Louisville shooter said he planned murders because he could. We keep letting it happen. | Opinion

In what is surely one of the most horrible and chilling manifestos to come out of a mass shooting, the murderer at the Old National Bank in Louisville said he did it because he could.

According to the investigative wrap-up from the Louisville Police Department that was released last week, the murderer of five wrote: “I certainly would not have been able to do this were it more difficult to get a gun.”

It’s terrifying that a mind so warped could also say something so true: It’s too easy for people suffering from mental illness or psychotic episodes to get access to killing machines.

That warped mind injured eight and took the lives of five people — Josh Barrick, Deana Eckert, Tommy Elliott, Juliana Farmer and Jim Tutt — because he could. It’s unthinkable and yet, tragically, all too common in this country.

The Louisville shooting was the 146th mass shooting of the year. It happened April 10. We are now up to 565, according to the Gun Violence Archive. A mass shooting is defined as when four or more people are injured or killed.

So, as I asked back then, what are we going to do about it?

First off, we want something to change.

According to a poll last year, by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research 71% of Americans say gun laws should be stricter, including about half of Republicans, the vast majority of Democrats and a majority of those in gun-owning households, the Associated Press wrote.

“Overall, 8 in 10 Americans perceive that gun violence is increasing around the country, and about two-thirds say it’s increasing in their state, though less than half believe it’s increasing in their community, the poll shows.”

Legislature must act

But before the Old National Bank shooting, Kentucky’s GOP-controlled General Assembly — deep in thrall to the National Rifle Association and its campaign donations — declined to make even tiny changes.

For example, Democratic Reps. Chad Aull and Lisa Willner put forth a very mild idea, which would allow people to self-report themselves onto a no-buy list with gun dealers. So if they suffered from a mental health break, they would be unable to buy a gun.

This idea, as innocuous as it was, didn’t go anywhere because the legislators are Democrats, and the Republican supermajority is petty enough to refuse to allow nearly any of their bills to advance.

Another plan, a bipartisan effort by then-Sen. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, and former Sen. Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville, would have allowed authorities to take guns from people suffering a mental health crisis.

Research has found that in about 80% of cases, people who commit mass shootings or suicide speak of it in advance to family members or friends or via social media. Last year, the shooter had checked into a mental hospital after a suicide attempt, Louisville police said.

California’s red flag law has been credited with preventing at least 58 potential mass shootings there, according to researchers. Suicide makes up almost half of gun deaths in the U.S.

The McGarvey-Hornback bill also died on the vine. Nor has the General Assembly reconsidered a law that allows guns seized in crimes to be resold on the open market to raise money for police equipment.

Back in April, Hornback told me that political sentiment may be shifting toward some kind of change, but any bills will have to come from the Republican side.

“There’s recognition by leadership and by the members that something needs to be done and that’s a starting point,” he said. “Everything is tied to the money that the NRA gives, some members don’t want the heat. But something like this has to hit close to home for people to do something.”

Cathy Mekus is the Kentucky State Data Lead for Moms Demand Action. She hopes that because the legislature had already gone home before the Louisville shooting, it will be ready to make changes.

In an ideal world, of course, there would be state and federal laws expanding background checks. As it is, Kentucky may be ready for some kind of bill dealing with guns and mental health.

Observers may get a clue of how it will go at the next interim meeting of the Judiciary Committee on Dec. 15.

“I think we’re still waiting to understand the full fallout,” Mekus said.

Judiciary co-chair Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Crofton, is supposed to discuss a potential bill, although he declined to speak in detail about it.

“The public has been ready for something to happen since 2012 after Sandy Hook, so we’ve had almost 11 years to follow these things,” Mekus said. “What we see is every time there’s another mass shooting, interest ticks up to stop them from happening so frequently.”

Mekus pointed out that just five days after the Old National shooting, there was another mass shooting at Chickasaw Park in Louisville that killed two and wounded four more.

“That’s what we call everyday gun violence, but mass shootings drive home the point that all of our lives are at risk as long as we continue to doing the same thing — which is nothing — and hoping things will turn out differently,” Mekus said.

Westerfield said he was particularly motivated to do something by the Uvalde, Texas, shooting, in which 19 students and two teachers were murdered.,

“I don’t know what the solution looks like, but the legislature is where we have to talk about the hardest issues,” he said. “I’m hopeful we can make progress on Dec. 15.”

I’m hopeful, too.

It would be a slam dunk for the General Assembly to show the people they’re listening to commonsense concerns about gun violence. It was far too easy for the Louisville shooter to get a gun. By changing that, legislators could save lives.

What better thing could an elected official do?