When conducting a background check on a person buying a gun, Kentucky’s Attorney General said they’re still limited by the information available in the system. And, with many mental health care providers already under a financial strain, Jack Conway said inputting all that data can be a hardship.
“Not only do those agencies have to provide mental health services, they have to interface with the data bases and law enforcement and provide the information and make sure it gets captured, make certain it’s available to people that need to access the information," He said. "So, we’re in the process of looking, making certain that all of our information is getting into the system,” said Conway.
While a supporter of the Right to Bear Arms, Conway still believes more can be done to reduce gun violence. Conway’s disappointed the U.S. Senate this week failed to approve tighter controls, but he’s unsure much more can be done on the state level.
“Under Kentucky law, we could always do better. My staff is always looking for opportunities to see if we can be more vigilant in enforcing the laws that we do have on the books, but the fact of the matter is guns travel across state lines. We have 300 million guns or so in this country and they travel across state lines. There’s only so much one state can do,” added Conway.
Conway claims to be the only statewide Kentucky Democrat endorsed by the National Rifle Association during the 2011 election.
