The gun used in the Louisville mass shooting will be back on the streets of Kentucky as it will be auctioned off under current law.
The assault rifle was used by 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon to kill five people and injured several others in a deadly mass shooting at Old National Bank on April 10.
According to reports, Sturgeon had left a voicemail to a friend saying he felt “suicidal” and planned to “kill everyone at the bank” when he found out he was set to be axed from his job.
Officials said the AR-15-style rifle was purchased legally and under Kentucky’s current law it will be back in circulation again.
“Under current Kentucky law, the assault rifle that was used to murder five of our neighbours and shoot at rescuing police officers will one day be auctioned off,” said Mayor Craig Greenberg.
He continued: “That murder weapon will be back on the streets one day under Kentucky’s current law."
Mayor Greenberg said the state’s current gun laws enable violence and murder and that change is needed to save lives.
The state is one of 26 that allows for the permitless carry of firearms for eligible adults and does not require background checks for concealed carry.
Gun enthusiasts have described the state as “one of the most gun-friendly states east of the Mississippi.”
“Universal background checks are nonexistent, so you can buy a gun from a stranger and there’s no record of the sale, making it almost impossible for law enforcement to trace these weapons if they’re ever used in a crime,” Jennifer Mascia, founding member of The Trace, a nonprofit working on gun violence told CNN.
Gun deaths across Kentucky in 2021 were 25 percent higher than in 2018, the year before permitless carry was allowed in the state, Mascia said.
She also said that gun homicides during the same time period were up 75 percent.
The Mayor made an impassioned plea at a press conference, calling for change: “Think about that: that murder weapon will be back on the streets one day.
"It’s time to change this law and let us destroy illegal guns and destroy the guns that have been used to kill our friends and kill our neighbours.
“We have to take action now. We need short-term action to end this gun violence epidemic now, so fewer people die on our streets and in our banks in our schools.
"I don’t care about finger-pointing. I don’t care about blame. I don’t care about politics. I’m only interested in working together with our state legislators to take meaningful action to save lives to prevent more tragic injuries and more death.”
