Common Folk Using Common Sense

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin had a press conference in Atlanta City Hall recently trying to drum up opposition to House Bill 89, currently sitting on Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue‘s desk. The entire event reaffirmed why Governor Perdue should sign HB89.

Despite holding the press conference in a Public Gathering location (publicly owned building) and behind metal detectors, the Mayor doesn’t feel safe enough within her own building to dismiss her security. At least three members of the Atlanta Police Department, in plain clothes and armed, guarded the Mayor during the conference. Deep down in her heart, she knows that all the gun laws, public gathering bans, and security in the world will not protect her from violent predators. While she hides behind a phallanx of well armed Police Officers paid for by the taxpayers, she demands that those same taxpayers and all citizens of Georgia be denied the ability to defend themselves and their families.

Earlier this year when GeorgiaCarry.Org held a rally in support of comprehensive reform of Georgia’s gun laws, over 125 Georgians took time off of work and traveled to the Capital to ask for change. Many drove hours to attend. That day was chilly and rainy, traffic was bad, and yet they attended. In contrast, the opponents of HB 89 could only muster 23 members of Atlanta’s political elite, most of whom were being paid by the taxpayers to attend the indoor press conference.

The transcript is here.

The people opposing HB89 are Atlanta’s political elite. The people supporting HB89 are the real citizens of Georgia.

John Eaves, Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, was there. Although the Board took no formal action against HB 89, he was there “personally to show my, ah, displeasure about the bill.” He had an issue about the possibility of weapons used on public transportation, but this simply shows the utter ignorance of John Eaves.

Allowing the law-abiding to publicly carry their weapon is probably the safest thing an official can do:

• Forty states, comprising the majority of the American population, are “right-to-carry” states. Statistics show that in these states the crime rate fell (or did not rise) after the right-to-carry law became active.
• Crime rates involving gun owners with carry permits have consistently been about 0.02% of all carry permit holders since Florida’s right-to-carry law started in 1988.
• After passing their concealed carry law, Florida’s homicide rate fell from 36% above the national average to 4% below, and remains it below the national average.
• The serious crime rate in Texas fell 50% faster than the national average after Texas passed a concealed carry law in 1995.
• People with concealed carry permits are (1) 5.7 times less likely to be arrested for violent offenses than the general public, and (2) 13.5 times less likely to be arrested for non-violent offenses than the general public.
• In Texas, citizens with concealed carry permits are 14 times less likely to commit a crime. They are also five times less likely to commit a violent crime.
• A four-year Texas study concludes that the four year violent crime arrest rate for CCW holders is 128 per 100,000. For the general population, it is 710 per 100,000. In other words, CCW holders are 5.5 times less likely to commit a violent crime.

Maybe John Eaves, Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, needs to worry more about the criminals that are already bringing their illegal guns, for illegal purposes, aboard public transportation and worry a bit less about the law-abiding gun owner that simply wants to make it home alive.

Atlanta, House Bill 89, Georgia, Sonny Perdue, John Eaves, Fulton County Board of Commissioners, right-to-carry, gun, concealed carry

Spread The Word: