FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Mark Barden’s life won’t ever be the same. It’s been that way since his son, Daniel, was murdered inside a classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December of 2012.
Whitney Austin is also a changed person. She was shot 12 times during the 2018 Cincinnati 5/3 Bank shooting. Austin somehow survived that massacre and has spent the last 3 ½ years trying to prevent another like it from happening again.
On Thursday, Mr. Barden and Mrs. Austin were together again working to spread the word about Austin’s “CARR” initiative. The Crisis Aversion and Rights Retention Act is designed to help gun owners who might encounter a mental health crisis that could make their ownership of a weapon incredibly dangerous, for themselves or others.
“If you’re on the side of gun owners and preventing moments of suicide and preventing moments of mass violence, like what happened to me, then you’re on our side,” Austin said before this morning’s presentation inside the Capitol building.
Neither Austin nor Barden are interested on infringing on anyone’s 2nd Amendment right.
“This really isn’t about the guns,” Barden said. “If a person is showing signs they are a clear and present danger to themselves or others everyone wants to make sure to diffuse that situation before it becomes a disaster,” he continued.
The “CARR Act", would essentially allow for legal intervention to get the gun out of an owner’s hand when he/she is experiencing a mental health crisis. Once that issue is properly addressed, the gun would be returned to its owner.
Mrs. Austin, who is a gun owner herself, knows that if something tragic happens with the gun, then that person would lose the right to carry.
“We are a gun-owning family. This is about helping gun owners. Anyone can have a crisis moment,” she said.
It’s the kind of moment that led to Austin taking 12 bullets inside a bank lobby. A moment that led to a lifetime of grief for Mr. Barden.
“Every day I miss him. Every day I think about him, and every day I recommit myself to honoring his life by preventing other families from having to live this pain,” he said.
