I remember very well an 18-year-old concealed-carrying a gun. He did it on January 18, 1993, on his way to school, on the way to his locker, and later, on the way to Room 108 at East Carter High School where he shot and killed our teacher Deanna McDavid and school custodian Marvin Hicks.
He used that gun to hold my classmates and me hostage for approximately half-an-hour, before letting us go and turning himself into the police.
Recently, my ten-year-old son related the experience of the active shooter drill at his school. He explained his relief that he was in gym when it happened, explaining that the storage closets provide the best hiding places and equipment that can be used as weapons if needed.
When he noticed the look on my face, he apologized for bringing up the drill, noting that he knows I sometimes have a hard time hearing about such things. I replied he could tell me about anything, anytime, I was just sad and angry he had to participate in drills like that…
I explained that when I sat waiting to talk to the police after that terrible day in January, I remember thinking that something like this would never happen again, that “they” (the police, school, parents, school, government) would never let anyone come to school and kill people every again. Yet here he and I sat, over thirty years later talking about school shootings and shooter drills.
The Kentucky Legislature is one of the “they” I thought would make sure it would never happen again. They have failed miserably in a mandate that did not need to be spoken or assigned. Instead of taking action to make children and families are safer, the Commonwealth ranks 37th in gun laws. This includes the 11th highest rate of gun violence in the country, with an average of 880 deaths and almost 2,000 injuries per year. According to data gathered from the K-12 Shooting Database there have been 30 school shootings in Kentucky and over 2.500 across our country since the day I was sure it would never happen again.
Over the past few weeks, the KY Legislature has been speeding HB 312 through House Committees and Floor vote to make sure 18–20-year-olds can carry-conceal along with real adults. As I’ve said, I’ve already experienced the result of this and once was enough for me. Am I saying that all 18-year-olds with carry-conceal permits are going to commit school violence? No, No, I’m not. I’m merely suggesting that young people at that age may not be at the maturity level to conceal and carry a deadly weapon. I know I wasn’t at that age, and I had grown up around guns and had by that point seen their deadly impact.
On that bright, cold Martin Luther King Day, Jr. Day in 1993 I was so sure that my classmates and I were the survivors of something that would cause immediate action. I was so very wrong. The thousands of lives lost and impacted by gun violence in our schools alone are an example enough of that, without factoring in everyday gun violence and mass shootings.
We can rest easy knowing that the Legislature is working hard to pass laws making it easier for individuals to access firearms, rather than making it easier for Kentuckians to live gun violence free. They will say more access to firearms keeps more people safe, but that is a Wild West mentality born of the Silver Screen. They decry the assault on the Second Amendment, and care nothing for the basic human right to live free of gun violence.
These are the moments where priorities are made clear, and the Kentucky House has already made theirs known – more access to guns over protecting lives across the Commonwealth. The KY Senate will make its priorities known soon, and you have the right to let your Senator know if you think it should focus on ensuring that Kentuckians are free from gun violence or that kids just out of high school can carry a concealed weapon.
Nathan Thompson is a gun violence survivor, Everytown Fellow, and the State Survivor Lead for Moms Demand Action KY. He lives in Lexington.