FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — On September 6, 2018, Whitney Austin didn't make into the Fifth Third Bank headquarters in Cincinnati. When a gunman opened fire, she was shot. She slumped her body at the bottom of the revolving door, pretending to be dead.
"Play dead. Just play dead," said Austin when she was interviewed after the shooting. "That's your best chance right now for surviving this - is to play dead."
Since then, Austin has formed a group called Whitney/Strong. Their goal is to reduce gun violence through responsible gun ownership.
"I am a firearm owner. My husband is a firearm owner. There's no part of Whitney Strong that's focused on taking firearms away from individuals that are responsible," said Austin.
Friday, Austin is set to speak to Kentucky lawmakers as they begin work on an "extreme risk protection order" bill, which is known as a "red flag" bill. It essentially allows people, like police officers, to ask the court to take a person's guns away if that person is deemed to be a danger to him or herself, or to others.
After she speaks, a press conference will be held where Mark Barden, co-founder of the Sandy Hook Promise, will speak. Barden lost his seven-year-old son when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
