Vigil for shooting victims highlights links between domestic, gun violence | Opinion
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- Vigil attendees mourned victims and urged action on domestic gun violence.
- Lexington officials and advocates pushed for red flag laws and safer gun policies.
- Police chief called for public engagement and consistent intervention efforts.
They came to mourn Christina Combs and Beverly Gumm, and to pray for healing for Randy Combs, Jerry Gumm and Kentucky State Police Officer Jude Remilien.
But the many folks who gathered at the Fayette County courthouse plaza also on July 22 lamented the deaths of Sontia Simmons and Amia Cox in Louisville, and 15-year-old, Luis Jocsan Nanez Lopez. He was shot dead while trying to protect his mother from her abuser, and another 15-year-old, a girl in Elsmere shot and killed by a 15-year-old boy a few hours before the vigil started.
All of these people were killed or injured in domestic violence incidents in the past month. It’s a scourge in Kentucky that just will not go away.
That’s why speakers at the vigil, led by Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, sent plenty of thoughts and prayers, but also calls for action to stop both domestic violence and gun violence, which are so horribly intertwined. The man who shot five people on July 13 was apparently looking for the mother of his children.
“I always ask people, if you see something, say something,” Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers said to a crowd of about 50 people. “There are things we must do, and if you can’t do that, then how about contacting some of your legislators and see what they can do.
“We’ve got to step out and be seen, and we have to step in if we want to stop this kind of violence,” Weathers continued. “No more beating around the bush, no more being quiet about it. We must be vocal. We must be constant.”
Why can’t KY pass a red flag law?
In Lexington, most public officials have been very constant about the need to stop gun violence of any kind. Deana Mullins lost her son, Sean, to gun violence in 2017. She volunteers for Moms Demand Action, and works in the domestic violence office of the Fayette Sheriff’s Department. She says that anecdotally, it seems there are more instances of domestic violence involving guns.
“Taking away our concealed carry laws did a lot of damage,” she said, referring to the General Assembly’s move to permitless carry in 2019. “People do not have the training or background knowledge or safe storage they need.”
Sheriff Kathy Witt would like to see the General Assembly at least discuss a red flag law, which allows temporary seizure of weapons from people suffering from mental illness and other crises. Currently 21 states have such a law.
“Those laws have helped in other states from a mental health perspective,” she said. “Kentucky legislators really need to have a conversation about it. We can’t even have a conversation about it.”
For several years, former state Sen. Whitney Westerfield worked on such a law, consulting with his Republican colleagues to find something that would be acceptable to the gun advocates and gun control supporters alike. The Crofton Republican produced the Crisis Aversion and Rights Retention bill, which created a clear path for weapons to be returned.
To the Legislature’s shame, the bill did not even receive a hearing. Westerfield retired later that year.
Just a few better gun laws would be a start to fixing our society’s entrenched violence problems, which, incidentally, don’t happen in countries with strict gun control laws.
But it will also take teaching our parents and our children a way of living with less conflict, so that a gun doesn’t seem like such an easy solution to solve problems.
That was the crux of the message from Chief Weathers, a man who has clearly seen too many dead and injured bodies on his watch..
“We will always be there,” he said. “If you need somebody else to help you with intervening, call us, call your police department, call your law enforcement. We will be there.
“But you must empower others. Yeah, I need you to do what you need to do, but I need you to tell other people about it, too. I need you to be involved with them and get them involved. You need to be learning, encourage and mentor them and teach them that the only way we can be safe is if all of us are on the same page.
“This is about saving lives.”
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 7:37 AM.
