‘All this talk of gun control has gotten crazy,’ armed advocates tell KY politicians
David Gardner of Somerset went to the Capitol Tuesday morning wearing a black cap, a black hoodie, a red T-shirt, jeans, tennis shoes, sun glasses and a Glock 21.
He was not alone with the gun.
Many were armed in the crowd of a few hundred who came to the Capitol on the first day of Kentucky’ s 2020 General Assembly to rally for gun rights.
“We’re trying to make the politicians in this building aware that citizens in this state have the right to defend ourselves,” said Gardner, a retired federal prison sergeant and a spokesman for pro-gun rights group Kentucky United.
He said the group, which claims about 77,800 followers on Facebook, is concerned about proposed legislation that would restrict some semi-automatic weapons and allow police or family members to ask a judge to temporarily remove a gun from a potentially dangerous person.
“We have been just fine without such laws. We need to enforce the laws already on the books,” said Gardner.
He said the restriction on semi-automatic guns would leave the public unprotected from an “out-of-control government” and implementation of so-called “red flag laws” would take away due process for citizens.
State Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Grant County, was present to encourage the gun rights advocates. She promised to fight any efforts in the legislature to control guns, especially a red flag law. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear favors the idea.
Maddox was instrumental in getting the legislature last year to enact a law that eliminated the need for training and a permit to carry a concealed gun. That means citizens can now carry concealed weapons to legislative meetings.
Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun violence prevention organization in the United States, contends that more gun-control laws are needed, not fewer.
It reports that Kentucky has about 690 gun deaths every year — the 15th highest rate of gun deaths in the United States. About 69 percent of those deaths are firearm suicide, and gun deaths in the state increased 22 percent from 2008 to 2017, compared to a 17 percent increase nationwide.
Ed Bruce of Taylorsville, who attended Monday’s pro-gun rally carrying a Kentucky flintlock rifle with the sign “1st Assault Rifle” on it, said American citizens do not need more gun laws. He rolled up his shirt sleeve to show on his right arm a large tattoo that read, “We the People.”
Others said they fear the government will try to take away their guns.
“Too many politicians today are picking on the wrong generation to enact gun control,” said Mitch Hull of Lewis County. “All this talk of gun control has gotten crazy.”
John Washburn of Albany expressed many of the attendee’s sentiments with his opening prayer at the rally:
“Most gracious and wonderful heavenly Father, we are here to do your will above all. Father, we are ticked, we are upset, we are angry but you know this and we’re here, Father, peacefully, to demonstrate for our 2nd Amendment rights as given to us by you and by the Constitution of the United States.
“Father, you are our first line of defense. The 2nd Amendment is our second line of defense. We pray, Lord God, that you would keep us from having to do a third.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 12:51 PM.
