‘Vicious violent acts…that could have been averted’: New CARR bill filed

Lexington, Ky. (WTVQ) — On Thursday, supporters came together in Frankfort to sponsor the bipartisan ‘Crisis Aversion and Rights Retention’ — or “CARR” bill.

A Republican and Democrat pushing the bill say it’ll help find common ground to address gun violence.

Sen. Whitney Westerfield announced at the rally at the capitol, the bill was being filed. This comes after many discussions with both sides and many revisions.

Whitney Austin, a survivor of a mass shooting and co-founder of Whitney/Strong, spoke about how all of the small actions taken have gotten this bill where it is today.

“This foundation is so strong. It doesn’t stop with any of these people, it keeps going on because of you not because of them,” said Austin. “So thank you for being here today, thank you for being courageous, thank you for being resilient. This is what it’s going to take and we are so much closer than we have ever been.”

Former Public Safety Commissioner Rick Sanders, says that a bill like this can help stop a tragedy before it happens.

Like the 2018 Marshall County school shooting.

“I look at the scars on Whitney’s arms as she was speaking,” said Sanders. “And I’m speaking for a four-decade law enforcement officer who has mental scars. Of vicious violent acts that I have witnessed that could have been averted.”

He went on to say, “I had to walk over the backpacks, the phones, the things belonging to children that were in such fear for their lives. And then I also saw a 15-year-old lady laying in the floor dead. We can’t continue to just say ‘Let’s do something’ we have to move forward. And this bill that you’re going to see today is the beginning.”

If passed, those who are seen as either a harm to society or themselves will temporarily lose access to their firearms.

Sen. Westerfield spoke about what they hope to do with this bill.

“We don’t want to take guns away from people who are law-abiding citizens,” said Westerfield. “We want to step in temporarily to keep people safe. We don’t want it to be abused, we want to do something responsible, constitutional, to keep people safe. That’s what CARR does.”