several rules of decorum and procedure on the House floor.”

Ms. Johnson, who is white, missed being expelled by one vote. All three had already been stripped of their committee assignments.

This blatantly racist and anti-democratic act must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Tennessee’s Republican legislators claim there is nothing they can do about gun violence. They are wrong. They can start by rescinding the expulsion of Representatives Pearson and Jones, and by restoring them and Representative Johnson to their respective committees.

Then they can listen to the parents and students, and get to work on drafting sensible gun-safety laws for Tennessee.

Jonathan Chatinover

The writer is the chair of the Democratic Council of Martha’s Vineyard.