Days after Louisville mass shooting, KY candidates for governor have little to say on guns
Many elected officials in Louisville are very clear about what changes they want to make to gun policy after a devastating mass shooting downtown: more local control over their gun laws and generally stronger restrictions on guns in the state.
Rep. Morgan McGarvey, Louisville’s Democratic congressman, has also been vocal, criticizing GOP legislators for being more willing to “ban books and pronouns” than act on guns. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg has also called for legislative action.
But the state’s top candidates running for governor have had much less to say in the days since the shooting. And none of the Republicans running in the crowded primary have sided with Louisville officials in calling for any sort of gun control.
In general, the Republican candidates for governor have focused on mental health, not guns, in response to the mass shooting.
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft did so in a statement issues two days after the shooting.
“We need to find real solutions instead of trying to score cheap political points with the usual buzzwords on the right and left that ultimately don’t lead to anything,” Craft wrote. “We instead need to focus on the mental health of all Kentuckians. We must make certain that we remove the stigma surrounding mental health and ensure that there are resources for those who need them the most.”
Hours after the shooting in Louisville, Craft held a scheduled “kitchen table tour” event in Louisville with former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who has become a conservative media celebrity for criticizing transgender women athletes.
On Wednesday, Craft’s campaign sent out a tweet apparently referencing the shooting, saying: “When tragedy hits, sometimes the only thing we can do is unite and pray.”
The tweet received some criticism from the left, including former Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Amy McGrath.
In response to an inquiry on the matter, Cameron’s team pointed to a Fox News appearance where the interviewer suggested that a red flag law — where in some cases the courts can take guns away from those deemed a danger to themselves or others — would not have stopped the Louisville gunman; Cameron seemed to agree.
“It’s so random … There will be a time for conversation about policy and all those things,” Cameron said.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who is seeking reelection this year, called for the passage of a red flag law, according to a report from WDRB on Thursday. The law has garnered some Republican support in the past but bills to implement it have gone nowhere in the state legislature.
“This protects everybody’s Second Amendment rights. It absolutely does,” Beshear told the TV station. “But, at the same time, I’d like to think Democrats and Republicans — red or blue, anybody on the ideology — can come together and say, ‘If we know somebody is right on that brink of going out and committing a horrendous action, don’t you think we should be able to take action?’”
Beshear had close friends killed and injured in the event, stating in a Monday press conference that he was focused on responding to the shooting and grieving rather than policy proposals.
In an interview with CNN that aired on Wednesday night, Beshear also broached the subject of mental health, saying “we have to do more.”
“It is so much harder to be a kid with social media right now and it breaks my heart to watch what (my kids) and their friends go through… We’ve also got to break down the stigma. It’s OK to not be OK. I’m not OK right now, and a lot of us aren’t going to be OK for a while,” Beshear said.
In the past, Beshear has been noncommittal when it comes to gun control, a popular rallying cry for many Democrats in America, but less of a talking point for Democratic governors in conservative states like Kentucky, North Carolina or Louisiana.
Beshear, who has called himself a “strong supporter’ of the Second Amendment, recently criticized a bill passed this session that made Kentucky a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” from any federal firearm bans, suggesting that it wouldn’t hold up in court. However, he allowed the bill to become law without his signature.
GOP candidate for governor and Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles pointed to his work supporting a mental health program in rural Kentucky.
“One thing we can all agree on is that we have a mental health crisis in America. It has always existed and the COVID era pealed off another unfortunate layer of how serious of an issue mental health is ranging from stressed out adults and even teenagers with social media self-image issues. We need to have more resources for mental health awareness and for those needing help,” Quarles said.
Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, also in the GOP gubernatorial field, said more discussion should be had about mental health and what investments might be effective in limiting mass shooting events.
He raised the possibility of making “a big, bold investment in mental health treatment to where some of these folks that are really struggling go and get help,” adding that any action taken must be results-oriented.
“The snap response from some is ‘it’s the guns,’ and the snap response from our side is ‘it’s never the guns,’” Keck said. “We can’t just say ‘it’s a mental health crisis’ and then throw our hands up. I’m sick of sides. People died yesterday, and I think we need to have real conversations without pointing blame.”
GOP candidate Eric Deters, known for his bombast and courtroom controversy, said he thinks the solution is more guns.
“The solution for safety, to me, is we have to do better on mental health and we have to have the good guys with guns everywhere,” Deters said. “... I think the way to prevent and reduce the number of killings is an armed society.”
According to a 2017 study, the United States is the most armed country in the world by far.
Deters added that he carries a .380 pistol with him everywhere he goes. He routinely references that in his speeches, and even brought it out during a speech at a Republican event in Hopkins County.
Republican Auditor Mike Harmon was also hesitant to endorse any new form of regulation or control on guns in Kentucky.
“We need to make sure that we don’t take guns away from gun people so they can defend themselves, but we need to sit down and have an honest discussion about mental illness and drug use. Mental illness is a factor that influences so many of these shootings,” Harmon said.
According to a poll conducted by Emerson College that surveyed 900 likely Republican primary voters on the day of and one day after the Louisville shooting, only 11.5% said that Kentucky’s gun laws were too lenient. The vast majority, 70.6%, said that Kentucky’s gun laws were “just right.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
