Guns May Soon Be Everywhere in Georgia

[babylonsister]

Guns May Soon Be Everywhere in Georgia

—By Hannah Levintova
| Thu Mar. 13, 2014 3:00 AM GMT


Georgia stamp: William Howell/Thinkstock; Bullet holes: Enterline Design Services LLC/Thinkstock


Soon gun owners in the state of Georgia may be allowed to pack heat almost anywhere—including K-12 schools, bars, churches, government buildings, and airports. The "Safe Carry Protection Act" (HB 875) would also expand Georgia's Stand Your Ground statute, the controversial law made famous by the Trayvon Martin killing, which allows armed citizens to defend themselves with deadly force if they believe they are faced with serious physical harm.

The bill could pass as soon as next week, before the current legislative session ends March 20. It is the latest effort in the battle over gun laws that continues to rage in statehouses around the country. It is perhaps also the most extreme yet. "Of all the bills pending right now in state legislatures, this is the most sweeping and most dangerous," Laura Cutiletta, a staff attorney with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told PolitiFact. Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun reform advocacy group founded by former congresswoman Gabby Giffords after she was shot in the head, has deemed it the "guns everywhere" bill. For its part, the National Rifle Association recently called HB 875 "the most comprehensive pro-gun reform legislation introduced in recent state history."

In addition to overturning current state laws and dramatically rolling back concealed-carry restrictions, HB 875 would loosen other gun regulations in the state. The law would:

Remove the fingerprinting requirement for gun license renewals
Prohibit the state from keeping a gun license database
Tighten the state's preemption statute, which restricts local governments from passing gun laws that conflict with state laws
Repeal the state licensing requirement for firearms dealers (requiring only a federal firearms license)
Expand gun owner rights in a declared state of emergency by prohibiting government authorities from seizing, registering, or otherwise limiting the carrying of guns in any way permitted by law before the emergency was declared
Limit the governor's emergency powers by repealing the ability to regulate the sale of firearms during a declared state of emergency
Lower the age to obtain a concealed-carry license from 21 to 18 for active-duty military and honorably discharged veterans who've completed basic training
Prohibit detaining someone for the sole purpose of checking whether they have a gun license

The sweeping bill would also expand the state's Stand your Ground law into an "absolute" defense for the use of deadly force in self-protection. "Defense of self or others," the bills reads "shall be an absolute defense to any violation under this part." In its current wording, the bill would even allow individuals who possess a gun illegally—convicted felons, for example—to still claim a Stand Your Ground defense.



more...

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/03/georgia-guns-concealed-carry-stand-your-ground

[GeorgeGist]

1. sick

[villager]

2. Deranged legislation, of course. Will its predictable defenders chime in here...

...with their usual blood-soaked apologetics?

[babylonsister]

3. There are defenders of this here? Ugh. nt

[villager]

6. Well, it's the proliferationist crowd. To their way of thinking, there's no such thing a "too many

guns" floating around.

Doesn't matter if it's at a nursery school, a battered woman's shelter -- guns need to be everywhere, according to them.

[babylonsister]

8. "proliferationist"? Good job! I know

what you mean unfortunately, firsthand living in GA. I've met quite a few people who have a gun in every drawer, vehicle, and many coats.
I still don't own one, nor do I want to. But it's abundant 'round these parts.

[friendly_iconoclast]

20. Got any quotes from these 'proliferationists', or is this more Colonism?

Sergeant Colon had a broad education. He'd been to the school of My Dad Always Said, the College of It Stands to Reason, and was now a postgraduate student at the University of What Some Bloke In the Pub Told Me."

Terry Pratchett

[friendly_iconoclast]

21. 8/10. Very graphic, and fully worthy of the great Billy Sunday

[Hoyt]

4. White wing legislators strike again.

[Lost_Count]

5. Neat...

[MrScorpio]

7. Shoot, maybe I should start up a body bag business in GA...

If this passes, business will be a-boomin'!

[Crunchy Frog]

14. Good idea, but

I would do it as a mail order business operating from a different state.

[lostincalifornia]

9. And who voted for this insanity in Georgia?

[Crunchy Frog]

15. Georgian elected officials

voted into office by Georgians.

[cherokeeprogressive]

10. DOJ says in 2012 6.6% of violent crime involved guns. 6.6%... Think about that for a moment.

Less than 1 in 10 violent crimes nationwide involved guns. Firearm violence, as a percentage of ALL reported violent incidents was 6.6%. See Table 2 in the link below. Pay CLOSE attention to the "Percent of All Violent Incidents" line.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bjs.gov%2Fcontent%2Fpub%2Fpdf%2Fcv12.pdf&ei=P60jU4CLPIXboATdp4GQAw&usg=AFQjCNFm6pe0s3KS3S2C3Woxcd31oZW_BQ&sig2=VW9MIan5JAWfMd4RbcWCjw

Given that there are nearly as many guns as there are people in this country, does anyone think the fear of being killed OR injured by a gun might be just a little bit irrational if the sum total of gun-related violent victimization is barely more than 5% of ALL violent crime? MASS SHOOTINGS, SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, MALL SHOOTINGS, and whatever other SHOOTINGS you want to claim... LESS than 10% by a wide margin.

Slow down... take a deep breath... take TEN deep breaths... three seconds in, three seconds out. Then touch your thumbs to your pinky fingers, and be calm while audibly speaking your own personal mantra.

Then think about this irrational fear again, and wonder if it really should be your biggest concern.

[Hoyt]

11. And yet the gun fanciers keep arming up and promoting more gunz in more places.

[Crunchy Frog]

17. It's scary when you don't haz gunz.

[Crunchy Frog]

16. No, I don't think I will do your little performing seal routine, thank you.

And this doesn't make me afraid at all. I live a long way away from Georgia, and I don't personally know anyone in Georgia.

I'm looking foreward to sitting back and watching an interesting social experiment. What makes it even more cool is that Georgia has refused the Medicaid expansion, and multiple hospitals are shutting down. http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/02/18/3299961/fourth-georgia-hospital-shuts/#

This really is not my concern at all, other than satisfying my intellectual curiosity.

I don't doubt that you are very pleased with this development, as it will give you ample opportunity to prove the points that you keep arguing.

[Cha]

12. sick is right.. I hate those SYG assholes.

[Crunchy Frog]

13. Oh good! Now the Georgians will be safer than ever.

Either that, or they will begin eliminating each other more rapidly than ever. In either event, I will take great satisfaction in observing the results...from a very healthy distance.

I wonder if an entire state can be awarded a Darwin prize.

A fascinating social experiment that I'm glad is being done in a state that I'm nowhere near.

[Skittles]

18. a paranoid gun humper's paradise

[DFW]

19. Sounds more like the NRA Suck Up To Act

I think Atlanta will only be used for changing planes from now on.

The Freedom Toast will have to find a new studio.