Nearly 700 Kentuckians died by gun violence in 2019, an average of nearly two people every day. Suicides made up 65% of gun deaths, according to the Kentucky Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. (Adobe Stock)

New legislation under consideration by Kentucky lawmakers would allow police to confiscate guns from people whose family members are concerned about their mental health, by petitioning for a Crisis Aversion Rights Retention Order.

Senate Bill 13 would also create an Office for Safer Communities.

Cathy Hobart — the chapter leader of Kentucky Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America — said the bill is aimed at preventing tragic situations from happening, especially in cases where others suspect possible suicide, homicide, or a mass shooting.

“If they thought there really was an immediate danger, they would petition a judge to administer the protective order,” said Hobart. “And this is really a way to protect the gun owner in those times of crisis.”

The Commonwealth continues to have some of the weakest gun laws in the country. According to Everytown USA, Kentucky ranks 40th among states for rates of gun violence.

According to Kentucky Youth Advocates, in 2020 91% of homicide deaths occurred in children between ages 1 and 17, and around 66% of these deaths involved firearms.

Hobart said gun-violence legislation in previous years has been slow to move through the Legislature, but she remains hopeful.

“For the first time,” said Hobart, “our legislators are talking about gun-violence prevention in a way that they haven’t, in the last five years, since I’ve been involved in the movement.”

This April marks the one-year anniversary of the Old National Bank Shooting in Louisville, where a 25-year-old man killed five of his work colleagues, and critically injured a police officer.

A Louisville Metro Police Department report revealed the gunman’s mental-health struggles and his intent to commit a mass shooting.