By Dave Workman
The Louisville, Ky. Metro Council is “urging” the State Assembly to “address common-sense gun regulation,” which translates to carving out Jefferson County and allowing it to set up its own gun control laws, which is currently not allowed under the sate’s preemption law.
According to WAVE News, Louisville Councilman Ken Herndon has reintroduced a proposal he calls “Kids Over Guns.” This resolution “urges the Kentucky General Assembly to amend current resolution to remove the words “consolidated local government,” essentially allowing local control of gun legislation.”
Kentucky is one of more than 40 states with what are generically called “Preemption” statutes, which place sole authority for gun regulation in the hands of state legislatures. The premise is to guarantee uniformity in state gun laws.
Prior to the establishment of such laws, beginning decades ago, many states had what amounted to a checkerboard of confusing and often conflicting local ordinances regarding firearms. What may have been legal in one jurisdiction was a crime in an adjacent community. Preemption ended that.
Under Kentucky law:
“(1) No existing or future city, county, urban-county government, charter county, consolidated local government, unified local government, special district, local or regional public or quasi-public agency, board, commission, department, public corporation, or any person acting under the authority of any of these organizations may occupy any part of the field of regulation of the manufacture, sale, purchase, taxation, transfer, ownership, possession, carrying, storage, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, components of firearms, components of ammunition, firearms accessories, or combination thereof.
“(2) Any existing or future ordinance, executive order, administrative regulation, policy, procedure, rule, or any other form of executive or legislative action in violation of this section or the spirit thereof is hereby declared null, void, and unenforceable.”
Last month, Herndon brought the resolution back for consideration, after having been withdrawn last fall. In a statement, he contended, “Violence continues to plague our community, and something must be done.”
But in the WAVE report, Herndon said something else which might strike the wrong chord with Bluegrass State gun owners.
“If we do get permission from the state, the first thing that we will do is call Louisville Metro Police Department,” Herndon reportedly said. “They are the experts. They can tell us what specific gun laws do work well, do and then we will pursue that.”
However, carving out an exemption for a single county is not how state preemption laws work. Such an exemption would essentially establish a city/county “state” within a state.
Kentucky reportedly adopted its statute in 2012, which would have been later than most states.
Workman is editor-in-chief at TheGunMag.com
