Written several years ago, the idea you should examine all gun laws carefully apply even more today.

The reaction to shootings in public places has me shaking my head but I guess I am not really surprised. During the past several months there have been mass murders at Virginia Tech, malls and a church. At the New Life Church in Colorado an armed church member shot the murderer, stopping him and making him kill himself.

The reaction to these senseless killings? Many officials have promoted victim disarmament zones making it illegal for you to have a gun to protect yourself. It is unreal how those folk’s brains must malfunction. How do they think preventing law abiding citizens’ right to have a gun will stop insane murderers?

One of the most graphic examples of their foolishness was on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show by co-host Mika Brzezinski. Talking about the New Life shooting, host Joe Scarborough said “One person with a gun can make a big difference.” He seems to get it.

His co-host’s response? “Oh gosh, no! No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no.” Scarborough then said: “One person with a gun in the right place can make a big difference.” Brzezinski responded “You know, that is the most inane statement I have ever heard.”

Not only is she inane, she is insane. How can any rational person deny that the murderer at the New Life Church was stopped by a person in the right place with a gun? I guess the rational part is the key. She is not rational when it comes to guns.

Here in Georgia we have some of the same kinds of problems. Last year the Georgia Legislature refused to pass a bill that would allow employees to have guns in their vehicles in open parking lots. The Legislature said it was OK if employers told their workers could not have guns. This bill did not even apply to gated, secure parking lots, just parking lots anyone could enter.
The NRA supported a bill to make it illegal for employers to disarm their employees. The Georgia Sport Shooting Association, the NRA state affiliate, opposed the bill, somehow finding property rights involved in open parking lots with unrestricted access by the public.

This bill is being presented again this year with a few modifications. I have been told the GSSA will support it. I look forward to seeing the bill. It had not been pre-filed as of mid-December.
The Georgia Legislature this year may go even further in supporting gun owners. The Second Amendment Protection Act has not been pre-filed but I understand Representative Tim Bearden, R-Villa Rica, will introduce this bill this legislative session. This proposed bill is being supported by the GSSA. It sounds good but I would like to see a copy of it before saying it should be supported.

The group Georgiacarry.org is supporting legislation that removes restrictions on law abiding Georgia gun owners. It is unbelievable that a person in California with a state issued gun carry license is not as restricted as we are here in Georgia. In fact, Georgia is one of the most restrictive states in the nation when it comes to where carry permit holders are allowed to have their guns.
In Georgia it would have been illegal for the woman that shot the killer at New Life Church to have her gun with her, even though she had a carry permit. There may have been a way around it because she was considered on the security force at that church, but why is it illegal in Georgia for honest, law-abiding citizens with a carry permit to have their pistol at a church?

There are also other areas of the law that need to be changed. If you own a business and don’t have a carry permit you are still allowed to have a concealed gun on you in your home and at your business. But you can’t have it concealed in your car. So if you put a gun in a shoulder holster at home, drive to your store and go in, you have broken the law unless you took the gun out of the holster and put it in plain view or in a glove box.

That is strange. Citizens are trusted to carry a gun concealed unless in their car but they can still have the gun, it just must be visible or in the glove compartment. How in the world does that have anything to do with preventing a criminal from misusing a gun?

Watch the legislature as they start their session this month. Examine each bill carefully and make sure they support gun rights and don’t do things that further restrict law abiding gun owners.