by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
On Monday, April 10th, Connor Sturgeon, an employee of the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, walked into his place of employment bearing a loaded AR-15 assault-style rifle which he had legally purchased less than a week before. Sturgeon opened fire in one of the bank's boardrooms where a meeting of bank officers and employees was being held. In less than a minute the shooter killed five people (ages 40 to 64) who were meeting in that room, and he wounded five others - including two police officers who were responding to the mass shooting.
The young killer's gun was confiscated after he was shot dead by police.
The following day Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told the press and his incredulous city that under current Kentucky state law he would have to turn the assault-style weapon over to the state police who would, in turn, auction it off. Greenberg said that he was forbidden by law from ensuring that the weapon was destroyed, and that the most he could do to interfere with its potential to kill again would be to remove the firing pins, something which could be quickly remedied.
It is unclear whether the Kentucky legislature was trying to raise funds for the state with the passage of this law, or if it was instead focused on the "right "of the gun to exist. Either way, it's a senseless law that will prolong the emotional suffering of those who were wounded in the attack, their families and the families of those who died that day, and the good citizens of Louisville, the state of Kentucky, and the nation who were horrified by the actions of the disgruntled bank employee and his gun.
Now that the notorious murder weapon will be spared from destruction, it could conceivably wind up being used in another mass murder. That would, of course, increase its value as a collectible the next time it is auctioned.
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