Georgia Governor May Sign ‘Extreme’ Gun Bill

Georgia's Governor may sign a bill that could introduce the nation's most extreme gun law. It would allow guns in bars, nightclubs, and government buildings without security checkpoints.

Posted on 03/26/14
By Nicole Flatow | Via ThinkProgress
(Photo by publik16, Creative Commons License)
(Photo by publik16, Creative Commons License)

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) is expected to sign a bill that even the National Rifle Association is calling the most “comprehensive gun bill” in recent state history. It allows guns in bars, nightclubs, and government buildings without security checkpoints such as libraries. It eliminates criminal charges for those who accidentally bring their guns to the airport or other secured buildings where guns are prohibited. It even expands the state’s Stand Your Ground provision to allow felons to invoke the defense, and allows guns in public schools by authorized teachers and administrators.

 

Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ organization, Americans for Responsible Solutions, calls it “the most extreme gun bill in America.”

 

A House bill passed last year that also would have allowed guns in bars and places of worship, but that bill never cleared the Senate. According to Washington State University Sociology Professor Jennifer Schwartz, 40% of male [homicide] offenders were drinking alcohol at the time and about one in three female offenders were also engaged in drinking.

 

The amended bill did roll back a select few of the most controversial provisions. The final version allows guns in places of worship, but only with explicit permission. And it eliminated a controversial provision to limit the punishment for carrying a gun onto a college campus.

 

But opponents of the bill were so overwhelmed by the scope of the bill as it swept through the legislature that they described one of their primary goals as ensuring that lawmakers at least “go through the bill in detail.” As MSNBC reports, “a lack of transparency left many residents and organizations puzzled about which measures were included and which were removed from the legislation” as it made its way through committees in both houses.

 

This article was first published on ThinkProgress.org. Click here to go to the original.

Like ViewsWeek on Facebook and follow on Twitter @ViewsWeek

Check Also

Kissinger’s Obsession Enabled a Dictatorship That Still Haunts Chile

Plenty of Chileans still despise Kissinger. On news of his death at the age of 100 on Nov. 29, 2023, Juan Gabriel Valdes, Chile’s ambassador to the U.S., summed up that sentiment when he posted in Spanish on X, the platform previously known as Twitter: “A man has died whose historical brilliance never managed to conceal his profound moral misery.”

US Charges India with Plotting to Assassinate Sikh Separatist in New York

The indictment, unsealed by federal prosecutors in New York, accuses the Indian national of orchestrating a meticulously planned plot to eliminate the Sikh separatist figure within the bustling environs of New York City.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.