Tracey Goodlett

Tracey Goodlett is a volunteer chapter leader with the Kentucky chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety.

The Kentucky and Cincinnati chapters of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America met on Jan. 16 to discuss how we could collaborate to end gun violence in our region. We chose what we thought would be a safe and inviting location for the meeting: a public library in Covington. The atmosphere shifted quickly when a group of armed gun extremists crashed our meeting in an apparent attempt to intimidate our members into silence.

The armed men were not arrested for carrying firearms into a public library. In fact, they weren’t even asked to leave. Thanks to a law passed in 2013 that allows firearms to be openly carried in any city-owned facility in Kentucky – including family-oriented places like libraries and parks – there was nothing the police could do to stop the men who carried guns into a library to disrupt our meeting and intimidate us.

These men may have expected the moms, dads and grandparents at the meeting to cower in fear and cancel the event, but our members did just the opposite. We offered them a seat and pressed on with the meeting.

This is not the first time gun extremists have tried to intimidate members of Moms Demand Action. Last December during a vigil and march in Louisville to remember victims of gun violence, a man with a handgun strapped to his leg and his hand on an AR-15 rifle trailed our group. When some of the children among our marchers became scared and upset at the sight of the man given we had no idea if he was a threat or not—the police were called, but our leaders were told there was nothing they could do because open carry is legal in Kentucky.

This raises the question: when did it become acceptable for armed individuals to intimidate peaceful community members without any consequences? No one is threatening anyone’s Second Amendment rights – so this isn’t about that. In fact, it seems the only time the right to keep and bear arms is at odds with common-sense public safety measures is when extremists decide to show up armed to the teeth at a community event just to prove a point.

This is about fringe gun rights groups using scare tactics to silence not only those who disagree with their ideology, but to intimidate our elected officials into supporting dangerous, gun lobby-sponsored legislation that allow guns for anyone, any time, anywhere, no questions asked. Well, Moms will not be silenced.

In May, the National Rifle Association will hold its annual meeting in Louisville. Tens of thousands of law-abiding NRA members and gun enthusiasts will converge on the city to talk about firearms and gun rights. The meeting provides the perfect opportunity for the NRA’s leadership to denounce armed intimidation by fringe extremists, but it’s doubtful they will do so. If history repeats itself, the NRA’s leadership will once again engage in dangerous rhetoric that riles up the fringe and endangers American communities.

That’s why we too will be in Louisville this May when the NRA’s leadership is in town. We’ll be there to send them a clear message that Moms and our supporters will not back down, and we will never be silenced on the gun violence crisis that steals 88 American lives and injures hundreds more every day.

I hope you will join us.