I like the word “inane” which Webster defines as “lacking sense, significance, or ideas, silly, empty, void.” What a perfect word to describe anti-gun editorials in the Atlanta Journal/Constitution and other main stream media, especially in 2009 about HB 89.
HB 89 reduced the places law-abiding citizens with Georgia firearms licenses were restricted from carrying a gun. While it was being debated and modified last year the media went insane. They claimed all kinds of wild-west type shootouts and found a few waitresses that feared for their lives if their customers carried a gun.
The rants against the bill got even more outrageous after the legislature passed the bill and it was waiting on Governor Perdue’s signature. He signed it, it went into effect on July 1, 2008, and nothing happened. All the inane claims by the media about what would happen never came true, just as any rational person knew they would not.
After law-abiding citizens who had gone through a finger print background check to get a firearms license were allowed to carry their guns into places that served alcohol and food, there was not a single shooting by one of them. I guarantee you would have heard about it, repeatedly, if any such incident had taken place. The media would have been all over it like buzzards on day old road kill.
Expect more inane ranting from the media this year. Senator Douglas (R – Social Circle) has prefiled SB 9 which removes the requirement that law-abiding citizens with a Georgia firearms permit must carry their pistol in a holster. No doubt the media will see this as a danger to all.
No other gun bills had been prefiled as of December 9 but keep a close watch on what your elected officials are doing. Georgiacarry.org is a good source for updates on laws that affect your gun rights here in Georgia. You can check on bills that as http://www.legis.state.ga.us/. You can find bills by their number or key words in the bill.
There probably will be additional laws considered to change the places you can legally carry a gun. Senator Seabaugh (R – Sharpsburg) has led a study committee on this issue and has asked for input from pro gun groups during the year. Some proposed changes might include allowing gun license holders to carry guns on campuses and other places where presently prohibited.
Expect inane claims about the dangers to students, teachers and the public if such proposals are made. But criminals do not obey the laws, as news article after news article about crimes committed on campuses with guns show. Hopefully, by now, most rational people do not pay any attention to such media rantings.
It is no surprise that applications for firearms licenses are up as much as 50 percent in some counties. Gun and ammo sales have gone through the roof, with many gun stores out of popular models and calibers. People are even trading in their hunting guns for guns that might be banned if the “assault” weapons ban is renewed.
Some folks are probably buying guns expecting the prices to go up. Some are stockpiling guns and ammo just in case of the worst happening. And some are buying guns and getting a firearms license because they realize you can not depend on law enforcement to protect you, you must protect yourself.
In some good news nationwide, the Department of the Interior modified its rules so carrying concealed guns in national parks is now legal. If you have a concealed carry permit from your state, and that state allows you to carry guns in parks, you can carry in national parks in that state. If you are in a state with reciprocal carry agreements with your state you can carry in national parks in those states, too.
The original rule seemed silly. If you have a Georgia firearms license and are carrying your gun legally when you leave home, when you get to the gate at Kennesaw National Battlefield Park you had to unload your gun and put it in the trunk. If national parks were perfectly safe, and no place is, the rule would still be a useless waste of time.
This new rule may not last long when the new administration takes over in January.