On March 11, a gentleman named Larry Walters got into an argument, subject unknown, with another patron at Uncle 7’s Bourbon Bar & Grille, an establishment off Clays Mill Road in the southern part of Lexington, leading to a physical altercation.
According to police, Walters took exception to the course of the disagreement and felt compelled to draw a firearm. The 69-year-old veteran began firing, somewhat indiscriminately, striking two unfortunates and forcing other customers of said establishment to understandably seek cover.
One victim, the other participant in the dispute, subsequently died as a result of his injuries. The other is said to be recovering. Walters was charged with murder, among other things, and was placed under arrest.
In a court hearing to set bail, Walter’s attorney revealed that the arrestee, Mr. Walters, is being treated for a cyst on his brain. Whether this played a role in regard to his rather extreme response to an opposing argument will presumably be left to a jury at a later date.
Ironically, on that very day, March 11, Gov. Matt “Yosemite Sam’’ Bevin, signed into law a new wrinkle that will render it even easier for the likes of Walters and others of his ilk to pack heat, which undoubtedly will lead to other tragedies like the one that occurred at Uncle 7’s on a late Monday afternoon.
The Kentucky General Assembly, in its infinite wisdom, decided during its historically terrible session this year to let every Tom, Dick, and Larry carry a sidearm wherever they might happen to be, leading to speculation that perhaps it would be wise to change the name of the Commonwealth of Kentucky to Tombstone.
Previously, Kentucky law required an individual to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon and undergo some form of training so they could at least tell one end of a gun from another. That is no longer necessary. Now, if an individual is at least 21 years of age and doesn’t have a criminal record, he or she can mutate into Annie Oakley.
In Kentucky, in the year of our Lord 2019, this is considered progress.
Apparently, the old law wasn’t stupid enough for the commonwealth’s legislators, although what necessitated the change remains somewhat unclear. Did some raving lunatic get turned down for a permit, thus depriving him of that gentle feeling of carrying a side iron on his hip? Who knows?
Some proponents are using the tired, old argument that the new law will somehow benefit law-abiding citizens. The problem here, of course, is that most folks are law-abiding citizens -– until they’re not. Plenty of once law-abiding folks have used guns for what turned out to be nefarious purposes. Unless the Commonwealth has contracted the services of Nostradamus – presumably at a salary commensurate to the $375,000 shelled out to Bevin’s pal, state information technology chief Charles Grindle – to foretell who are turning bad and who’s not, the whole shebang seems a little dubious.
Supporters like Saint Matt the Divine of New Hampshire simply used the old trope of citing the Second Amendment to the Constitution as the Holy Grail.
“It simply says that people do indeed have the right to keep and bear arms,” Bevin told Gray TV, which owns several stations in the Commonwealth. “For those people who are offended at this idea and don’t like it, there are other places in America where they could live.”
Very magnanimous of the governor to urge residents to move elsewhere if they dare disagree with him. That’s considered leadership these days.
What a moron.
Gun nuts adore using the Second Amendment as their be all and end all on the right to bear arms, maintaining some sort of right for a lamebrain who doesn’t know a Colt .45 from a bazooka. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its Heller decision in 2008, clearly stated that the right to bear arms is not unlimited and that guns and gun ownership are indeed, subject to regulation.
The high court, in Heller, found that individuals maintain a natural right of self-defense. But the decision, written by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, the deity of the right, also said this:
“Although we do not undertake an exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”
In other words, reasonable regulations are still viable under the Second Amendment, although, as Scalia noted, “since this case represents this Court’s first in-depth examination of the Second Amendment, one should not expect it to clarify the entire field.”
So it’s obviously conceivable that some restrictions on concealed carry are legit – most states have them. Some states prohibit the practice altogether.
But Kentucky knows better.
This entire debate brings to the fore yet again the Commonwealth’s almost non-existent gun control laws, which do a disservice to the public. Data clearly shows that states with the most stringent gun regulations suffer fewer shootings.
According to the Boston University School of Public Health, the rate of deaths by firearms per 100,000 individuals in states with lax gun laws can be greater than four times higher than those states with the nation’s strictest gun control laws, places like New York, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Massachusetts.
That’s not speculation. That’s fact.
Just as an example, in 2016, the year that provides the most recent statistics, gun deaths in Louisiana per 100,000 came to 21.4. in Massachusetts it was 3.4.
Proponents of lax gun laws are fond of pointing at Chicago, which has experienced a high incidence of gun-related deaths in recent years even though Illinois has fairly strict gun control laws. Regardless, the rate per 100,000 in the Land of Lincoln is 11.7. The Kentucky rate is 17.5. In the Bluegrass, a shameful 772 individuals lost their lives at the end of a gun in 2016.
So what do you say we just make it easier to carry a rod around?
The new conceal carry law is just one of the more ridiculous results of what has emerged as perhaps the worst legislative session in history. Lawmakers also passed an obviously unconstitutional abortion ban, found it necessary to kick solar panel users in the rear end for the benefit of their pals in the utilities industry, and observed a grand, old General Assembly tradition of making a pay-off to the banks.
And you thought the Democrats were terrible.
I realize I’m speaking to the hand here. For reasons I’ve never understood, a lot of folks in the Commonwealth seem to place greater importance on possessing a gun than on life itself. People are dying because of lax guns laws, not thriving. But the people in power simply don’t seem to care. This is just the latest example.
But it’s good to remember Clarence Darrow’s old axiom, “Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for.”
And so it goes.
NKyTribune’s Washington columnist Bill Straub served 11 years as the Frankfort Bureau chief for The Kentucky Post. He also is the former White House/political correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service. A member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, he currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, and writes frequently about the federal government and politics. Email him at williamgstraub@gmail.com.
My, my, Billy. Can I get you a diaper and a hanky? How about some Manpons??? Your histrionics are truly remarkable.
It’s one thing to make your point in a polite, professional, rational fashion. When you turn your screed into a smarmy, arrogant, ad-hominem attack, it just proves that you’re not worth my time.
Articles like this one are the reason why I avoid liberals like the plague.
OMG the sky is falling.
Another journalist jerk brings forth a hysterical rant exposing his ignorance. Clowns such as Straub belong in California with the other fruits and nuts.
Ky is not the only constitutional carry state in the nation and the “gun violence” (no such thing) has not increased in the other 15 states.
Depending on Federal Judges to Protect Your Gun Rights Is a Bad Plan.
This is a really bad strategy.
At its core, the Second Amendment exists as a limit on federal authority. When you sue in federal court, you do so in the hope that the federal government will limit itself.
Remember, federal courts operate as part of the federal government, and federal judges are nothing more than politically connected lawyers drawing federal paychecks. When we keep these facts in mind, it becomes pretty obvious we shouldn’t count on federal courts to limit federal power, and uphold or preserve the Second Amendment.
James Madison gave us the blueprint. When the federal government commits unwarrantable acts, the Father of the Constitution didn’t say “file a lawsuit in federal court.” Madison advised a refusal to cooperate with officers of the union. Don’t depend on politically connected lawyers to protect your right to keep and bear arms.
Tenth Amendment Center
There are over 370 “mental disorders” listed in the latest version of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.) The list includes “Tobacco Addiction Disorder” among other equally mundane and ridiculous so-called “mental illnesses.”
If the DSM is the standard by which politicians wishes to remove our rights to own guns, then I’d guess 90% of the American people could probably be classified with a mental disorder of one kind or another.
BEWARE, BEWARE
Mental health is the avenue to gun control..
American Psychiatric Asso says Half of Americans are mentally ill..
After crafting by politicians and Media all will be crazy except for the media/politicians..
300 million prescriptions for psychiatric drugs were written in 2009 alone..
Your children on medication for ADHD?
Single woman with children diagnosed with depression?
be careful what you ask for
Here we go again with the virtue signaling, take this incompetent ignorance to any one of the failing liberal cities, not here.
1) There are more guns that people in the United States. The vast majority of gun violence happens either in inner cities (liberal), or in police officer situations (usually in inner cities…). If you run the numbers, guns in any way shape or form are not a problem in the US when you take into account how many of them there are and the ratios.
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2) In the yuppy utopias that are in deep blue areas, that’s fine if they don’t want to own a gun. They are tolerant of getting there car windows smashed out and their friends and family physically beaten without defense. that’s cool if they don’t want guns to defend against that. (you can dig up that data that the city of Cincinnati threw a blanket over)
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In suburban/rural areas the response time for police or help from your neighbor is slow, so you need a gun. That’s like saying buildings shouldn’t have fire extinguishers because you can just call the fire department…
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3) Every socialist, dictatorship, big government counties end up there because they have no threat of legit force from the people (and no it wouldn’t be the army versus the people). And yes the threat is real with literal socialism becoming a running platform today…
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4) The next major conflict, world war size, will be via hacking/crashing technology and energy providers. When the lights go out, or entire software platforms shut down stores, businesses, and services that are 90% reliant on them, no body wants to be lining up at the local high school gym for canned food and an airplane blanket.
This is america, the best country in the history of the world due to simply one word and belief… Freedom… It is the way it is for a reason and due to a founding. There are plenty of countries that ban guns, wealth, ideas, prosperity, personal property etc. If it’s THAT bad for you, people have been moving to other countries since the dawn of time. You’re free to go.
The gun ban will never ever happen in america. Try knocking on 100 million + doors demanding they hand them over… good luck…
Impotent sarcasm, translated: “[inhale] WAH!!!!!”
Oh Look Barry is trolling another gun-related article in a place he doesn’t live!
I continue to be more and more confused with today’s political stances… The US was born out of people saying to heck with regulation, taxes, and control. It gained its independence and within a couple hundred years literally grew to be the most prosperous, inviting, successful culture ever at any point in history. Due literally only to having near 100% freedom to the people (natural resources always help, but nonetheless, the faucet was wide open for innovation freedom and not being controlled by a king, monarchy, dictatorship, etc.). That short time frame is pretty impressive and proves fact to freedom.
Pretty wild how all of the sudden we want to give them government all the power in the world and hope history doesn’t repeat itself the way it has in dozens of other prime examples and countries. So many contradictions and hypocrisies out there right now.
There will always be a ruling class in any culture, and there always has been. Take away “rich” corporations, and it will only result in rich government rulers and politicians. Remove the white male from “dominating” workplaces and some other stereotype will rise to assume the same apparent power. Take away guns and only the politicians will be safe. Take away energy consumption and means of production, and the bureaucrats will still be using them.
It’s all a shift from one person to the other. People are tribal by nature regardless of sex or color.
It’s just truly sad people are either that ignorant to post anti gun articles due to lack of knowledge or understanding, or that they have sold themselves and honestly want to slash the freedoms of their fellow Americans to the point we turn into a stagnant culture with no pride in work, no pride in personal property, no horizon to guide your children down, no freedom to express yourself without being crucified for sharing a non violent opinion.
I’m just happy in the fact the vast majority of Americans see the through the media. That’s why Trump got elected and that’s why he’s going to get elected again. The wealthy elite are so disconnected and the masses will continue to keep socialism and communism suppressed.
Near every socialist and democrat are pretty major hypocrites, watch their lives and it’s impossible not to see it blatantly and they can’t hide it and know it so they try to silence your free speech and try to scrub it from the internet.
Think we were fighting socialism in the parts of the world via war, and now we’re brainwashing people that it will work this time… Pray
If you are so confident what wager would you be willing to make that a a year or two later that there is no statistically significant changes to Kentucky’s murder rate ?
I completely agree with Bill.
Gun owners are disrespectful of authority. A failure to rely on authorities is an invariable sign of improper and overly independent attitudes. The mere fact that they gather together to talk about guns at gun shops, gun shows, shooting ranges, and on the internet means that they have some plot going against us normal people. A gun owner has no right to associate with another gun owner.
Therefore, to help ensure our right to happiness and safety we must ban and seize all guns from private hands, and forbid NRA-based criticism towards people who are only trying to help. Searching the homes of all NRA members for any guns and pro-gun literature will go a long way towards reducing crime.
Common sense requires only uniformed soldiers, police, and other agents of the state have access to firearms, and think of all the money we can save by just taking away the guns from private owners and giving them to the military and police. No person should be able to challenge this by writing to Congress or the President. If they do they should be forced in court to admit to it and then fined a hundred million dollars for each time. Subjecting them to torture will probably change their minds.
Making it mandatory that church ministers preach against guns or else they can’t get licensed will certainly encourage the church folk to have the correct belief about guns.
We should hold a nation-wide vote against guns but gun-owners cannot be allowed to participate. They are too biased.
People who don’t like all this prove they are on the side of the killers with the guns and should be put in jail along side all the gangbangers and other gun nuts. Letting them sit in jail for a few years before they are charged will give the government plenty of time to find something wrong in their lives. Anything they say, write, or express should be held against them to prove their guilt.
We should bring all of them here to Chicago to be tried by Mayor Rahmfather as judge, and we should allow only mothers who have lost children to gunfire to be on the juries. Any attorney who tries to defend them should be arrested also. If we don’t get the right verdict the first time we can just keep trying them until we do.
No woman needs to protect herself from rape, assault or murder and should just leave crime prevention to the Police who are properly equipped to investigate following the crime’s completion. Women using a gun in self-defense interferes with and makes the attempted crime a “non-event,” which unnecessarily complicates the Police investigation. Any woman who does this should be put in jail for interfering with an investigation.
If someone still really, really thinks they have a need for a gun in their home for protection then the Army should just force them to host and feed some armed soldiers.
Those who claim that the 2nd amendment was given to us because we might someday need guns to use against an oppressive government forget that our Constitution has strong internal safeguards to protect our freedoms. So there!
Long live our Constitution!
Based on the above comments, I’m not qualified to be in this discussion. I have never lived in a mobile home, I have never owned a pick up truck, I have never been in jail, I have never belonged to the NRA and I don’t drink Mountain Dew. I do own a gun however which I keep tucked away and hasn’t been fired in over twenty years. And yes, I use my real name.
Bill, don’t worry, you are safe in Silver Springs (Md)
I do not understand Nancy’s comment, “If you run the numbers, guns in any way shape or form are not a problem in the US when you take into account how many of them there are and the ratios.” The blog specifically pointed out a problem with guns. Does she mean that because we have so many guns, we are bound to have problems with them? What ratios is she talking about?
Michael, there are about 325,000,000 people living in the US right now. There are about 390,000,000 guns in the US right now. There are approx. over 100,000,000 gun owners.
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I’m saying if you take into account the sheer number of guns compared to the number of people, thats an amazing ratio that shows gun violence is not a problem.
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If guns are so evil and cause so many killings and bad things, why is it that there are not gun killings every day since technically every single living american could have one in their hands at any time?
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Take Kentucky for a prime example, one of the highest gun ownership rates in the country and now very progressive laws supporting guns. You never read in local (county, city), or state news of constant shooting deaths. Why? Because guns are not a problem. People are ignorant and uneducated on the topic and use of firearms. All people want to do is virtue signal and raise their hand that they support anything with an agenda. #Comeandtakeit
Who wants to bet the Tribune will let this guy post an article in a couple days detailing how the Russian conspiracy is still alive somehow, and call it accurate news? Contrary to the facts and truth.
No wonder working Americans officially gave up on Democrats and the disconnected liberals like this clown. Get a job. Try contributing to this great nation instead of pretending to be educated and writing opinion pieces that no one agrees with. You’re trying to divide this country and destroy jobs. And, for what?…..
Lets start a petition. Bill should put a large poster on his front door stating he doesn’t own or carry guns. That surely wouldn’t entice thefts the thugs from robbing his house. And/or park his car in the middle of any given spot in a downtown with 78 cents in change sitting on the dash while he stands there and watches without a firearm. and/or live out in the country where the closest police station is 20 miles out. and/or dress up like a woman and walk down any given street in the middle of the night in a bad area. Guy probably lives in a safe part of town where he doesn’t need to worry about having a gun. “Do as I say, not as I do” – Bill