LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After two juveniles were shot in the parking lot of Pleasure Ridge Park High School during a football game on Sunday, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg is eyeing a decades-old city ordinance in an effort to curb the city’s gun violence.
One of the children, a 17-year-old boy, remains in the hospital in critical condition.
“This act of gun violence,” Greenberg said, “Just shows that more needs to continue to be done to get illegal guns off of our street. To get guns out of the wrong hands for when guns are used at the wrong time.”
At a news conference Tuesday, the mayor said the shooting suspects were wearing surgical masks to conceal their identities. He said it isn’t an isolated situation, saying gunmen are “exploiting protections that were put in place during COVID.”
To curb gun violence, Greenberg said Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) will soon begin enforcing a city ordinance from 1983 that bans wearing masks in public spaces.
“We are going to begin enforcing this ordinance,” the mayor asserted.
What is Louisville's 1983 mask ordinance?
The ordinance says: “No person shall, while wearing any mask whereby a substantial portion of the face is hidden or covered so as to conceal the identity of the wearer, enter, be or appear in any public place within Jefferson County.”
The penalty for violating the ordinance is a fine up to $100, up to 50 days in jail, or both.
It does contain some exceptions already built in, including if the person is under the age of 16. However Greenberg said it will be updated to account for COVID-19.
“We are going to take everyone’s personal and public health very seriously,” he said. “[Gun violence] is a public health emergency that we must deal with. And when there are tools, we have that we can use to reduce the amount of gun violence, it is critically important to take every action to implement them.”
Greenberg said he continues to ask state lawmakers to give Louisville the local autonomy to implement more actions to reduce gun violence across Jefferson County, saying more than 100 people have died so far this year from gun violence.
“We need more help from our state and federal partners,” he said. “At the same time, we are always looking for what we can do at the local level, what we can do with the authority that we have to address and reduce the amount of gun violence we have plaguing this community.”
Greenberg said more information will be announced in the coming days. He said he and Police Chief Paul Humphrey have discussed the ordinance since Sunday and agree it should be enforced.
WHAS11 is attempting to reach LMPD for comment. Check back later for updates.
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