Written by Mark Payne, LINK nky politics and government reporter
In September of 2021, three students were shot at a bus stop in Louisville, Kentucky, including a 16-year-old boy who died from his injuries.
“This horrific shooting further underscores the devastation that our gun violence crisis is having on Kentucky students,” said Emma Vonder Haar, a Kentucky Students Demand Action volunteer in Louisville, in a release at the time of the shooting. “Kids deserve better than to grow up in constant fear of gun violence — everywhere they go. As the school year kicks into gear, it is crucial that policymakers at all levels take action on common-sense policies that are proven to keep Kentucky’s students and communities safe.”
Roughly 728 people die because of gun violence in Kentucky each year. This number includes 61 children and teens, while 1,036 are wounded. It costs the state around $4.9 billion each year.
But, that isn’t deterring Northern Kentucky House Representative Savannah Maddox (R-Dry Ridge), who has been working on banishing “gun-free” zones over the course of the past few years. This work will continue as Maddox co-sponsored two new gun bills, House Bill 122 and 124, for the 2022 General Assembly session that will further loosen gun restrictions.
“Back in October of 2021, Attorney General Daniel Cameron issued an opinion on cities’, municipalities’, and city governments’ ability to restrict firearm carrying on behalf of employees,” Maddox said. “It renewed interest on something I’ve been working on over the course of the past few years in terms of abolishing the so-called ‘gun-free zones’ here in the Commonwealth.”
In Cameron’s opinion, he implied that cities do not have the ability to restrict the carrying of firearms on behalf of employees, Maddox said.
Due in part to Cameron’s ruling, Maddox Co-Sponsored House Bill 124, along with Brandon Reed (R-Hodgenville), Josh Calloway (R-Irvington), and Felicia Rabourn (R-Turners Station).
“The purpose of this bill, in addition to postsecondary institutions, would be to allow people who are authorized in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to carry a firearm to do so in some of these places that were previously restricted,” Maddox said.
Under current Kentucky law, carrying concealed weapons in local and state government buildings, along with postsecondary facilities, is prohibited. But HB124 would “ensure those entities cannot prohibit the carrying of concealed weapons.”
“I don’t see where it is appropriate to allow these types of infringements on our second amendment rights,” Maddox said. “I think that that is what we have seen in so much as postsecondary institutions, in particular, have restricted the rights of people to bear arms.”
House Bill 122, co-sponsored by Calloway, Rabourn, and Maddox, would lower the age requirement for concealed carry from 21 to 18.
“If a person, for some reason, had it in their mind that they wanted to cause destruction and mayhem and harm another person and maybe even kill them, then the law is the last thing on their mind,” Maddox said.
But, due to the continued push for weakening gun laws in Kentucky, Everytown, a nonprofit group that advocates for gun control and against gun violence, ranked Kentucky #40 on its list of states for gun law strength in a new interactive gun law platform.
“It’s never been clearer: strong gun laws save lives,” said Nick Suplina, Senior Vice President of Law and Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund.
Labeled as a national failure, “Kentucky’s gun laws are among the weakest in the country,” according to Everytown. “No state law requires background checks on all firearm sales. This makes it easy for prohibited purchasers to buy any gun they’d like with no questions asked, by buying it from an unlicensed seller, like a person they meet online or at a gun show.”
Further research from the group shows that Kentucky doesn’t prohibit domestic abusers from having a gun, it allows concealed carry without a permit, and no background check, and no safety training.
“Gun control laws suffer from the defect that criminals don’t follow the law, and gun-free zone laws are no exception,” said 4th District U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie. “Gun-free zones merely serve to disarm law-abiding citizens while advertising this fact to criminals looking for defenseless targets. I have introduced a bill to repeal the Federal Gun-Free School Zone Act, and I commend Representative Maddox for introducing her bill.”