LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Yet another holiday has been marred by gun violence across the country and in Louisville.
The Derby City experienced multiple shootings between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
As of Louisville Metro Police's (LMPD) latest data report released Monday, homicides are up 9% since this time in 2022. Non-deadly shootings are up 2%.
Amid the troubling trends, Louisville's local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America set up a booth in the Crescent Hill neighborhood during its Fourth of July festival.
The group is working to get the violence numbers down by letting people know how they can get involved to be part of the solution.
"It's completely out of hand. Things have gotten worse. We need to have more people speaking out," Cathy Mekus told WHAS11 News.
Mekus, the current state data lead for the group, confirmed as of early Tuesday afternoon, there had already been three mass shootings in the U.S.
She said the issue isn't going away and a fix starts with acknowledgement.
"We talked to people who are aware of the problem and try to get them involved at helping solve it, and we also talk to people who aren't aware of the scope and scale of the problem to let them know how big a problem this is for our country and how many people we lose," said Mekus, who's been with Moms Demand Action for 10 years.
On Tuesday, Moms Demand Action pleaded for gun owners to lock up their firearms, both at home and in their cars. Neither is required under Kentucky law.
"It keeps people in your household safer," she said.
Group representatives also discussed the issue of suicide rates, which Mekus confirmed is one of the primary drivers of gun-related deaths.
If you'd like to get involved with Moms Demand Action, you can text 'READY' to 64433 and a representative will contact you.
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