FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- Senate Bill 13 was introduced last month in Frankfort, a bipartisan effort that would create a pathway for local law enforcement officers to petition for weapons to be taken from someone deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

"It's a bipartisan piece of legislation to help address a mental health crisis situation that involves gun violence," said Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, who is one of the bill's sponsors. "There's not a simple fix at all. It is a baby step to try and do something. I signed on as a co-sponsor early on because I strongly believe we've got to have a conversation on what to do. That doing nothing at all is not an answer."

Senate Bill 13 has a "tough, uphill climb," according to Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, who is another one of the bill's sponsors.

But that didn't stop a crowd from packing the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort on Thursday as more than a dozen people with Moms Demand Action pushed for gun violence prevention legislation.

"Nobody deserves to send their kid to school — where they should be safe — and their life ends," said Sherita Smith, whose 16-year-old son, Tyree Smith, was shot and killed in September 2021 at his bus stop to Eastern High School in Louisville. 

CARR — standing for Crisis Aversion Rights and Retention — was written on a sign next to the podium Thursday, a reference to SB 13. Yates acknowledged at a news conference last month that their effort faces a challenging path in the Republican-dominated General Assembly, where some lawmakers have shown resistance to any actual or perceived gun control actions.

"Doing nothing at all doesn't work. In fact, it's cowardly for us to run from this because it's scary politically," Yates said. "It is not OK to continue to turn a blind eye to victim after victim, to good citizens that deserve that public safety. It's got to be our top priority ..."

The bill calls for a judge to review petitions from local law enforcement officials and determine if there is probable cause to grant an order seizing the weapons. That step would be temporary and occur without giving the owner of the firearms any advance notice.

A judge would then set a hearing within the next six days. The guns' owner would be summoned for that hearing, which would decide whether a longer order should be in place for up to 90 days.

The 90-day order would have to find that a gun owner is a danger to him- or herself or others. Besides ordering law enforcement agencies to hold the weapons, no new purchases could be made until the order expires. 

The order could be challenged every 45 days. It also could be extended after 90 days. 

Moms Demand Action Rally

A crowd packed the Capitol rotunda in Frankfort as more than a dozen people supporting Moms Demand Action pushed for gun violence prevention legislation. Feb. 15, 2024. (WDRB Photo)

"This isn't a gun-grabbing bill. This is crisis aversion," Yates said. "This has to do with people who are in a mental health crisis situation who are going to do harm to themselves or others."

Similar bills have failed to gain traction in the past. This year's Senate Bill 13 comes during the first legislative session since last April's mass shooting at Old National Bank in Louisville, where an employee shot and killed five people. His family has said he was in treatment for anxiety and depression issues but that there were no "warning signs or indications he was capable of this shocking act."

So far, SB13 is yet to be assigned to a committee. But Westerfield said Thursday that there is still opportunity and he's hopeful.

"Well, it’s going slow right now," he said. "We filed the bill several weeks ago. It still hasn’t been referred to a committee. We used to have a rule that required the referral of bills within so many days. I wish we still had that rule. I think it needs to be sent to a committee. And, to be candid, even if it came to judiciary (committee), where it belongs and where I have certainly lobbied for it to go, as the chair of that committee, I don't currently have the votes that I'd need to pass it out."

Still, Westerfield said it's "doable" and he has hope of forward motion in 2024.

Those at the rally in Frankfort Thursday, saying it's time for change.

"This is a right-or-wrong moment," said Devine Carama, director of ONE Lexington, a group formed to "coordinate, leverage and mobilize city government and community resources to reduce gun violence.

"It does not matter what political party you are a part of. This is the issue of the moment. We are tired of losing young people to gun violence."

Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, president of the Senate, wasn't available for an interview Thursday.

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