The owner of a US company that has sold ammunition online to numerous mass shooters has prompted outcry as he pursues a permanent position on Tennessee’s education board.
Jordan Mollenhour, who was backed by the state’s Republican governor, was confirmed by the state’s Republican-led senate on Thursday morning by 26-6. He is the owner of Lucky Gunners, an online Knoxville-based ammunition company that he co-founded in 2009.
Mollenhour has been serving as a member of the state’s board of education for district two since November, but needs approval from the state house and senate to make his appointment permanent. The House will vote on Mollenhour’s nomination on Monday.
State school boards generally represent the public’s views on education, setting policies and goals as well as overseeing resources. His online profile states Mollenhour is “committed to serving Tennessee’s students, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders in an effort to improve the lives of all Tennesseans of all ages”.
Mollenhour’s company has faced numerous lawsuits, including a currently active one that accuses it of negligently selling ammunition to a then 17-year-old who killed 10 people and injured 13 others at his high school in Santa Fe, Texas, in 2018.
The victims argue that Lucky Gunner did not require the shooter to show any ID or submit proof of his age before he purchased over 100 rounds of ammunition from the website.
“The shooter was apparently so confident Lucky Gunner wouldn’t check his age that he felt comfortable using his own name and address to illegally purchase the ammunition … in less than two minutes, Lucky Gunner approved his order, which was mailed to the shooter’s home two days later,” the plaintiffs allege.
Mollenhour’s company denied any wrongdoing and argued that its owners were immune from the lawsuit under the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which forbids firearms and ammunition manufacturers and dealers from being held responsible when their products are used in criminal acts.
In March 2021, a judge denied Lucky Gunner’s request to dismiss the case and ordered the lawsuit to proceed.
Lucky Gunner was also sued in 2014 for selling 4,000 rounds of ammunition to the shooter who killed 12 people and injured 70 others in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado in 2012. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2015.
Mollenhour’s proposed appointment to the education board has been met with fierce criticism from the state’s Democrats and the public.
Jeff Yarbro, a Tennessee Democratic senator tweeted, “There are nearly 7 million people in Tennessee. Surely to God, @GovBillLee could have found one state board of education nominee who’s not in ongoing litigation about illegally selling ammunition used in a deadly school shooting.”
Beth Joslin Roth, executive director at Safe Tennessee Project, a grassroots gun-control organization, said, “The man who sold ammo to the underage shooter who carried out the sixth deadliest shooting in US history is likely to be appointed to our state’s school board. This is so messed up. It’s disgusting.”
Mollenhour pushed back against criticism, telling The Tennessean that gun-control groups are using his nomination to “attack the second amendment once again”.
“I reached out to a number of today’s critics many weeks ago and offered to answer any questions,” he said, adding, “I didn’t get a single question which only confirms that their antics today have nothing to do with facts. It was political theatre.”
