Gun reform is a hard sell in rural Kentucky even after school shooting in the state
BENTON, Ky. (AP) — Jeff Dysinger’s daughter survived two bullets from a classmate at her Kentucky high school this year, but he hasn’t joined in the national outcry over guns that escalated after 17 people died in a Florida school shooting three weeks later.
Dysinger owns an AR-15 military-style rifle — the same weapon used in the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting on Feb. 14. He believes deeply in the right to bear arms. And he says the eruptions of school violence in Florida, Kentucky and elsewhere aren’t about guns.
After his 15-year-old daughter Hannah was shot in the arm and chest at Marshall County High, anger raged inside him. But the calls to curb assault-weapon sales that came from the Florida students didn’t strike a chord with him.
“I think everybody in rural Kentucky, we’re all brought up with guns, I mean we’ve all been around guns our entire life,” said Dysinger, a former soldier who has used his AR-15 for sport shooting and hunting. “Kids in cities like (Parkland, Florida) don’t get that.”
Hannah Dysinger also has not spoken out against guns, but says she, like her father, wants to ensure they don’t fall into the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. She has called for background checks on every gun sold.
There is evidence to support the notion that urban and rural Americans are divided when it comes to guns.
A Pew Research poll from April 2017 showed 63 percent of Americans in rural areas said it’s more important to support gun rights than gun control, compared to only 37 percent in urban areas.
After the Florida shootings,
