Louisville mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg says he'd skirt law by making guns 'inoperable'

Louisville mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg said Wednesday that, if elected, he would get around Kentucky's seized firearms auction law by having police make the firearms unusable before handing them over to the state.

"It is absurd and dangerous that our law enforcement spends thousands of hours, and millions of taxpayers' dollars, to get guns off our streets only to see them return to terrorize our neighborhoods," the Democrat said at a press conference announcing his "Day One" priorities.

Kentucky state law requires Louisville Metro Police to send confiscated firearms to Kentucky State Police, which does not destroy them but sells them at auctions. The Courier Journal reported on that policy last year in its "Awash in Guns" investigation.

Greenberg said he would have the city still send the guns to Frankfort "but only after they have been rendered inoperative," noting that state statutes do not specify the guns must remain operable.

Greenberg was speaking inside the building at 1201 Story Ave., where seven months ago to the day, police say Quintez Brown, a former Courier Journal intern and University of Louisville student, shot at Greenberg and several campaign staff. Brown faces federal and state charges in the case.

Greenberg, who is facing Jeffersontown Mayor Bill Dieruf in his bid to become Louisville's mayor, said other priorities on his first day in charge would include "protecting the rights and safety of women and girls," condemning Kentucky's ban on abortion with no rape or incest exceptions and pledging to step up "efforts to combat family and domestic violence."

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Greenberg also reiterated campaign pledges to build 15,000 new affordable housing units in his first term, clean up Louisville's "trash, graffiti and abandoned cars" and support "clean and healthy parks and green spaces."

Other priorities include having a "fully staffed police force," increasing support for minority-owned businesses, establishing universal prekindergarten in Louisville, modernizing the city's planning and zoning process and "opening real grocery stores" in the West End and downtown.

He also touched again on the Department of Justice's "pattern-or-practice" investigation into LMPD and Metro Government.

When U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the DOJ's investigation into Louisville, he did not say whether it was prompted by LMPD officers fatally shooting Breonna Taylor in March 2020. Instead, Garland said the DOJ would focus on whether Louisville police:

• Used unreasonable force, including during peaceful protests;

• Engaged in unconstitutional stops, searches and seizures, including unlawful search warrant executions on private residences;

• Discriminated against people based on race; and

• Failed to provide public services in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

DOJ investigations into other cities and their police departments often result in consent decrees that can take years to enforce.

Greenberg said he plans on using any consent decree "as a framework for moving forward in a new direction."

Dieruf, who this week called for the U.S. Department of Justice to release its investigative report into Louisville and its police department before the election, responded in a statement that criticized his opponent.

"There are several statements that are familiar to me — because they’re mine. He’s copying my proven leadership to try to prove that he is more capable at running a city than he actually is," Dieruf said. "... He also uses the term Day One throughout the document. I have been using Ready Day One in my campaign for more than a year."

On the fundraising front, Dieruf's report Wednesday on the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance website showed he had raised roughly $354,000 since July and now has about $428,000 on hand, while Greenberg's campaign was having reporting issues with the site but said it has raised $1.2 million since July, with about $979,000 on hand.

And a new, unauthorized campaign committee formed in September that is branding itself as "Democrats for Dieruf, with former Kentucky Attorney General Chris Gorman appearing Wednesday in a video on the group's Twitter page to describe Dieruf "as one of the finest public servants I've known in my life."

Asked about Democrats for Dieruf and whether it concerns him, Greenberg replied, "no."

"I’m proud to have the support of people from across the entire city," Greenberg said Wednesday morning, "people from every political party, people who aren’t affiliating with political parties."

Reporter Joe Sonka contributed to this story. Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Craig Greenberg: I'd make guns unusable before handing to state