Georgia, USA Governor signs new gun law

[skeetshot]

Received this from a friend:

The Georgia Governor signed their new gun bill into law today which should give them the most liberal carry law on the books of any state in the country. Citizens have the right to defend themselves most anywhere and 'gun free zones' are going to be few and far between. The bill allows guns in bars, churches, schools and some government buildings. Those cities governed by liberals are of course having a fit but that's just too bad. The 2nd Amendment is alive and well in Georgia.

One particular section that caught my eye is the police are forbidden to detain someone solely to check if they have a legal carry permit. Seems a lot of anti-carry officers use this tactic to harass law abiding citizens and in some cases have tasered and arrested them only to see the case be thrown out later. Having spent my working life in the business I am stunned at the high percentage of cops on the street today that despise the people they are supposed to protect. The arrogance of these goons is quite chilling. Nice to see the legislature include that clause and tie their hands a bit. If they're scared to be a cop with these laws in place they need to get out of the business.

I will happily take my chances going places where law abiding citizens can carry guns. The criminal has always carried his/hers and most of the time there is no one to stop them should they decide to use it. Amazes me how much the anti-gun loons despise law abiding citizens from having a gun yet they think nothing of the criminal having theirs.

A friend of mine saw a blurb today that Georgia has 500,000 concealed carry permit holders. The population is just shy of 10,000,000. 1-20 that have a permit. Suspect the number of gun owners is many times that number. Makes for a pretty good resistance should the government go off the deep end.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... w/8046315/

ELLIJAY, Ga. — It's legal for licensed gun owners in Georgia to pack heat in bars, schools, churches and some government buildings.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, on Wednesday signed the state's "Safe Carry Protection Act," which critics dubbed the "guns everywhere bill," in north Georgia, on the edge of the Chattahoochee National Forest and Cohutta Wilderness area.

"Our state has some of the best protections for gun owners in the United States. And today we strengthen those rights protected by our nation's most revered founding document," Deal said in signing the bill.

The new law, which goes into effect July 1, allows licensed gun owners in Georgia and visitors from 28 other states to bring a gun into a bar without restrictions and carry a firearm into some government buildings that don't have security measures. It also allows school districts to decide whether they want some employees to carry a firearm and religious leaders to decide whether to allow licensed gun owners to tote to their church, synagogue or mosque.

Since Jan. 1, 6 states have eased gun laws, 6 states have strengthened them and 4 states have both eased and strengthened firearm laws, according to Laura Cutilletta, senior staff attorney at the San Francisco-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Deal signed the bill here because state House Speaker David Ralston, who championed the measure in the state House, represents the area, according to Deal's office.

The new law provoked intense debate. Both supporters and opponents flocked to the state. The National Rifle Association called it "the most comprehensive pro-gun reform legislation introduced in recent history." The gun rights group GeorgiaCarry.org believes the bill will "restore our right to carry and be allowed to protect ourselves anywhere we go," according to executive director Jerry Henry.

Opponents include Americans for Responsible Solutions, the group co-founded by former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords, which called it the nation's most extreme gun bill and said it "moves Georgia out of the mainstream." Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America also lobbied against the bill. It's "a very, very dangerous kill bill," said their national spokeswoman, Lucia McBath, whose 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, was killed in November 2012 in Jacksonville, Fla., in a dispute over loud music.

The bill also drew some in-state opposition. People will be able to carry firearms in government buildings that don't have metal detectors, such as city halls, libraries, recreational centers, city office buildings and fire stations. The Georgia Municipal Association, which represents the state's 538 cities, asked Deal to veto it. "Local elected officials are responsible for securing and maintaining public safety, and insurance coverage, in buildings owned and operated by the city. Therefore, they should have the authority to make a decision about whether to allow weapons in such buildings," GMA said in a letter to Deal.

The new law removes a restriction that prevented those convicted of certain misdemeanors from getting a gun permit. And in a provision that has some law enforcement officials concerned, police will not be able to detain a person "for the sole purpose of investigating whether such a person has a weapons carry license."

As Deal signed the bill in Ellijay, a community of 1,600 about 65 miles north of Atlanta, the Georgia Gun Sense Coalition had an event in downtown Atlanta that included a moment of silence for all gun victims. In 2011, the most recent available, gunfire killed 1,175 people in Georgia, including 443 who were murdered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The gun bill had failed in three previous legislative sessions but passed late on the night of March 20, the session's final day this year.

A year ago this month, a man in Suwanee, Ga., faked a heart attack and took five Gwinnett County firefighters hostage at gunpoint in his house, knowing that the emergency responders would not be armed. Though the incident ended well for the firefighters — a SWAT team rescued them four hours later but killed the gunman — some Georgia legislators believe that this incident provided the impetus for the legislation to pass.

Doug Richards also reports for WXIA-TV, Atlanta, and reported from Ellijay. Contributing: Jon Shirek, WXIA-TV, Atlanta.

[mundaire]

Seems like a very positive piece of legislation. Hope we can someday get to a similar situation here.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[ckkalyan]

Bravo!

[bennedose]

Makes for a pretty good resistance should the government go off the deep end.

What does this statement mean?

[bennedose]

Makes for a pretty good resistance should the government go off the deep end.

What does this statement mean?

As far as I can tell the statement means that there are enough gun owners in Georgia (in the USA) to oppose the (US) government in case they take some action that is construed as "going off the deep end". That means armed Americans in Georgia are pleased to keep their arms to fight the government at some unspecified time if necessary.

Cheering this sort of statement as a positive one is a seriously bad self goal against anyone who seeks less gun control and more liberal gun laws in India. It appears as though the ideal of owning guns for self defence or sport is only part of the story, but there is an undercurrent of retaining weapons against the government. This is a very American thing - in a country where guns won the nation and won independence. In the indian context it looks extraordinarily stupid for RKBA supporters in India to mindlessly cheer such a statement. If this is how we are going to be asking for more liberal laws in India, by cheering such a clearly American sentiment - that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. It is so easy for someone in Inda to say that we already have a problem with Naxals and other terrorists and we don't need more people retaining guns to resist "should the government go off the deep end". I think we really need to have good Indian reasons - and not blindly cheer and support copy pasted American justifications. The more we use American reasoning the more we sound like we live in America and are out of touch with India. That is of no use.

[brihacharan]

Quote from earlier post:
I will happily take my chances going places where law abiding citizens can carry guns. The criminal has always carried his/hers and most of the time there is no one to stop them should they decide to use it. Amazes me how much the anti-gun loons despise law abiding citizens from having a gun yet they think nothing of the criminal having theirs.


Briha

[bennedose]

The idea that citizens in the US are well armed so that it "Makes for a pretty good resistance should the government go off the deep end." sounds naive

The US government is responding to its own armed population as follows:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/09/us/wa ... ticle&_r=1

NEENAH, Wis. — Inside the municipal garage of this small lakefront city, parked next to the hefty orange snowplow, sits an even larger truck, this one painted in desert khaki. Weighing 30 tons and built to withstand land mines, the armored combat vehicle is one of hundreds showing up across the country, in police departments big and small.

The 9-foot-tall armored truck was intended for an overseas battlefield. But as President Obama ushers in the end of what he called America’s “long season of war,” the former tools of combat — M-16 rifles, grenade launchers, silencers and more — are ending up in local police departments, often with little public notice.

During the Obama administration, according to Pentagon data, police departments have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft.

The equipment has been added to the armories of police departments that already look and act like military units. Police SWAT teams are now deployed tens of thousands of times each year, increasingly for routine jobs. Masked, heavily armed police officers in Louisiana raided a nightclub in 2006 as part of a liquor inspection. In Florida in 2010, officers in SWAT gear and with guns drawn carried out raids on barbershops that mostly led only to charges of “barbering without a license.”

Congress created the military-transfer program in the early 1990s, when violent crime plagued America’s cities and the police felt outgunned by drug gangs. Today, crime has fallen to its lowest levels in a generation, the wars have wound down, and despite current fears, the number of domestic terrorist attacks has declined sharply from the 1960s and 1970s.
Continue reading the main story

Police departments, though, are adding more firepower and military gear than ever. Some, especially in larger cities, have used federal grant money to buy armored cars and other tactical gear. And the free surplus program remains a favorite of many police chiefs who say they could otherwise not afford such equipment. Chief Wilkinson said he expects the police to use the new truck rarely, when the department’s SWAT team faces an armed standoff or serves a warrant on someone believed to be dangerous.

Today, Chief Wilkinson said, the police are trained to move in and save lives during a shooting or standoff, in contrast to a generation ago — before the Columbine High School massacre and others that followed it — when they responded by setting up a perimeter and either negotiating with, or waiting out, the suspect.

The number of SWAT teams has skyrocketed since the 1980s, according to studies by Peter B. Kraska, an Eastern Kentucky University professor who has been researching the issue for decades.

The ubiquity of SWAT teams has changed not only the way officers look, but also the way departments view themselves. Recruiting videos feature clips of officers storming into homes with smoke grenades and firing automatic weapons. In Springdale, Ark., a police recruiting video is dominated by SWAT clips, including officers throwing a flash grenade into a house and creeping through a field in camouflage.

In South Carolina, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s website features its SWAT team, dressed in black with guns drawn, flanking an armored vehicle that looks like a tank and has a mounted .50-caliber gun. Capt. Chris Cowan, a department spokesman, said the vehicle “allows the department to stay in step with the criminals who are arming themselves more heavily every day.” He said police officers had taken it to schools and community events, where it was a conversation starter.

[sa_ali]

great, a big win for citizens of that state, I wish i was living there too