Georgia Expands Concealed Carry Laws

by politisite | April 3, 2008 at 06:58 pm | 3492 views | 1 comment

Update: July 2, 2008 - Georgia Gun Laws: Showdown at Atlanta Airport

There’s a gun fight coming to a head in Atlanta, Georgia and its getting ugly. Its all about an extension of the Georgia concealed carry law that went into effect today. Read about it below and see a video about gun laws.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin held a press conference this morning to let the world know that Atlanta would not abide by a Georgia State Law that went into effect today expanding the right to carry concealed weapons in public places. She and officials at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta said they would not allow guns in the airport. The law doesn’t allow guns past security points in the airport, but does allow licensed gun owners to legally carry arms into the terminal area. So that is where the mayor and the airport officials decided to make their stand. They went so far as to declare they would arrest anyone who showed up at the airport with a gun.

The mayor and Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta were promptly served with a 10-page lawsuit for violating state law. The lawsuit was filed by John Monroe, an attorney for the gun rights group GeorgiaCarry.org and Republican state Representative Tim Bearden of Villa Rica.

Its hard for me to grasp what the problem is, seeing as I was raised around guns and most of the people I know carry guns pretty much every where they go. I understand that there’s a lot of people out there who are afraid of guns. I believe that is because they don’t know how to handle guns properly and only see gun violence on television. They don’t really understand that guns deter much more crime than they create. If a criminal is going to rob someone and had a choice between a little old lady with a gun on her hip or a man walking down the street in a tie-dyed teeshirt with a peace sign on the front, which one do you think would get robbed? Personally, I wouldn’t mess with the gun-totting little old lady. Its really that simple.

Criminals almost inevitably pick ‘gun free zones’ to perpetrate their crimes. Is it really that hard to figure out why? If you declare your town or school to be a ‘gun free zone’ then you might as well post an advertisement for criminals to come on over. The lessons of this have been taught over and over again in the annals of gun crime in America.

Georgia allows for law abiding citizens to carry a concealed weapon by applying to a judge through the county tax collectors office. One must go through a background check through NCIC and the FBI. Since the application is applied for locally, Police will usually be asked to check records to see if the applicant has any criminal history or if law enforcement is aware of the applicant. A judge can denie an application for mental health, legal, or other issues described by law. An applicant is required to be of good representation.

Georgia's right to carry laws have done the state well as it is reported often in local news stories that a crime was foiled by a concealed carry permit holder.

It has taken 10 years to expand the current laws. CCP holders still cannot bring a weapon into a political or sporting events. Consuming alcohol is prohibited while carrying a weapon. Additionally one cannot carry into public (government) buildings.

ATLANTA, April 3 (UPI) -- The Georgia Senate has approved legislation that would allow people with permits for concealed weapons to carry them on commuter trains.

They would also be able to bring guns into restaurants if they do not drink, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The changes in concealed weapons laws were added to a bill giving constables in Magistrates Court the power to carry guns. The measure goes to the state House of Representatives, which tends to be friendlier to gun owners than the Senate.

Sen. John Douglas, a Republican, said responsible gun owners should be allowed to carry their weapons so they can protect themselves. But Democratic Sen. Nan Orrock suggested that the rule about drinking would be hard to enforce.

"Is it wise to send the message that it's open season for gun-toters on MARTA?" she asked, referring to the Atlanta mass transit system.