[Frightener 88]

delete...

[Nobody's_Hero]

Two things:

1)
I clicked your link and it does not work. Might just be my computer?

2)
Today is Tuesday. Either the clock is off and you posted this last night, or my clock is right and you posted this nearly 3 hours ago, and the hearing was earlier today at 3:30PM.

[Frightener 88]

the link worked from my end, sorry for the late post.

[GTSteve03]

Here's the results so far with HB 89:

http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=109601

Guns At Work Bill Clears Committee

Provided by: The Associated Press
Last Modified: 1/15/2008 6:32:37 PM

ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia gun owners would be able to leave their firearm in their locked car at work. But only if they had a concealed weapon permit, and only if the owner of the workplace property said it was OK.

Bending to opposition from the state's powerful chamber of commerce, the state Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday approved a watered-down version of a contentious gun bill being pushed by the National Rifle Association.

"It's a restrictive bill," Rules Committee Chairman Don Balfour acknowledged after the vote. The gun measure has pitted the state's business lobby against the NRA. That's placed the state's ruling Republicans in a bind. They're typically loyal to both interest groups.

"We were trying to figure out with the wisdom of Solomon how to split the baby," Balfour, a Snellville Republican, said.

The compromise came after Gov. Sonny Perdue on Tuesday signaled he might veto the sweeping version of the bill initially being sought by the NRA. Perdue said it trampled the private property rights of business owners.

The NRA had originally wanted any law-abiding employee to be able to lock their firearm in their car in a workplace parking lot.

The bill voted out of the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday stipulates that the protection applies only to the roughly 300,0000 Georgians who hold concealed weapons permits. And if an employer bans guns in its publicly accessible parking lot for customers, it can prohibit them for employers as well.

The bill's sponsor in the Senate, Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, said that despite the significant revisions the measure still had the backing of the NRA.

"It isn't perfect," NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandan said. "But it preserves the integrity of the right to carry in Georgia."

Arulanandan cautioned, however, that any effort to water the bill down further would be "a non-starter" for the gun group.

The NRA felt so strongly about the bill that president Wayne LaPierre traveled to Georgia last week to lobby for its passage. Passage of the bill was scuttled last year in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre.

But while the parking lot provision was weakened substantially, lawmakers also beefed up other portions by adding on provisions from competing gun bills.

One amendment tacked on Tuesday would make it a felony to send "straw purchasers" to attempt to buy guns in Georgia. It was a rebuke to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who sued several Georgia gun dealers after they sold pistols to undercover investigators as part of a sting operation.

Another would clarify the ability of gun owners with concealed weapons permits to be able to carry their firearms in parks and historic sites.

The gun measure is expected to face a vote on the Senate floor Thursday

[Safety First]

It appears that Gov Sonny Perdue has caved to Business interest and the Chamber of Commerce. Sonny thinks it is ok for workers traveling to their job and leaving their job to be vulnerable to car jackers, and attacks by others as well.:banghead: Employees who must park on a private parking lot owned by the employer, it appears will not bennefit from the bill.:barf: Those of us who are law abiding citizens who only want to be protected as we travel in our cars and continue to do so will still be at risk to employers searching our car and terminating those who in reality have done nothing wrong.:fire: Hopefully when the dust settles we will have made some gains, if not all that we had hoped for.:(

[Ratbert]

"ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia gun owners would be able to leave their firearm in their locked car at work. But only if they had a concealed weapon permit, and only if the owner of the workplace property said it was OK."

This makes no sense. Georgia law already allows me to carry my gun in the glovebox or console, even if I do not have a Georgia Firearms License. So, if my employer says it's okay, but I don't have a license, then isn't this law more restrictive?

Also, if the employer says it's okay, why the need for the law?

What am I missing?

I'm also a little torn as it would be a victory for property rights, but it doesn't seem to accomplish what it set out to do for gun owners.

[Animal Mother]

That section of the new law appears at best to be completely useless, at worse, its more restrictive gun control.

The way I read that section of the law is that it is the equivalent of saying that a person isn't trespassing on your property -- If they have a government issued ID and only IF you allow them on your property. :confused:

--Pointless at best.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[jmr40]

As far as I can tell this law is pointless, but I read somewhere that this compromise was made in order to get enough votes to allow guns to be carried in State Parks and other locations where they are now forbidden. I could be wrong on that and would appreciate more info.

[pinetree64]

I wish that they'd take the stance that the contents of a car are personal property and of no concern to the employer.

it would be nice if this would allow car carry in state parks though I strongly feel if you have a carry permit you should be allowed to carry in a state park.

[stevereno1]

It passed yesterday. An Employer can only stop a permit holding employee from carrying in their vehicle if they ban ALL guns from All vehicles in their parking lots. That would mean that all retailers, would have to put up signs in their lots that clearly ban all guns on the premises, and the windfall from customers would be overwhelming! Would have liked to seen it grant more freedom, but you gotta take what you can get.

[makanut]

Stevereno, It doesn't sound like anything has changed here. Could someone please clarify. My understanding from the local news was that carry permit holders are exempt, period. This only constitutes about 300,000 Georgians.

The (final) ammendment that gave employers that owned the property outright OR employers that leased property (nearly all employers) the legal right to fire permit holders for locking firearms in their vehicles on company owned or rented property was lost on a vote. I recall that the Jewish Democrat was VERY unhappy about losing this vote, so the outcome had to be good for RKBA.

I can not get the final copy of HB 89, so I'm unable to decipher the final version of HB 89.

[makanut]

The final version of HB 89 is up. I'm reading it now. Section 6 pertains to locked firearms in vehicles. Looks like a crappy bill to me. Does not allow searches of "privately owned vehicles" allows firearms owned by valid permit holders to be locked within an "enclosed compartment" such as console glove box, trunk. etc. Just like everything else, the devil is in the details.

Be careful, employers that offer "restricted parking" through use of a gate, security station, or security officers are exempt from HB89.

Read the fine print....There's lots of it.

[stevereno1]

Employers can only restrict a permit holder from carrying a gun if they also ban all guns on their property.

[makanut]

Virtually all employers ban guns on their property. This bill does however provide some limited protection from vehicle searches. Basically, If the company has rent a cops as part of the overall security plan of the rented or owned property, they have the right to search employee vehicles PROVIDED THAT ALL vehicles on the property are subject to search.

Again, the details are important. This is not a good bill, but it's better than nothing.

[PX15]

Well,

It's not much, but I'm just glad to be able to cc legally in State Parks now.

JP

[k-frame]

As far as I can tell this law is pointless, but I read somewhere that this compromise was made in order to get enough votes to allow guns to be carried in State Parks and other locations where they are now forbidden. I could be wrong on that and would appreciate more info.

And given what we just saw in the Emerson / Hilton case, this is a very good thing.

From the Senate version:
Any person having been issued a license to carry a concealed weapon pursuant to Code Section 16-11-129 shall be permitted to carry such weapon, subject to the limitations of this part, in all parks, historic sites, or recreational areas as defined by Code Section 12-3-10.

Background on the Emerson case for folks who don't live in Georgia/SC/NC or Fla or were living on Mars the last few weeks:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/07/georgia.hiker/

All that said I am still not clear which version went to the governor and I hope it contained the clause to allow CC on state parks.