I have worked with Whitney Austin and the initial cosponsors of the CARR legislation, Senators Morgan McGarvey and Paul Hornback, at its inception. Through every step in the process, I have been extremely impressed with Whitney’s openness to input from the mental health community and our suggestions for making the CARR legislation a viable bill that can be effective in reducing gun deaths in Kentucky due to suicide and mass shootings. The legislation walks a fine line in both upholding the Second Amendment rights of gun owners in providing due process protections, while giving law enforcement a tool to intervene by removing guns at a time of extreme stress and risk that the individual will use the firearms to do harm to self or others.
As a psychologists and mental health advocate, I am painfully aware of the stigma of mental illness and the confusion in the minds of many people that mass shooters are undoubtedly mentally ill. This is not the case and the CARR legislation does a very good job of not adding to nor reinforcing that false narrative. Persons with mental illness are ten times more likely to be the victim of violence crimes, rather than their perpetrators. CARR identifies moments of crisis and seeks to remove the firearms temporarily at that point in time, while affording the individual the opportunity for help in dealing with their crisis. This is what needs to happen for their protection and assistance and to protect potential victims!
Unfortunately, suicide rates in Kentucky have been on the incline since the pandemic across almost every demographic, including our youth. The research is very clear: when a firearm is available to an individual who is in crisis and experiencing suicidal ideation, it is the most frequent source of deaths by suicide (55% in 2021). We also know that these individuals, if they are not successful in their suicide attempt, will often not attempt suicide again. CARR legislation would make it possible for family members and others close to the individual to notify law enforcement to have the guns removed at the time of crisis, thus saving lives.
For all of these reasons, I am a strong supporter of the CARR legislation and will be working to advocate for its passage in the 2024 Kentucky General Assembly session!