Breaking news! GA Concealed Carry Expanded - Page 3

grady · April 3rd, 2008, 06:34 PM

Yes 83.63% 3229
No 16.37% 632

CBS poll:
85% 191
15% 35

straightshooter · April 3rd, 2008, 08:20 PM

Added my vote and now 84%.

ss

mzmtg · April 3rd, 2008, 08:30 PM

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/polit...y_be_allowed_to.html

Quote:

Why you soon may be allowed to carry concealed at Kennesaw Mountain
Thursday, April 3, 2008, 04:06 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Friday is about to become a very big payday for gun rights advocates.

Here’s the deal:

Two bills will move, not one. H.B. 257, which now permits those with concealed weapons permits to carry in restaurants and on rail and bus systems, is but one chunk.

H.B. 89 will also move. This measure will carry the watered-down, guns-in-parking-lots language that the Senate, National Rifle Association and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce have wrestled with for two sessions, plus other goodies for the NRA.

Right now, chances of passage for both must be rated very good. Opposition is scarce. Joe Fleming, lobbyist for the Georgia chamber, says his group will be focused H.B. 89, to make sure the parking lots language doesn’t change.

Whether restaurant groups, MARTA and other transit systems raise objections — and raise them quickly enough — will determine whether H.B. 257 has tough sledding.

When it leaves a House-Senate conference committee tomorrow, H.B. 89 will be significantly changed. The parking-lot language, stripped out by the House, will be restored.

The language redefining “public gatherings” where firearms remain prohibited has been abandoned. You will not be permitted to carry a concealed weapon into church.

But the bill will:

— Require expedited treatment for concealed weapons permits by the probate court judges who issue them;

— Relax state restrictions on where firearms can be stored in vehicles;

— Make “straw” purchases of firearms illegal — a way of prohibiting lawsuits of the type filed by New York against gun dealers in Georgia, alleging they are sources for weapons that flow into states where buying a gun is much more difficult or time-consuming.

— And it will allow licensed concealed weapons to be carried in state parks and historical sites.

This last part is important, and here’s why:

U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has said his department would suggest new regulations by the end of this month that would amount to the biggest relaxation of gun-toting rules in federal parks in more than a century.

Basically, he said that concealed weapons would be permitted — if the U.S. parks are located in states that permit carrying in their parks. So passage of H.B. 89 would insure that, someday soon, visitors to Kennesaw National Battlefield Park and the federal Chattahoochee River park would also be able to carry concealed.

mzmtg · April 3rd, 2008, 08:34 PM

InsiderAdvantageGeorgia

Quote:

More Twists For Gun Bill Than A Spiraling Bullet

By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia

(4/3/08) True to its extensive history, there was nothing easy about it Wednesday as a proxy for the gun bill made a new appearance in the Senate on the next-to-last working day of the session after laying dormant for weeks.

A House-passed bill authorizing constables to carry weapons was first amended by gun enthusiasts in the Senate to include expanded gun-carry provisions. Then opponents threw a monkey wrench into the works by attaching an amendment that was so long that it triggered a Senate rule forcing it back onto the general calendar and, thus, potentially killing it.

After a huge huddle at the podium around Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the amendment was reconsidered and the bill was summarily laid on the table. Then, several hours later, it was removed from the table and passed - minus the crippling amendment.

The whole episode caused more than a little confusion during the initial debate.

You'll remember, this is an issue that's been fought for two years, much of the time involving a clash over gun rights vs. private property rights between the National Rifle Association and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

That got settled - more or less - earlier this session when the Senate essentially gutted the NRA-backed bill to the Chamber's satisfaction but left enough of it intact to allow the NRA to claim a partial victory.

Problem was, not all gun advocates were satisfied and instead of accepting the Senate's re-working of the bill - described by the Senate as a take-it-or-leave-it measure - the House took the measure and added a number of amendments to broaden carry rights. The NRA then sided with the House and turned its grassroots network loose against the Senate to create some pressure for the new House provisions.

That's been rocking along in the background for weeks with no progress until Wednesday, when gun enthusiasts sought to use HB 257 on Wednesday's Senate debate calendar as a way to get some of the House amendments to conference committee and ultimately to final passage.

Here's how it went down:

During the debate, the Senate voted without objection to add provisions which would allow those with carry permits to carry concealed weapons on public transportation, and which would allow them to carry weapons in restaurants through a carefully-crafted sentence that would stipulate those who were permitted to carry firearms "shall not consume alcoholic beverages in a restaurant or other eating establishment while carrying a firearm."

Problem was, the Senate also adopted an amendment offered from the floor by Sen. Vincent Fort, who opposed the bill, and which required Georgia colleges to develop emergency response plans for shooting incidents.

Because that amendment was more than half as long as the original bill, it triggered a Senate rule which would have required it to return to the general calendar on the last day of the session.

That touched off an extended huddle at the front of the chamber after Sen. Preston Smith moved to reconsider the amendment and others protested that he had missed the point at which that could be done.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle ultimately ruled the amendment could be reconsidered, and it was. But then the bill and its amendments were laid on the table, from which it could be recalled at any time.

"What happened?" a lobbyist waiting outside the chambers asked. And a senator who joined him later had the same question.

Senate Rules Chairman Don Balfour said Senate leaders wanted time to look at the bill and decide how to proceed.

After a dinner recess, the Senate pulled the bill off the table, killed Fort's amendment and one other and then sent the amended bill back to the House. It almost certainly will go to a conference committee, where it may pick up further changes.

And the bill that sparked it all - HB 89, the NRA-backed parking lot bill, currently in a dormant conference committee - may emerge from that conference committee, after all - just as the Senate passed it.

This is a bill that began last year as an effort to prohibit employers from barring workers from having guns in their cars, and has been a charged issue for a long time. It even brought the NRA's Wayne LaPierre to Atlanta late last year to lobby for the parking lots bill, which was vigorously opposed by the Chamber of Commerce.

What the NRA eventually got this year was a drastically scaled-back version of the parking lot ban, and it was viewed as a loss for the gun organization at the time, although it gave the group enough for it to claim a win.

The issue didn't get resolved then, however, because the House took the Senate bill and added the new, broadened carry provisions. The NRA, not really happy with its treatment at the hands of the Senate, then turned its forces loose to try to pass the House version of HB 89.

Fast Cloud · April 3rd, 2008, 08:49 PM

I hit it...looks really good. Congrats, gentlemen...I know gacarry.org or (whatever) works tirelessly for your rights. I'm always reading on one forum or another about their latest activity. Stay at it.

jabo2818 · April 3rd, 2008, 09:35 PM

just voted, 387 to 39!!! wouldnt it be great if a government of the people,by the people,and for the people.....ACTUALLY LISTENED TO THE PEOPLE!!

airslot · April 3rd, 2008, 10:04 PM

Just voted. 85.96 / 14.04 %

Doc Holliday · April 3rd, 2008, 10:18 PM

While not the total victory that many in GCO, myself included, wanted, these are two good additions that are getting some of our very restrictive laws turned around.

I personally liked our House's original bill, but the Senate wouldn't vote on it.

Hopefully the bill will pass the House and Gov. Perdue will sign.

goldshellback · April 4th, 2008, 04:44 AM

just voted in that rags poll
85.6% yea
14.4% nay
rough guesstimate looks like 5100 votes so far

on the CBS poll:
Will people with guns make MARTA and restaurants safer?
Choice Votes Percentage of 504 Votes
Yes, it gives peace of mind 463 92%
No, we'll see Wild West shootouts 41 8%

VTFatBa*d · April 4th, 2008, 06:16 AM

Voted YES on the CBS poll.

Will people with guns make MARTA and restaurants safer?
Yes, it gives peace of mind 467 92%
No, we'll see Wild West shootouts 41 8%

April 3rd, 2008, 08:20 PM	#22
straightshooter Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Georgia Posts: 34	Yes Added my vote and now 84%. ss __________________ Eternity...it's Hell without Jesus USN 1969-1973 USS Jonas Ingram DD938

April 3rd, 2008, 08:49 PM	#25
Fast Cloud Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: the sky Posts: 410	I hit it...looks really good. Congrats, gentlemen...I know gacarry.org or (whatever) works tirelessly for your rights. I'm always reading on one forum or another about their latest activity. Stay at it. __________________ "The handgun would not be my choice of weapon if I knew I was going to a fight. I'd choose a rifle, a shotgun, a RPG or an atomic bomb instead"---Clint Smith NRA member

April 3rd, 2008, 10:04 PM	#27
airslot Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: GA Posts: 201	Just voted. 85.96 / 14.04 % __________________ The situation will NEVER BE THE WAY YOU WANT, it WILL BE THE WAY IT IS. You must be FLEXIBLE ENOUGH TO ADAPT and just "DEAL WITH IT". M&P 45 S&W 22A

April 3rd, 2008, 10:18 PM	#28
Doc Holliday Distinguished Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,332	While not the total victory that many in GCO, myself included, wanted, these are two good additions that are getting some of our very restrictive laws turned around. I personally liked our House's original bill, but the Senate wouldn't vote on it. Hopefully the bill will pass the House and Gov. Perdue will sign. __________________ Give Doc the shotgun. They'll be less apt to get nervous if he's on the street howitzer. Why, Johnny Ringo, you look like somebody just walked over your grave. I have two guns, one for each of ya.

April 4th, 2008, 06:16 AM	#30
VTFatBa*d Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Vermont Posts: 40	Voted YES on the CBS poll. Will people with guns make MARTA and restaurants safer? Yes, it gives peace of mind 467 92% No, we'll see Wild West shootouts 41 8% __________________ Rob - The Vermont Fat Ba*d An armed criminal will kill an unarmed citizen with monotonous regularity. Trying to control crime with gun control laws is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars.

April 3rd, 2008, 06:34 PM	#21
grady Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Near St. Louis, Missouri Posts: 599	Yes 83.63% 3229 No 16.37% 632 CBS poll: 85% 191 15% 35

April 3rd, 2008, 09:35 PM	#26
jabo2818 Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 78	just voted, 387 to 39!!! wouldnt it be great if a government of the people,by the people,and for the people.....ACTUALLY LISTENED TO THE PEOPLE!!

April 4th, 2008, 04:44 AM	#29
goldshellback Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: St. Mayberry, GA Posts: 1,184	just voted in that rags poll 85.6% yea 14.4% nay rough guesstimate looks like 5100 votes so far on the CBS poll: Will people with guns make MARTA and restaurants safer? Choice Votes Percentage of 504 Votes Yes, it gives peace of mind 463 92% No, we'll see Wild West shootouts 41 8%

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