Day 11: ‘Gun Control’ bills Georgia Style

Day 11: ‘Gun Control’ bills Georgia Style

Tuesday 02/05/2013. Eleventh day of the Georgia Legislative Session. We got more information regarding gun control in Georgia, concretely, bills. I am going to put in this list the bills I mentioned before here as well, so we can have them all in one list.

For the information regarding the legislators, this is the link for the Senators and this one for the Representatives. You can access the current version of the bills mentioned here by putting its name in the top left corner of this page.

• HB29. Author: Tea Party member and gun enthusiast Rep. Charles Gregory (R-Kennesaw).This bill wants to allow guns in colleges and universities.
• HB35: Author: Rep. Paul Battles (R-Cartersville). Bill that authorizes that one or more administrators to carry weapons inside schools.
• HB27. Author: Tea Party member and gun enthusiast Rep. Charles Gregory (R-Kennesaw). This bill removes the authority of the Governor of banning guns when declaring a state of emergency. HB100 is very similar to this.
• HB100. Author: Delvis Dutton (R-Glennville). In addition to remove the authority of the Governor of banning guns when declaring a state of emergency, the bill specifies the use of court in case any member of the state government tries to 'take your guns'.
• HB26. Author: Tea Party member and gun enthusiast Rep. Charles Gregory (R-Kennesaw). Third bill authored by Rep. Gregory, and the most impactful in relaxing gun possession. This bill would allow weapons in parks, historic sides and recreational areas. Also, the bill reduces many restrictions for gun possession, changing ‘license holder’ to ‘lawful weapon carrier’ in several instances of the Georgia Code. A ‘lawful weapon carrier’ is defined in the bill as any person who is not prohibited by law from possessing a weapon, but that not necessarily has a license.
• SB88/HB90: Author: Se. Bill Heath (R-Bremen) -yeah, the Senator that ran away from the media few days ago-, and Rep. Stephen Allison (R-Blairsville). These two bills are exact copies of each other, so it is the same bill introduced in both the House and the Senate simultaneously. Ergo, literally this bill has the double of possibility of going through. This bill penalizes any state government official that tries to enforce federal gun control legislation in Georgia.
• HB89. Author: Rep. Tommy Benton (R-Jefferson). Bill that enounces that weapons manufactured in Georgia do not have to comply with federal regulation or registration.
• SB101: Author: Sen. Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville). Bill that allows guns in public housing.
• SB74: Author: Sen. Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville). Bill that issues gun permits to persons 18-21 years old that have finished basic military training.
• HB120. Author: Rep. Pedro Marin (D-Duluth). Bill meant to make safety gun education mandatory in order to carry a pistol or revolver.
• SB33. Author: Sen. Donzella James (D-Atlanta). Bill to ban assault weapons and over sized magazines.

These are not even all of them, as I chose to mention the bills that I consider most impactful. As I mentioned yesterday, there are bills that represent both of the national tendencies here, although quite extreme when referred to ‘give guns to the good guys’. Also, once again, we witness that relentless eagerness of Georgia to challenge the federal government, just like we saw it during the Medicaid expansion debate, HB87, the petition for session from the US after the presidential elections, etc. 

In a class, a professor mentioned that this behavior is a product of the relations between North and South, and can be recalled all the way to the Civil War. However, Georgia (and the south) will not move forward, develop and catch up with the rest of the nation (and world) as long as it holds its own political interests above the interests of its citizens. Keeping feeding this old grudge is only relevant for historical novels and movies.

Rep. Charles Gregory (R-Kennessaw) author of three bills meant to reduce gun control and to allow carry them in public places (Picture: Marietta Daily Journal).