SOUTHERN INDIANA — Local community leaders have different takes on how to curb the kind of nationwide gun violence President Barack Obama announced he hopes to address through tighter gun control measures. But while they may not see eye-to-eye on the details, most of those same community leaders seem to agree on one thing: Gun violence is a heart problem.
Rev. Don Summerfield of the First Presbyterian Church of Jeffersonville admits he's not the most well-read on Obama's latest proposal to expand background checks and restrict gun ownership for the mentally ill. That doesn't mean Summerfield isn't aware of the violence that can plague his own community. More than 10 years ago, First Presbyterian and other Jeffersonville churches started holding murder site vigils to remember victims of violence after their names have disappeared from the news cycle.
"It has made me aware of the nature of the violence in the community, at least this level of violence," Summerfield said. "And it's not all handguns and it's very, very seldom strangers."
Still, Summerfield said he sees no harm in expanding gun control measures. He doesn't own a gun but said he respects people's right to bear arms, and he doesn't think their ability to buy a gun is being compromised.
"I don't see ... how the President's proposal could hurt anything or anybody," Summerfield said. "How much it will help in a culture as violent as ours, I don't know."
Summerfield said with or without gun control, Americans are bombarded with violent images every day, whether it's in the news, in a video game or on TV. Gun violence, he said, is just one symptom of a "cultural illness."
Louisville resident Norman Parker said the problems that lead to gun violence are as varied as a "a mix of gumbo" and often tied to a lack of self-worth. That's why Parker helps lead the group We All We Got. The group held a talk on gun violence at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany last September.
"We engaged and it was like, some of the communities, to me, I think all the inner city communities are going through somewhat of the same thing, maybe not on the same level, but the affects are there," Parker said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Fatal Injury Reports, Indiana reported 818 gun-related deaths in 2014, including 259 homicides and 528 suicides. Nationwide, the CDC reports 33,599 gun-related deaths in 2014.
Parker said he has seen first hand the effects of gun violence on his own community. Families are torn apart when a victim has to recover from gunshot wounds while the shooter's family loses a member to incarceration. The victims and offenders are often men, he said, whose families may have depended on them. Sometimes, the victims and their families may never recover.
"So you have those families left to bridge a gap to fill a void ...," he said, adding that the effects trickle down to the community.
PROTECTING THE PUBLIC
Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel agrees the country has to get to the root of the gun violence problem. In the meantime, he said, executive actions aren't only going to fall short, but they could do harm.
"I support what's in place now and I don't support any expansion of that because any expansion of that is only gong to be a burden on people who are legally entitled to have guns," Noel said.
Noel has been an outspoken advocate of the Second Amendment, even appearing on the Fox News morning show "Fox and Friends" last month to defend citizens' right to bear arms. The video of the interview posted on the Clark County Sheriff's Office Facebook page has been shared nearly 300 times.
Bruce Bower, General Manager of HiTek Firearms and Training, sees the public's interest in the Second Amendment when gun sales spike. Bower said it's hard to tell if the national gun debate is driving sales or if it's part of the usual busy, post-holiday season. His customers range from people who shoot recreationally to people who want to protect themselves. Every sale comes with a background check that results in one of three ways: approval, a delay or a denial.
In Indiana, federally licensed dealers must perform background checks on all sales. A license is not needed to purchase a gun, but a permit is required to conceal and carry handgun. As for Obama's proposed expanded background checks?
"I mean I do and I don't support it, because obviously I want everything, as much as we can, to protect the public, but at the same time you don't want to infringe upon our constitutional rights," Bower said. "The dealers at the [gun] shows should be operating within the limits of the law, but what you do run into is guys who purchase and sell guns on a profit basis and they're not doing background checks because they aren't licensed dealers."
Bower said something needs to be done about those unlicensed sales, but doesn't support executive action, calling it unconstitutional. Noel agrees, and said more background checks on private dealers at gun shows aren't going to stop criminals from getting their hands on guns. Noel goes as far as supporting the idea of eliminating requirements for conceal and carry permits. Indiana House Bill 1056, authored by Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, would do just that.
"A criminal, like I said, they're going to get a firearm if they want one regardless of what means they use, and they're not going to use a legal means to get it because they don't want their name associated with that firearm," Noel said.
Instead, criminals may break into someone's home or car to steal a gun that may later be connected to a violent crime. When those guns are seized by law enforcement, Noel said his department exhausts every measure to locate the owner of the gun. That can be difficult, Noel said, because sometimes the gun in question has been stolen from the original owner so long ago that the owner has moved away or died.
Noel urges gun owners to keep a record of the serial numbers on their guns separate from where they store their guns. If your gun is stolen, report it to police. And if you sell your gun, keep a record of the sale, Noel said.
COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS
Noel said one of the real problems at hand is that law enforcement is losing valuable resources to fight crime. Noel recently received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice that announced law enforcement agencies would no longer get a portion of money seized during a criminal investigation that begins at the local level and is later turned over to federal authorities.
"If we started an investigation and someone for example had $100,000 of drug money seized, and the federal authorities adopt that case, then we would basically be entitled to a proceed of that to be used for manpower and equipment training," Noel said. "They've done away with that now."
In the past, that money could have been used by local police agencies for special task forces and partnerships. Adding more unfunded gun control measures, Noel said, not only infringes on citizens' right to bear arms, it takes money from the very people who could help reduce gun violence: police officers. And it's not secret, he said, that Clark County's budget for more police manpower is zeroed out.
Parker said the We All We Got group tries to enter people's lives before law enforcement has to, whether it's through a community forum or an activity with local kids.
"Where we come in, we actually get into the community and try to stop some of these issues before they arrive," he said.
Rev. Summerfield also said change needs to happen at the community level.
"I think one thing we can be conscious of is encouraging people to be afraid of things that are the most threatening to them. Statistically it's highly unlikely I'm going to get shot," Summerfield said. "And I think just taking stock of our fears is one thing. I also think shunning violence whenever and wherever we can. Don't watch that stuff."
"You gotta get to the root of the true problem," Noel said. "And the true problem isn't [resolved by] making frivolous laws that sound good and feel good, but then there's no way to enforce them."