In our polarized political climate, it can be difficult to find constructive solutions to even the most urgent problems. For 17 years, I have worked in and around the Kentucky General Assembly, both as legislative staff and as the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, the public policy voice for the Catholic Church. I have witnessed moments where our leaders have come together to tackle urgent needs and other times when political paralysis has allowed a serious problem to go unaddressed.
The epidemic of gun violence is a crisis crying out for creative and effective solutions. We have a moral imperative to act. I believe one potential solution is Senate Bill 13, Crisis Aversion and Rights Retention, or CARR.
Kentucky has a strong cultural attachment to guns, in ways both good and bad. A majority of households have at least one gun. Like so many Kentuckians, I grew up in a family of gun owners. Some of my fondest memories involve spending time with my grandfather and learning how to responsibly use those guns he had given me.
However, we also lose far too many Kentucky lives to gun violence. In 2021, there were 947 gun deaths in Kentucky. Over half of those were suicides by firearm. One Kentuckian died by firearm suicide every 16 hours. This most often involves Kentuckians in rural areas and veterans who have sacrificially served our country. We are failing so many of our people.
Creating what St. John Paul II envisioned as a “Culture of Life” means valuing the human person before all other concerns. Before we try to apply that conviction to particular policy issues such as abortion, the death penalty or gun violence, we need to first ask ourselves if we are starting with the best interest of the most vulnerable people among us first in our minds. As fallible and fallen human beings, it can be difficult to recognize our own blind spots. This is one of the roles our faith communities can play. And, when pastoral leaders of very different backgrounds all see the same problem, we should pay attention.
The Catholic bishops of the United States have reiterated again and again the urgent threat to life that gun violence represents. In 2000, as part of a major statement on crime, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called for responsible laws to address the threat of gun violence. Just a few months ago, in reissuing their quadrennial statement on political participation, the bishops listed gun violence as one of the “grave threats to the life and dignity of the human person” that are prevalent in our country.
In 2016, the Kentucky Council of Churches, a broadly ecumenical group that includes Roman Catholics and mainline Protestants, among others, called on “governments to actively pursue ways to keep guns away from persons who are a threat to themselves or others.”
The Southern Baptist Convention in 2018 “affirm(ed) that gun ownership carries with it a great responsibility of being aware of the sinfulness of one’s own heart.” The convention further called on “authorities to implement preventative measures that would reduce gun violence and mass shootings while operating in accordance with the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
These three statements come from religious groups representing the three largest branches of Christianity in America (Catholic, mainline Protestant and Evangelical). The statements differ in many ways. The SBC resolution expresses strong support for the Second Amendment, while the KCC statement calls for broader gun control. And yet, both express the clear need for reasonable and responsible intervention to reduce the level of gun violence in our communities.
CARR balances respect for Second Amendment rights and principles of due process while providing tools to prevent deaths by suicide or mass shootings.
CARR allows a law enforcement officer to ask a judge for an order to temporarily separate an individual in crisis from their firearms. The order is time-limited, and the gun owner has a right to a hearing to challenge the order. The goal is to separate the individual in crisis from their guns until the crisis has passed, the individual gets the help they need and they can safely possess a gun once again.
This is a proposal that can bring together Kentuckians with a variety of views on firearms. It can also bring together people from a wide range of faith traditions. That’s all possible because CARR focuses on the thing that people across both of those spectrums hold dear — protecting lives.
I call on President Stivers, Speaker Osborne, and Members of the Kentucky General Assembly to support Senate Bill 13.
Jason Hall is an attorney and the Executive Director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky.
