Bill filed in Kentucky to remove guns during mental health crisis

Hannah Pinski, Louisville Courier Journal
·3 min read
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FRANKFORT - A bill that would make it easier to temporarily take away firearms from a person who is experiencing a crisis was filed Thursday afternoon.

Senate Bill 13 focuses on the concept of Crisis Aversion and Rights Retention, also known as CARR, which temporarily removes firearms from people who are experiencing a mental health crisis. Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Crofton, is the sponsor and Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, is the co-sponsor.

The driving forces behind the bill hosted a rally Thursday morning in the Capitol Annex with supporters of the legislation.

During the rally, Westerfield said the bill is about keeping people safe.

"We don't want to take away guns from people who are law-abiding citizens," Westerfield said. "We want to step in temporarily to keep people safe."

Yates echoed similar thoughts and said the bill is supposed to help stop people who are experiencing a mental crisis from harming themselves and others.

Whitney Austin, co-founder and executive director of the WhitneyStrong organization, backed Westerfield and Yates on the piece of legislation and said she hopes the bill reduces gun violence in Kentucky. Austin was a victim in a 2018 shooting in Cincinnati in Fountain Square, She was shot 12 times by a gunman who opened fire on the lobby of Fifth Third's headquarters.

In 2019, there were 682 gun deaths in Kentucky, according to the Education to Stop Gun Violence.

Rick Sanders, Jeffersontown chief of police and former Public Safety commissioner, also spoke at the rally and said that he supports the bill because it addresses gun violence as a mental health issue by taking guns out of the hands of people who might hurt others.

The bill has been in the works since last year, and it met opposition during a Joint Interim Committee on Judiciary in December. Critics say that the bill raises concerns over constitutional rights, specifically the Second Amendment.

Westerfield though said that the U.S. Supreme Court has acknowledged that there are constitutionally valid restrictions, and there isn't any requirement for a person to be convicted of a felony before they lose their right to own or purchase a firearm.

He also said that the conversations he's had with lawmakers have been more open-minded this year, and both chambers have expressed support for the bill, though are afraid to say it publicly.

Draft language of the bill states:

  • Law enforcement can file a petition for a CARR order to a district court.

  • A district court then can issue a temporary CARR order that would remove a person's firearms and surrender them to law enforcement or a responsible third party until a judicial hearing that would happen within six days after the order is issued. The court would need to find "probable cause" that a person "poses an immediate danger of causing serious physical injury to self or others."

  • The hearing would determine if a CARR order should be entered and would prohibit the individual from possessing or purchasing a firearm until the order expires. The court must tell the respondent they have the right to rebuttal and are not charged with a crime.

Reach reporter Hannah Pinski at @hpinski@courier-journal.com or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @hannahpinski.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky CARR bill would allow gun removal during mental crisis