NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WRKN) — While testifying against a bill that would expand who can bring a gun onto school grounds, two mothers of Covenant students said their teachers acted bravely that day, but wouldn’t also be able to safely handle a firearm at the same time.

“The first thing the teachers knew to do was to pull down the shade and lock the door. We had a barracuda lock. Her hands were shaking so bad she couldn’t lock the door,” said Melissa Alexander.

Alexander said she is a gun owner and also doesn’t believe she would be able to shoot a gun under the circumstances while also keeping students quiet and safe.

“It is only by God’s blessing that that shooter walked by our classroom and you can see it in the footage,” she said.

Alexander’s son heard the gunshots on the second floor of the school, smelled the gunpowder, and feared for his life.

“He knows what they are. He has two guns himself. He knew he was about to die. One of the kids in the classroom grabbed the Bible and started reading scripture because he was next,” she said.

Sitting next to Alexander was Rebecca Hansen, also a mom of Covenant students who were at the school that day and survived. Hansen said her son’s teacher acted swiftly to save her child and not worry the students.

“Our teacher had the wherewithal when she realized that what they thought they needed to do for a fire alarm was actually an active shooter,” Hansen said. “To turn it into a race to not scare my five-year-old to get back into school and back into his safe place. In those precious moments, they had to run back in school, lock the door with the barracuda bar and put down the shade, get into a hallway bathroom and keep those children quiet.”

Hansen said she hopes no one else has to live through the terror her child went through.

“There is no way that my sweet teacher could have also held and properly ejected a weapon,” she said.

The legislation passed the House committee but is no longer being considered in the Senate.