By: Stephanie Ferguson
Faced with the death of a close friend during a mass shooting, Kentucky Governor raises support for “red flag” laws for gun violence. While his republican opponent offers condolences, he strongly opposes the restriction of guns.
Photo by: Luke Sharrett / Getty Images
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and GOP Attorney General Daniel Cameron, are the two candidates running for governor of Kentucky. The state has struggled with gun violence and homicides for years now, but laws have stayed the same. On average 718 citizens in Kentucky die due to gun violence, 27% of those deaths being homicides and 68% being suicides. Some names you might recognize associated with Kentucky’s gun violence are Breonna Taylor, who was killed during an unauthorized police raid in her home, and David McAtee, a restaurant owner who was violently killed during gunfire in law enforcement attempts to enforce a curfew.
Beshear was recently struck with the death of his friend, Tommy Elliot, due to a mass shooting this April. The shooter reportedly dealt with present mental health issues and bought an AR-15 a couple days before the shooting, and killed five of his coworkers on livestream at a bank in Louisville KY. On October 21st, during the debate between Cameron and Beshaer, the 2nd Amendment was an anticipated topic. Both the candidates stated their support of the 2nd Amendment, but Beshaer confirmed his support for “red flag” laws, preventing people who could harm themselves or others from buying guns; while Cameron strongly opposes them. Beshaer stated, “Everyone should be able to defend themselves and their family, but I’ve now understood, seen and felt what it’s like to lose someone you love and care about in this city to gun violence.”
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/21/us/red-flag-laws-explainer-trnd/index.html
Photo by: Andrew Harnik / AP
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, representing the republican party, also had a friend die due to a mass shooting in Nashville this April. After communicating with Andy Beshear, he called on the state's majority republican general assembly to propose red flag laws similar to Kentuckys’. Because the supermajority of the general assemblies in Kentucky and Tennessee is republican, the legislation has not been passed or supported in either state with claims of the bill being unconstitutional.
Contrary to this, earlier this year Kentucky proposed a “Second Amendment Legislation” prohibiting local and state police from enforcing any federal firearm regulations passed after Jan. 21, 2021, essentially nullifying a federal legislation which is also unconstitutional.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/11/tennessee-gov-bill-lee-calls-for-order-of-protection-law-on-guns/70102868007/
Photo by: George Walker VI / AP
The increase of mass shootings has sparked the increase of “red flag” laws in multiple states. From only five states passing red flag laws in 2018, after a gun violence spike the number increased to 19 states in 2020. As of August 2023, 22 states including Virginia, have passed them into state law, 28 opposing them. Will history repeat itself? With other red states following Kentucky and Tennessee, the gun safety legislation passed in 2022 is becoming more and more unpopular. But with mass shootings happening more frequently and more fatally, and the need for these laws continue to rise. In the end, most of the reasons behind gun violence wether it be homicides or suicides, is mental health issues. Yes, one solution to gun violence is safety-laws but without full support from other states, it’s never going to be effective enough to make a change. What we need is more support for those struggling with mental health, more funding for medication, therapy, and outlets and a safer environment to talk about these issues as well.
Sources:
https://apnews.com/article/shooting-tennessee-kentucky-guns-governor-7fd6d73c011458d0cab7be8da4d9a69c
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/looking-back-nullification-in-american-history
https://maps.everytownresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Every-State-Fact-Sheet-2.0-042720-Kentucky.pdf
https://apnews.com/article/kentucky-governor-campaign-gun-violence-24d30b4cfd36f41ef1bda03d9f194e7b
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/red-flag-laws-states
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