Tennessee Democrats face expulsion after calls for gun control

Three Democratic lawmakers in the state of Tennessee face an expulsion vote for participating in gun control protests in the wake of the deadly Nashville school shooting.

Hundreds had marched to the Tennessee State Capitol on Thursday calling for stricter gun laws.

Tennessee Republicans have accused the protestors and the Democrat House members of disruption.

Six people, including three children, were killed in the 27 March shooting.

On Monday, the Republican leadership of the Tennessee House of Representative filed a resolution to expel the three Democrats from their legislature seat for "disorderly behaviour".

The Democrats - Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson - interrupted House proceedings on Thursday to join protestors at the state Capitol.

During the protest, Mr Jones held a sign that read "protect kids, not guns", and also led protest chants, shouting "no action, no peace" into a megaphone.

Mr Jones and Ms Johnson were stripped of their committee assignments in the aftermath by the Republican leadership. Mr Pearson did not serve on any committee.

The resolution to expel the three states that they brought "disorder and dishonour to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions".

Ms Johnson told reporters on Monday that they were tired of "not being heard".

"We decided between bills, we are going to walk up, we're going to acknowledge the people outside surrounding this building, in the rotunda, and we're going to speak to their issue and tell them that we are with them," she said.

Another protest calling for stricter gun laws erupted on Monday in Nashville, where more than a thousand students staged a school walk-out and once again gathered outside the Tennessee State Capitol.

The protests come amid the release of new details on the Covenant School shooting by Nashville police, who said on Monday that the shooter fired 152 rounds and that the attack was planned "over a period of months".

Three staff members of The Covenant School- Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Michael Hill, 61 - were killed, along with three nine-year-old students: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney.

Police have identified the shooter as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, a former student at the private Christian school.

A manifesto by the shooter had been recovered by police, but they have yet to determine a motive.

They added that Hale "acted totally alone", and that the shooter had considered carrying out other mass murders.

Hale was killed after a confrontation with police 14 minutes after the shooting began.

Funeral proceedings for the victims began on Friday and will continue into Wednesday.

The shooting has once again ignited a heated political debate in the US on gun laws and safety.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has called for a ban on assault weapons.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, proposed $155m (£120m) to place an armed security guard at every public school in Tennessee and to boost security presence at both public and private schools.