Do zombie shows lead to mass shootings? Matt Bevin thinks so

Thomas Novelly | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin : 'You bet I'm running again' 'Not a chance I'd walk away' says Bevin. 'There's not one (Democrat candidate) even remotely worthy of carrying the torch for the people of Kentucky.'

Gun regulation isn't the solution to mass shootings in the U.S., Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said Tuesday, and America's culture of death, illustrated by Americans' obsession with zombie television shows, is more to blame.

In a radio interview with conservative talk show host Leland Conway, the Kentucky Republican said new laws aren't the solution to violence, but addressing a "culture of death" in media is the start.

'Walking Dead' co-creator tells Bevin: You're the problem, not zombies

“It starts with everything from the type of entertainment that we focus on,” Bevin said. “What’s the most popular topic that seems to be in every cable television network. Television shows are all about, what? Zombies! I don’t get it ... that’s what we are.”

Bevin went on to say Kentuckians are staunch defenders of the Constitution and that liberal attempts to enact gun control won't be successful.

He added that violent shows are morphing the minds of young, impressionable children.

“When a culture is surrounded by, inundated by, rewards things that celebrate death, whether it is zombies in television shows, the number of abortions ... there’s a thousand justifications for why we do this," Bevin said.

Last month, Bevin literally shot grenade launchers and threw smoke bombs in a video as an analogy for "blowing up things like corruption, blowing up things like pay-to-play and inside deals," he said in a tweet featuring the video.

In June 2018, Bevin blamed video games, psychotropic drugs and smartphones as some of the root causes for violence in America's schools.

Bevin's comments come a week after a mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, which left 13 people dead. It was the 307th mass shooting in the United States this year alone, according to Gun Violence Archive.

More: What we know about the mass shooting at a Thousand Oaks dance bar

Bevin, who has said he is running for re-election in 2019 but has not filed candidate paperwork or started fundraising, is polling poorly in the Bluegrass.

A poll by Morning Consult released this past summer, showed the Kentucky Republican ranked as one of the top 10 least popular governors in the U.S. But Bevin said Tuesday he doesn't care much for polling and doesn't think it offers any insight about his re-election.

“Have you ever seen a poll in which I wasn’t unpopular?“ Bevin asked the radio host. "I have been unpopular and expected to lose. My unfavorable have always been higher than my favorables, those things are a joke. It makes no difference.”

Thomas Novelly: tnovelly@courierjournal.com, 502-582-4465. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/tomn.