At trail opening, Zionsville mayor refuses to talk about her comments on gun control

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The mayor of Zionsville had the ear of Gov. Eric Holcomb for the better part of an hour Wednesday afternoon.

Their meeting came after an online tirade that involved profane Facebook comments between Mayor Emily Styron and a man named Joel Bardach. The comments were regarding the Texas school shooting in Uvalde. In her online tirade, she was calling for more gun control. She defended her comments Tuesday in an interview with News 8, but, standing next to the governor Wednesday, she said nothing.

The mayor and the governor opened a new trail in Zionsville on Wednesday. Styron kept her comments on gun control in check. Her staff told I-Team 8 the mayor wasn’t talking about guns and her online statement. However, I-Team 8 asked Holcomb if the mayor said anything to him about gun control. 

“She has not,” Holcomb said. “I think I have been very clear about civility being the foundation of my five pillars and I completely understand how passionate I am, we all are especially when tragedy strikes, words as passionate as they are can bring people together or push them apart,” Holcomb said.  

Styron has not backed down from her comments Monday night on the Texas school shooting, comments that included several profanities. She has also taken ownership of everything she posted. Her comments were picked up in a thread supporting gun control legislation started by Bob Goodman Jewelers on North Main Street in Zionsville.  

“She expressed her outrage as a mom and as an individual at what is going on, and I share in that outrage. Language is language salty language is salty language it shouldn’t define the person in a negative way maybe sometimes it should define that person in a positive way,” Goodman said.

I-Team 8 tried to ask the mayor to talk about her comments, but she said she wasn’t talking about anything other than the opening of a new trail.