I’m a member of GeorgiaCarry.Org, a grassroots organization with a single goal: so stop the encroachment by the state of Georgia on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. Over the last 100 years the civil rights of gun owners has been whittled away, a bit at a time, and now we’re angry and taking the fight back to the state.
We have been watching House Bills 89, 257, and 915 since January 1, praying for a miracle, sending letters and emails, making phone calls, visiting elected officials. There have been wonderful highs, and depressing lows.
After much effort, and with only 3 hours left in this year’s legislative session (9:00 pm last night), Georgia’s gun owners finally have something to be happy about. A great deal of reform was squeezed into House Bill 89, the others were all dropped, and for the first time in 20 years Georgia has some real gun reform – it’s the most sweeping change in Georgia’s history.
First, the summary:
- NY mayor Bloomberg’s straw purchases in Georgia are now punishable, which ought to stop him from continuing.
- Gun carry in parks, historic sites, and recreational areas are now permitted.
- Includes the phrase “including all publicly owned buildings located in such parks” to the above right. Georgia sometimes allowed you to carry your gun in a park but you couldn’t carry it into the bathroom (publicly owned buildings) at the park.
- No Georgia Firearms License is required for gun carry anywhere in a car.
- You can carry your gun in restaurants which derive more than 50% of revenue from food as long as you don’t drink yourself.
- Legal carry of a firearm on public transportation. Thugs and criminals have been carrying their guns on public transit for 30 years, and now the law-abiding gun owner can too.
- Issuance of a Georgia Firearms License used to take anywhere from 3 days to 2 years, depending on the county, the local probate judge, and overall attitude of the local sheriff. Now the law has hard dates: (1) Local Probate starts background check within 2 days of receipt “of application or request”, (2) Law enforcement reports back to probate within 30 days, (3) County probate issues license within 10 days of receiving report, (4) report must be stamped with date received from law enforcement.
- An employee can keep a gun in his car while parked in the employer’s parking lot. No searching of employees’ cars without cause. Exemptions for gated lots and public utilities, DoD contractors. PLEASE NOTE this is the only part of the legislation where the NRA stepped in and applied pressure to get this law passed. The “parking lot law reform” is a huge nationwide effort by the NRA, but other than that we’ve seen scant little assistance from the NRA.
Since HB89 was passed on the last day of the session, if Governor Purdue does not sign or veto it prior to May 30, 2008, it is an Act. In any event, if he does not veto it, it will become effective on July 1, 2008.
We still didn’t get churches, sporting events, and public gatherings, so it’s not perfect. But there is a new standing committee formed this year in the Legislature whose job is to study Georgia’s gun laws – and we’re hoping for great things during next year’s legislative session.
