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Retired Northeast Ohio federal agent provides insight as Nashville school shooting reignites gun control debate

Monday's shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville claimed the lives of three children and three adults.

CLEVELAND — As police continue to investigate Monday's deadly school shooting in Nashville, the conversation for gun control grows louder and more controversial.

John Kilnapp, a gun expert from Northeast Ohio, served with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for 30 years. 

“I’m not pro-guns or anti-gun. I’m for gun owner responsibility," Kilnapp says. 

Kilnapp puts that responsibility on parents who have guns in their home. He says most shootings happen when a child obtains a gun a parent did not properly store 

In the case of the Nashville shooter, the 28-year-old woman obtained at least two of the weapons legally.

Kilnapp says intense background checks are a necessity, but he believes that the conversation seems to be fading.

“It's fallen by the wayside because the people don't want to hear it anymore, because they feel it falls back on their constitutional right," he explains. "Whether it's the ATF or the FBI, they don't want to take your guns away.”

President Joe Biden, a longtime supporter of gun control, once again called on Congress to pass legislation banning assault-style weapons in the aftermath of Monday's shooting. 

"It’s heartbreaking, a family’s worst nightmare," Biden said at the White House after the shooting. "I want to commend the police who responded incredibly swiftly, within minutes in the danger ... I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban. It's about time that we started to make some more progress."

Students, teachers and administrators at a school in America again lost their lives due to gun violence. The president and Kilnapp both agree it's out of control.

“The gun violence today has reached a level this country has never seen before," says Kilnapp. 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has a proposal on the table for a resource officer to be embedded in every public and private school in the state. If the legislation passes, school resource officers in the Buckeye State could be in place this fall. 

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