The ability to carry guns on campus is a decision that will be left to each individual college and university if Senate Bill 308 is passed in the Georgia General Assembly.
The gun law will also abolish the law preventing guns within 1,000 feet of a campus. The bill already passed in the Senate with a 41-12 majority in favor of the bill on March 24, 2010.
In section 1-3 of the bill areas are listed where it will be illegal to carry a deadly weapon such as in a government building, courthouse, jail, any high school, middle school and elementary school.
Section 1-3 also lists areas where permission is needed to carry a weapon such as places of worship, and bars. It is legal to carry a gun in any of the places not listed as off limits.
After the passage of the bill Georgia senators discussed
different opinons about it being passed.
“A gun to be carried in a bar or sanctuary is ludicrous,” Sen. Steve Thompson said in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article.
“They [citizens] asked for a cleaner law that doesn’t put them in a ‘gotcha’ situation and the Senate delivered,” Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, sponsor of the bill, said in the AJC. “Georgia laws should be simple to read.”
The bill is currently in the House of the Georgia General Assembly and is on the second readers of the Representatives.
Tags 2009-2010 2010-04-08 Molly Duett
Check Also
Blazers set to face Panthers in quarterfinal of NCAA playoffs.
The VSU Blazers will be home for a playoff matchup with the Virginia Union Panthers. ...
The current law contains the term “public gathering” as a place that is off limits to people with a Georgia Firearms License (GFL). The problem is that the term public gathering is not defined either in statutory law or by the courts. That is what this bill seeks to change. It is to clearly delineate what is and isn’t off limits to GFL holders. Criminals won’t care what the law states.
The 1000 foot school “safety” zone is a bit of a misnomer. It doesn’t apply to citizens conducting lawful business with the zone is not breaking the law; however, a student with a firearm within the zone is committing a felony.
J. Lee Weems
Class of 1998
Georgia Peace Officer