Many of you have heard my story and I thank you, genuinely, for that opportunity. My story is what compels me to act - the sole reason for my involvement here today.

I’d like to also acknowledge the many audience members who, like me, are called to act as a direct result of their experiences. One I’d like to recognize is Mark Barden, Founder and Managing Director of Sandy Hook Promise. Mark’s seven-year-old son Daniel was murdered on December 14, 2012 in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. We are honored to have his support today.

For those of you unfamiliar with my story, I am a gun violence survivor.

On September 6th, 2018, I walked into a mass shooting at my place of employment in Cincinnati. Instead of walking into the office to solve the latest problem with my product, I was forced to solve the most difficult problem I’ve ever encountered – surviving a man with a gun, determined to kill me.

It is difficult to go back to that exact moment… terrifying circumstances, limited options for survival and this impossible reality: I might never see my husband and two small children again.

It takes my breath away nearly every time I say this out loud – I was shot twelve times and not once did a bullet hit a major organ or artery. It is inconceivable. Yet, here I sit, physically and mentally strong enough to be here, to talk to you.

What do you do when you cannot make sense of the gift you’ve been given?

For me, there was one answer: fight. Fight to protect others from gun violence in all its forms.

Through Whitney/Strong, the non-profit I founded with my husband, we are fighting. Fighting, because we believe that by advocating and executing responsible gun ownership, lives can be saved. Fighting because we have a responsibility - as gun owners ourselves - to speak in favor of reasonable solutions that seek to balance public safety with our right to bear arms.

This fight – our movement - is not about blaming the gun or demonizing gun owners. It is about solutions that are bipartisan, reasonable, and effective. Extreme Risk Protection Orders (also known as ERPOs) are that solution.

ERPOs provide targeted intervention in response to evidence of imminent risk of harm to self or others who have a firearm. This type of intervention is not available today but, due to Kentucky’s above average suicide rates and the unfortunate reality of mass violence, it is highly necessary.

Let me tell you why I support ERPO:

• It has bipartisan support. From President Trump to Lindsey Graham to Elizabeth Warren, ERPO is the solution for curbing gun violence. And that support makes sense: A July 2019 poll by APM found that 77% of the voting population at large is in favor of ERPOs, including 83% of women and 70% of men.

• It is effective. Scholars estimate that for every ten to twenty issued, one life is saved from suicide. In Indiana alone, the law is associated with a 7.5 percent decrease in firearm suicides.

Additionally, and equally important:

• It is gun owner centric. Everyone, gun owners included, can suffer from a personal or mental health crisis. ERPOs provide help without permanently affecting a gun owner’s right to bear arms.

• It mirrors DVOs and EPOs. That is why its due process protections - notice, the right to be represented by counsel, to challenge evidence and cross examine the petitioner - are both familiar and widely accepted.

• It aligns with predictive factor approaches to safety. Using predictive factors to ensure public and personal safety is common … and it works well today with DVOs, EPOs, the right to bail, and federal firearm prohibitions.

• Its ability to save lives is universal. Regardless of how the person gains access to the gun or why they are facing a moment of crisis, ERPO protections apply.

• It could have saved the life of Kirsten’s mother. And that of countless others.

In closing, ERPO proposes much-needed change that is at once balanced, reasonable, and capable of curbing suicide and mass violence. I look forward to working together to balance the rights of gun owners and non-gun owners alike and in the process, making Kentucky safer for all of us.

Thank you.