From left, Isabell McCall, Jessica Hawkins, Natalie Jackson, Coty Wamp, Margy Oehmig and Sissy Tarumianz
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp recently spoke at a meeting of Neighbors for Gun Violence Prevention at Our Lady of the Mount Catholic Church. The first female district attorney general for the 11th Judicial District opened the meeting by announcing she was a couple of years into her eight-year term.
“I can speak anything with truth because I have no agenda,” she said.
Do not be misled by her fashion model looks; this gal is a mover and a shaker. She is proud of several of her department’s recent accomplishments. Jillian’s Law was named for a young woman, Jillian Ludwig, who was killed by a stray bullet. Six months before, a judge had dismissed charges against a man who had shot into a car with two children inside. Her death revealed a loophole in Tennessee law, one that allowed people accused of crimes to walk free if they were ruled incompetent to stand trial. Republicans and Democrats came together to write Jillian’s Law, which requires defendants ruled incompetent to stand trial be committed to a mental health facility where they can receive treatment instead of being released back onto the street. In these cases, they must relinquish their rights to firearms.
“Which makes sense,” Coty said. “People who are incompetent to stand trial should not have access to firearms, right?”
Coty’s commonsense, to-the-point stance was well-received in the room full of Republicans, Democrats and Independents. And commonsense gun control is the goal of this organization.
Coty is also proud of the Chris Wright Act. The late Chris Wright was a father of three who was shot in the head at close range by Daryl Roberts, a repeat criminal with 66 offenses, including assault, theft and drug charges. The Chris Wright Act ensures that after five misdemeanors, the sixth one is a felony, which removes any right of gun ownership. Coty said there was little objection by either party.
Coty also addressed safe storage laws, saying that between 400 and 500 guns are stolen from automobiles each year.
“We should require automobile manufacturers to install theft-proof storage in cars,” she said, adding a glove compartment is not safe storage, plus, “who can ever find a key to the glove compartment when they need it?”
Coty also talked about a tiny piece of Lego-sized plastic called a Glock switch. The descriptions may sound innocuous, but don’t be fooled. This little piece of plastic that looks like something that might be in packaging to make it theftproof is actually something that makes mass shootings possible for any person in possession of a gun, including a handgun.
Sending close-up photos around the room blown up to full page-size, Coty explained that the little device that is smaller than half of a thumb fits on any gun, and literally turns it into a machine gun. Easily concealed and made of plastic so it doesn’t set off alarms, Glock switches can actually be created with a 3D printer, making them a force to be dealt with: a force of terror.
Acknowledging that most gun violence in Chattanooga is gang-related one way or another, Coty said that she regrets that she doesn’t get to these kids on the front end, before they are interested in joining a gang or seeing them as their only option.
“We need to interrupt this cycle on the front end, provide options before it’s too late,” she said.
This experienced young woman has a strong, sure voice, and she’s not afraid to use it. But she definitely has an agenda: To make our city safer.
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Ferris Robinson is the author of three children’s books, “The Queen Who Banished Bugs,” “The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds,” and “Call Me Arthropod” in her pollinator series “If Bugs Are Banished.” “Making Arrangements” is her first novel and is available in paperback and on Kindle. “Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity” is a collection of true tales about man’s best friend. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.
Ferris Robinson