LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After several mass shootings across the U.S., activists are taking to the streets renewing calls for gun reform.
Michigan’s State Capitol was filled with protesters a few days after a gunman killed three people and injured five others on the campus of Michigan State University.
U.S. Representative Morgan McGarvey and Kentucky state Senator David Yates spoke to WHAS11 News on Saturday about gun reform and what changes they think need to happen at the national level.
“I think we need to have universal background checks to make sure that people who buy firearms are going through a background check to like we need to enact the assault weapons ban, make sure that is back into law. And three, I think we need to look at the red flag type laws. The extreme risk protection orders 60% of gun violence in this country is still death by suicide, and we need to do everything we can to curb gun violence,” McGarvey said.
Days after Mayor Craig Greenberg announced an initiative to keep guns from getting back on the streets, he said his plan includes guns seized in Louisville would only be turned over to Kentucky State Police after removing the firing pin from the weapon and putting a warning label on each gun.
Both legislators said the move was a step in the right direction.
“I think the mayor is taking good initiative to go after gun violence. We know it’s a problem in our community and we need to be doing more to stop it,” McGarvey said. “Taking a step to make sure there are fewer guns on the streets is a step in the right direction.”
Yates added, “I think it carries a lot of weight in action, you know. I don’t know how big of an impact would be. But for all of the victims, for the mother that’s speaking out whose child was killed by that firearm, I can absolutely understand why they do not want that same firearm circulating back into it.”
There are two bills currently working their way through the General Assembly that would allow guns to be destroyed once seized.
Yates was asked about that legislation saying the bills are a good start but wants to attack the root of the problem.
“I'm a gun owner. I believe that people should have access to legal access to guns. But we've got to close these loopholes in place like the flea markets and these backyard sales where criminals are getting a multitude of guns,” he said.
Yates says he would like to put together a group to study best practices for closing the loopholes to help get guns off the streets.
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