GA: Second Amendment Protection Act of 2008

Nobody's_Hero said:

I thought it was pretty cool that my district rep. has a carry permit. Now I got to get these out to the senators.

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akanotken said:

To add in a provision recognizing visitors with legal right to CC in thier home state to CC in GA?

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ctdonath said:

Anyone in Cumming/Forsyth that I should pester about it?

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farscott said:

Now some work on the time it takes to get a carry permit. 90 days is excessive especially after getting my Alabama permit took all of ten minutes.

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Change confusing gun laws

The "Second Amendment Protection Act of 2008," HB 915, has been pre-filed with the Georgia General Assembly. This bill, sponsored by state Rep. Timothy Bearden (R-68), will try to make some sense of Georgia's sometimes confusing gun laws. Many people do not realize that Georgia has more places off-limits to carrying a firearm than any other state in the nation that permits the carry of a firearm. California has fewer places off-limits than Georgia, which means that a Californian can carry in more places in anti-gun California than a Georgian can in supposedly gun-friendly Georgia. The Second Amendment Protection Act of 2008, among other things, will bring Georgia's laws into alignment with the will of the majority of Georgians.

MARK McCULLOUGH, Conyers

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Gun bill draws some opposition
By Winston Jones

Local police officers and some lawmakers are voicing opposition to a bill introduced last week by Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica) which would extensively change state gun laws.

However, Bearden, who represents a portion of Douglas County, said Wednesday that House Bill (HB) 915, the “Second Amendment Protection Act of 2008,” is simply giving law-abiding Georgians the same rights to carry guns that most other states already have.

“Georgia is the most restrictive state in the nation on Second Amendment rights,” he said. “Even states like California and Oregon have better laws than Georgia. This is not reinventing the wheel. It’s just using statutes from other states.”
He said the proposed law is for law abiding people over 21 years of age, who have undergone mental and criminal checks and are licensed to carry guns.

Bearden said HB 915 would also give property owners the right to decide if they want firearms on their property at churches, schools or public gatherings. He said Georgia is one of only a few states that doesn’t already allow this.

Greatest opposition to HB 915 is to the section which would allow carrying firearms to public gatherings and at places of employment.
“I believe everybody should have a right to own and carry a gun, but not at public gatherings,” said Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller. “It’s a bad mix. I can imagine what might happen at a concert where there’s drinking, music and guns.”

Terry Norris, executive vice president of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, said Wednesday his group hasn’t yet taken a position on the bill.

“We will be looking at the bill during the next few days,” Norris said.
Rep. Roger Bruce (D-Atlanta) feels the bill would put more guns on the street and increase the risk for law enforcement officers.

“I don’t believe you can hold employers accountable for safety in the workplace and not be able to restrict firearms,” Bruce said. “You don’t want a disgruntled employee to be able to walk out to his car, get a gun and start shooting. I believe in the right to bear arms, but responsibility goes along with that right.”

Rep. Tyrone Brooks (D-Atlanta) voiced similar concerns.
“I’m opposed to making guns more readily available, particularly at public meetings,” Brooks said. “We have too many guns in circulation and I’m not in favor of making them more accessible. It’s all right to have guns in the home, but I want to get guns off the street, not put more out there.”

Bearden said the only people who abide by the gun-free zones are law abiding citizens.

“The criminals love them,” he said. “When they start shooting, somebody has to call 911 and wait at least three to six minutes before police arrive. The government should be in a position to allow people to take care of themselves.”
Other sections of HB 915 would prohibit the government from seizing firearms from citizens such as happened after Hurricane Katrina, force probate judges to issue gun permits within 45 days if no detrimental information comes back in that time on background checks and prohibit sending people from other states to Georgia to make “straw purchases” of guns (Bloomberg amendment).

Most of the provisions of HB 915 are backed by GeorgiaCarry.org, a gun rights group that has been fighting for changes in the public gathering laws.

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NRA Hasn't Weighed-In Yet On Bearden Bill, But National Gun Group Won't Like It
By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia

(1/3/07) The NRA hasn’t weighed-in yet, but it looks like we’re going to have a shootout at the Georgia General Assembly this year over two competing gun bills.

We’ve told you previously about the NRA’s main bill – the parking lot guns bill which would prohibit employers from taking steps to bar their workers from having guns in cars parked at the workplace. The bill was introduced last year and was blocked by a strong coalition of business groups arguing that it would violate private property rights. The measure remains alive this year, however, and remains the NRA’s top priority.

We’ve also told you about a rival proposal by Rep. Tim Bearden, R-Villa Rica, and a group called GeorgiaCarry.org, which does a number of other things. Among them: Mayor Bloomberg would face criminal penalties for sending undercover agents to Georgia to try to get gun shops to sell to “straw purchasers,” the government couldn’t seize weapons as Louisiana authorities sought to do after Hurricane Katrina, and Georgia’s carry laws would be substantially overhauled.

One link between them is procedural. Last year, Bearden passed a much less complicated bill through the House intended to give people more latitude in carrying guns in their autos. In the Senate, it became a vehicle for the NRA to bring its parking lot bill back to life after the original proposal ran afoul of a Senate deadline. The omnibus bill - now HB 89 - did not reach a vote on the Senate floor.

But there’s more. Some of the GeorgiaCarry folks think the NRA is out of step with what Georgia sportsmen and shooters want, and is putting forward its plan as a counter-measure. (It does, however, contain some things the NRA wants and has supported in other states, and some of the backers don’t view the upcoming fight so much as a confrontation with the NRA as a simple disagreement among advocates of gun rights.)

Now for the meat in the cocoanut. Bearden’s bill – prefiled last week as HB 915 – contains this language:

"Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to limit, restrict, or prohibit in any manner the existing rights of a private property owner, unless such private property has been leased to a government entity, and nothing in this Code section shall be construed to limit, restrict, or prohibit in any manner the existing rights of a private tenant, private employer, or private business entity."

That, according to those who have looked at the law carefully, makes the NRA’s guns-in-the-parking-lot effort moot, and, at the proper time, you can bet the national gun group will weigh-in with both barrels. It’s already warned lawmakers that the issue will be the only thing it judges on its legislative scorecard - - and this is an election year.

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National gun group likely to blast Bearden bill

ATLANTA - A pair of bills about gun rights are likely to lead to a shootout of sorts during the session of the General Assembly that starts in two weeks because they have competing aims.

The first bill is a holdover from last year and has the backing of the National Rifle Association. It would prohibit employers from taking steps to bar their workers from having guns in cars parked at the workplace.

The NRA bill was introduced last year and was blocked by a strong coalition of business groups arguing that it would violate private-property rights. The measure is alive this year, however, and remains the NRA's top priority.

A rival proposal by Rep. Tim Bearden, R-Villa Rica, and a group called GeorgiaCarry.org, does a number of other things. Among them: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would face criminal penalties for sending undercover agents to Georgia to try to get gun shops to sell to "straw purchasers" with plans for reselling in other states, the government couldn't seize weapons as Louisiana authorities sought to do after Hurricane Katrina, and Georgia's carry laws would be substantially overhauled.

One link between the two bills is procedural. Last year, Bearden passed a much less complicated bill through the House intended to give people more latitude in carrying guns in their autos. In the Senate, it became a vehicle for the NRA to bring its parking-lot bill back to life after the original proposal ran afoul of a Senate deadline. The omnibus bill - now House Bill 89 - did not reach a vote on the Senate floor.

But there's more. Some of the GeorgiaCarry folks think the NRA is out of step with what Georgia sportsmen and shooters want, and is putting forward its plan as a counter-measure. (It does, however, contain some things the NRA wants and has supported in other states, and some of the backers don't view the upcoming fight so much as a confrontation with the NRA as a simple disagreement among advocates of gun rights.)

Now for the meat in the coconut. Bearden's bill - prefiled last week as HB 915 - contains this language:

"Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to limit, restrict, or prohibit in any manner the existing rights of a private-property owner, unless such private property has been leased to a government entity, and nothing in this Code section shall be construed to limit, restrict, or prohibit in any manner the existing rights of a private tenant, private employer, or private business entity."

That, according to those who have looked at the law carefully, makes the NRA's guns-in-the-parking-lot effort moot. And, at the proper time, you can bet the national gun group will weigh-in with both barrels, the analysts say.

The NRA already has warned lawmakers that the issue will be the only thing the national organization judges on its legislative scorecard - and this is an election year.

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Gun bills way off the mark
Legislation would expand rights to a scattershot, irresponsible degree

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/06/08

Asked about priorities in their communities, most Georgians would offer a similar list of pressing needs — improved transit, better schools and comprehensive water planning. Few, if any, would call for more guns on their streets.

Yet the General Assembly will devote hours to extremist gun bills built around the fantasy that average Georgians cannot go unarmed to work, school or the dry cleaners. That nightmarish depiction of daily life in Georgia is not shared by most voters, who would rather see their elected officials deal with education, gridlock and drought.

Voters are simmering in traffic because the General Assembly has fought mass transit. They are bemoaning the loss of art and music in their schools to legislative budget cuts. And they're watching their last azalea bush die because state leaders ignored dwindling water resources for years.

Those voters, however, aren't circling the Capitol, as the gun fanatics are. While real life and real pain occupy those voters, gun lobbyists are filling lawmakers with tales of defenseless soccer moms who need their revolvers at the Wal-Mart Supercenter and nervous insurance agents who can't go from Canton to Cobb without a pistol in their shoulder holsters.

The National Rifle Association and other gun groups employ the same fear tactics to force legislators to do their bidding: Support us or be burned at the political stake. The NRA has lost clout in many states, where stark statistics on gun violence have overcome its hyperbolic rhetoric about black helicopters and jackbooted thugs.

But Georgia politicians remain cowed, privately admitting that many NRA-backed measures are dangerous to the public but supporting them anyway to dodge an "F" rating by the gun group. Lawmakers are so intimidated that they'd vote to replace Uga, the Georgia Bulldog, with a Pekinese before they would approve even mild restraints on firearms.

That's why voters can expect lawmakers to give serious consideration to an NRA bill permitting employees to keep guns in cars parked on corporate lots. A reverence for property rights and strong opposition from the business sector scuttled the bill last year, but the NRA won't be dissuaded.

A second gun bill — House Bill 915, or the "Second Amendment Protection Act of 2008" — also threatens public safety. Most Georgians support responsible gun ownership, but the far-reaching HB 915 expands the rights of gun owners without expanding any of their responsibilities.

"Under Georgia law now, you can't drink and hunt," says Alice Johnson, director of Georgians for Gun Safety. "But under this bill, you can drink and carry your gun to a bar or an athletic event or while tailgating. There are no incentives or requirements in his bill to be responsible and safe, not a single one."

Sponsored by Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica), HB 915 ought to be called the Crooked Gun Dealer Protection Act because it forbids sting operations that use private detectives to catch gun dealers breaking the law. The provision takes direct aim at New York City's successful campaign to expose the high number of straw purchases occurring in Southern gun shops. Straw purchases occur when a buyer who legally can't own a gun — mainly because he has a criminal record — brings a friend to fill out the mandated federal background check. New York undertook its undercover investigation after federal gun-tracing data revealed that weapons linked to more than 500 crimes in the city from 1994 to 2001 came from out-of-state dealers, including five in Georgia.

Bearden also wants people to get guns faster; his bill requires expedited issuance of firearm licenses, even allowing people to obtain a provisional permit before a full background check is complete in some cases. (Apparently, Bearden believes licenses ought to be issued at birth.)

And if the buyer has to wait too long, Bearden's bill states: "The applicant may bring an action in mandamus or other legal proceeding ... and such applicant shall be entitled to recover his or her costs in such action, including reasonable attorney fees." It's not clear who the gun owner is supposed to sue, but it's a safe bet that taxpayers of Georgia would end up paying the tab. The bill also says that the state can no longer seize guns in a declared official state of emergency. And gun owners whose guns are taken under order from the governor can also sue.

Bearden's legislation goes well beyond a chicken in every pot; he wants a Colt in every pub. He eliminates virtually all the existing limits on where weapons can legally be carried in Georgia. His bill strikes the long-standing ban on weapons at "public gathering" sites, including private schools, athletic events, churches, colleges, political rallies, bars and public buildings, such as libraries and city halls.

That's just what the moms and dads of Bearden's district want — to bring the kiddies to a Braves game and end up next to an unhappy drunk with a Glock.

— Maureen Downey, for the editorial board

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