Up in Arms: Georgia Governor To Sign Controversial Gun Bill

[Raffi Ella]

Last edited Wed Apr 23, 2014, 11:23 AM - Edit history (1)

First they refuse to expand medicaid under the ACA and now this!? I can't believe it. GA is such a fucked up backward State...seriously! What's it going to take for Democratic Leadership to take an interest in our State and at least TRY to win it back?

#DisgustedandHopelessinGA

ATLANTA – Its official name is the “Safe Carry Protection Act.”

But critics are calling it the “Guns Everywhere Bill.”

At noon Wednesday, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is scheduled to sign the sweeping legislation into law. One of the most permissive state gun laws in the nation, it will allow licensed owners to carry firearms into more public places than at any time in the past century, including churches, bars and government buildings that don't have security checkpoints.

The law also authorizes school districts to appoint staffers to carry firearms. It allows churches to "opt-in" if they want to allow weapons. Bars could already “opt-in” to allow weapons, but under the new law they must opt out if they want to bar weapons. Permit-holders who accidentally bring a gun to an airport security checkpoint will now be allowed to pick up their weapon and leave with no criminal penalty. (At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a record 111 guns were found at TSA screening areas last year.)

Read a summary of the law's main provisions here.

Americans for Responsible Solutions, the group co-founded by former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords, has called the legislation “the most extreme gun bill in America,” and mounted an aggressive campaign against it. So have other gun-control organizations, including Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the group started by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Frank Rotondo, the executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, has blasted the law. "Police officers do not want more people carrying guns on the street,” said Rotondo, “particularly police officers in inner city areas."

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/arms-georgia-governor-sign-controversial-gun-bill-wednesday-n86941

[CurtEastPoint]

1. There are SO MANY good people in GA. Nathan Deal-do is not one of them. Nor is the legislature.

Buncha hicks, crooks, illiterati, pigfuckers.

[Raffi Ella]

2. Yes, exactly.

That's what's so god damn frustrating about this- GA IS PURPLE! the fucking criminals who gerrymandered our State into oblivion make it look otherwise but BARACK OBAMA was within striking distance of winning this State!

I am so goddamn mad I can't see straight.

[trishtrash]

7. You and me both!

We need Jason Carter!

[Raffi Ella]

9. Yeah, Carter would be a step up but the way things are in GA?

even HE voted for that bill. It's insane, but if Democrats want any say in Government right now they have to play in the Republican arena. That's what he did, I understand it but still. wow. This is Ga.

I can't tell you how grateful I am to have DU during times like this.

[kimbutgar]

3. No organization should hold a convention in this state unti this law is repealed.

Another state I'll not go to Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, and now Georgia. I would like to avoid Arizona but my in law's live there. I will never go to a bar in that state and I am not chatty with strangers like I am in my home state California.

[Raffi Ella]

10. You know what's absolutely hysterical about all this?

They made sure this bill did not apply to the Capitol building where these bastards work...yeah. Tell me they don't KNOW what a truly Dangerous bill this is. The abject shamelessness! As Rachel Maddow says, "They are not embarrassed".

[mimi85]

4. News from Fox?

Just wondering why this article is from Fox - I don't think I've ever checked their site, much less watched the channel. The news is beyond disturbing, so I'm not criticizing the OP at all. Just curious.

[Raffi Ella]

5. thanks,

I'll find another source-

[bpj62]

6. Church!!!

Why the hell do you need to carry a firearm into a church. Please don't give me the "its my right line". There are just some places that are sacred and a church is one of them. Schools should also be gun free. what is going to happen the first time one of these nuts brings a gun onto school ground and everyone goes into lockdown mode because this person isn't a teacher or employee of the school. Think of the panic and then think about the police response and how much money we will waste because in the long run that person will be released. And now you just announced to any wanna be terrorist that Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson is now a wide open area to bring guns into.

[nykym]

8. There is a good chance that school districts

will not be able to get insurance because of this law.
It has happened in other states where they were considering letting school personnel carry guns.
The insurance carrier said if you do then you will not be covered.
NYT article;
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/us/schools-seeking-to-arm-employees-hit-hurdle-on-insurance.html?_r=0

[Raffi Ella]

11. No one wanted this bill, no one asked for it except for the NRA.

The NRA suggested and pushed this bill and the right wing is so beholden to them they couldn't say no. There are a whole lot of schools, police forces, Pastors etc who rallied against it. But with the power and money behind the NRA there was no way to stop it.

It's pure insanity.

[Lifelong Protester]

12. I am sorry for the good intelligent folks of GA

I'm from WI, and I have been on the frontlines of the anti-Walker protests, so I can feel your pain.

We used to like to go to Savannah-won't be coming there again for a while.

I know there are good folks in GA, but damn, this is making you all look bad (just like Walker is doing for us...)

[demilib]

13. Hopefully, this ridiculous law will knock some sense into Deal regarding the Medicare extension,

considering how many emergency room visits this law will likely cause.

alcohol + stupid people + a lax gun law (what could go wrong)