GeorgiaCarry.Org filed a federal lawsuit July 2 against Mayor Shirley Franklin and Hartsfield Aviation General Manager Ben DeCosta over their illegal policy and DeCosta’s specific threat to arrest (falsely) Rep. Tim Bearden. You may read the complaint here.
Declaring the Airport to be a Gun-Free Zone, and threatening to arrest and prosecute Plaintiff Bearden and other GCO members for legally carrying firearms in the Airport, constitutes regulation of the carrying of firearms by Defendants, in violation of O.C.G.A. § 16-11-173.
By threatening to arrest Plaintiff Bearden and other GCO members for legally carrying firearms in the Airport, Defendants have threatened to interfere with Plaintiffs’ rights under the Militia Clause of the Constitution of the United States.
By threatening to arrest Plaintiff Bearden and other GCO members for legally carrying firearms in the Airport, Defendants have violated Plaintiffs’ rights to bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
By threatening to arrest Plaintiff Bearden and other GCO members for legally carrying firearms in the Airport, Defendants have violated Plaintiffs’ rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
By threatening to arrest Plaintiff Bearden and other GCO members for legally carrying firearms in the Airport, Defendants have violated Plaintiffs’ rights to bear arms that existed prior to the passage of the Second Amendment, in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
By threatening to arrest Plaintiff Bearden and other GCO members for legally carrying firearms in the Airport, Defendants have deprived Plaintiffs’ of a portion of their property interest in their GFLs without due process, in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Plaintiffs demand the following relief:
A declaration that Defendants’ policies of detaining, arresting, searching and prosecuting people for legally carrying firearms in the Airport violates O.C.G.A. § 16-11-173, and the Militia Clause, the Second Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, and the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
An injunction prohibiting Defendant from detaining, arresting, and searching people for legally carrying firearms in the Airport, including conducting a Terry stop in the absence of reasonable suspicion of criminal wrongdoing.
Early Thursday morning, July 3, Mayor Franklin issued the City Of Atlanta’s response:
Shirley Franklin, Ben DeCosta, Tim Bearden
