LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Firearms line the walls and shelves of the Kentucky Gun Co., located just outside of Anchorage in eastern Jefferson County. The gun shop is stocked with nearly 6,000 guns.
Owner Patrick Hayden touts being the largest retailer in the state.
"From the way we look at it, the firearm is just a piece of metal," Hayden said. "It's the person behind it that makes the firearm dangerous or not dangerous."
Law enforcement agencies wrapped up the sixth day of searching for Joseph Couch, who police said purchased an AR-15 hours before shooting five people driving down I-75 in Laurel County. As of Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear said four of the survivors have been released from the hospital.
The tragic shooting has raised questions across the state about Kentucky's gun laws.
"I think that those laws are stringent enough, we do proper background checks, and those customers have to pass those background checks," Hayden said. "I think the biggest issue that we have now is that those laws that are in the books are not being enforced."
What are Kentucky's gun laws?
The Giffords Law Center, which tracks gun laws across the U.S., ranked Kentucky as 47 out of 50 in terms of gun law strength. It also found Kentucky was among the top 20 states with the highest gun death rates.
Kentucky is an open carry state, meaning there are no laws requiring a permit to purchase or carry a gun.
There is no mandated waiting periods on gun purchases, nor do gun owners need proper training on handling a gun. There are also no caps on the amount of ammunition you can buy, the type of gun you can buy, and no restrictions on high capacity magazines or bump stocks.
"Red flag" laws, found in more than a dozen states, allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from the possession of those deemed a threat to themselves or others. Kentucky has no such laws.
Firearm owners are also not required to register their guns in Kentucky.
'It's not that simple.'
Louisville resident Rose Smith lost her 24-year-old son, Cory "Ace" Crowe Sr., to gun violence in 2014. Crowe was fatally shot inside a car at the corner of 25th Street and Standard Avenue. His case remains unsolved.
Smith has become an advocate for stricter gun laws in Kentucky, including universal background checks and waiting period before purchasing a firearm. She said the commonwealth has "some of the weakest gun laws in the country."
"I don't believe personally that you need an AR-15, I don't see the purpose of that," Smith said. "You're getting that gun on the same day, and so much ammunition, you can just go out here and wreak havoc."
Kentucky Rep. Jason Nemes (R-33) of Middletown said restrictions in the state are tough enough.
"If you want to buy a gun for the first time, it's not that simple," Nemes said.
He doesn't think more restrictions would have stopped Couch, and believes Couch didn't have a serious criminal history that would have showed up in a background check.
"We can't take everybody's rights away if they've been charged," he said, referencing restrictions for criminals who have felony convictions. "And if he had other guns that he had purchased legally before, what's the point of making it a delay?"
Smith feels empathy for the families affected by the violence in London, which is nearly two hours south of Louisville.
"Those of us who [have experienced gun violence], I speak for myself, I'm almost reliving a nightmare again," she said.
WHAS11's Xan Dorsey contributed to this report.
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