U.S. Senator Rand Paul came to Lexington Friday to discuss crime with Mayor Linda Gorton, the chief of police and community organizers. At a news conference afterwards, Paul said when gun violence is discussed, extreme polarization between Republicans and Democrats leads to nothing happening. He said each year, about 100-thousand felons try to purchase guns, and just one percent of them are prosecuted.
“You have to always try to find resources, this is a federal issue, but it intersects with the local, would be to try to find money. We have a $1.2 billion fund for Afghanistan reconstruction. I don't know about everybody else, but I'm kind of tired of sending our money overseas. And I think we could spend some of that money here.”
Paul said he’ll introduce a bill that would use some of that money to hire more U.S. attorneys to prosecute felons illegally trying to purchase guns. He also praised a portion of the Safer Kentucky Act passed by the General Assembly this session.
“The one aspect of the act that I advocated for -- the Safer Act – was the idea that if you attempt to kill someone, but you don't hit them with the bullets, that it should be considered to be a violent crime, not a non-violent crime.”
Paul said it’s important to find common ground between parties – and local, state and federal government officials.
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