Key Metrics
12.28
Heat Index-
Impact LevelMedium
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Scope LevelLocal
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Last Update2025-09-11
Key Impacts
Negative Impacts (3)
Event Overview
A local official is pushing for the decentralization of gun law control, emphasizing the need for municipal decision-making. The plea highlights the tension between state and local governance, suggesting that statewide preemption laws may not adequately address community-specific concerns.
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Louisville Councilman Calls for Local Control Over Gun Laws
Louisville Councilman Ken Herndon, representing the city's fourth district, is advocating for local control over gun laws. He argues that statewide laws limiting local authority on gun regulations are unreasonable and wants the power to make such decisions returned to local governments. Herndon made this plea near the site where a woman was fatally shot while walking a child to a school bus stop. He criticized the current statewide preemption of local gun laws and proposed implementing a waiting period for gun purchases if local control is granted. Herndon emphasized that the choice is between protecting guns or protecting children. A 2012 Kentucky law prohibits local governments from regulating firearms, ammunition, and related accessories, and a 2015 law mandates that local governments can only dispose of firearms by selling them. Mayor Craig Greenberg of Louisville wants the city to be allowed to destroy guns used in crimes and confiscated by police instead of selling them at public auctions. Herndon is calling for the General Assembly, which has a Republican supermajority, to revise the laws, noting that the legislature has previously enacted laws specific to Jefferson County despite opposition from local Democratic lawmakers.