Students Need Education, Not Guns

3:30am on a Saturday…. I am reviewing bills filed in the Kentucky State House. 

There are no words to describe the repulsiveness in some of the 300-plus bills filed. Admittedly, though both parties have lost their minds, I truly believe most Kentuckians fall somewhere in the middle, where common sense and integrity meet, when it comes to politics. 

However, for the life of me, I can’t wrap my head around some of the bills that could impact all of us in the near future. This past month, several children have been killed in Kentucky. All from gunshot wounds. Still, there is a bill filed (HB 259) that would allow an 18-year-old to carry a concealed weapon. 

Have these elected leaders no shame? Do they really think handing a high school senior a Glock is the best use of our time? Most Americans are afraid to send their kids to school. Now, we have folks working to pass legislation that will inevitably lead to more death? This is draconian. This is uncivilized. This, as much as I’ve tried to comprehend it — is incomprehensible and undoubtedly, the legislative signature on the death certificate of Kentucky children. 

This, in no way, should be viewed as leadership. I can only speak to my party — as I am a lifelong Republican. 

The so-called leaders you see proposing such astonishingly flawed and character-less legislation aren’t real Republicans. It’s true — they may go around calling folks like You and I, a “RINO” — but, they are the real Republicans in Name Only. They’ve hijacked our party for their own selfish and fraudulent reasons. 

These folks aren’t leaders. They don’t care about you or your family and they surely don’t care about your children. If the average citizen advocated for this, we would label them domestic terrorists. Why should our legislators be treated any different? 

Surely, the chaos to follow this action would be devastating. Who will be responsible for the deaths? Who will bear the burden and answer the question, “Why did this student have a legally-purchased handgun in AP English?” With the teacher shortage already uncontrollable — who will want to teach knowing their students have unfiltered access to these guns? Few, I fear. 

The legislators supporting this bill wouldn’t support it if they cared about your children. If they cared about your children, if they cared about Kentucky, if they cared at all about what we leave behind as a society, they would be spending their time working to keep guns out of the hands of our students, not advocating for what can only be foreseen as a tragic and cruel punishment on the most vulnerable members of the commonwealth — our children. 

Kentucky deserves more than lackluster, self-proclaimed political stars. It is time we label these folks for what they are and what they lack. We need a backbone in our party, desperately. The lives of Kentucky’s children are at stake. Currently, if you give a handgun to a minor, you’ll likely be jailed and convicted of a crime. Why? Because it’s wrong to give a deadly weapon to a child.