Georgia Governor Signs Controversial 'Guns Everywhere' Bill Into Law
It's now legal for licensed gun owners in Georgia to pack heat in bars, schools, churches and some government buildings.
The Ted Nugent/NRA conservative gun nut coalitions are celebrating today because Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, signed into law the insane "Safe Carry Protection Act," or as it's more commonly known the "guns everywhere bill." They will have a lot new blood on their hands.
It's legal for licensed gun owners in Georgia to pack heat in bars, schools, churches and some government buildings.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, on Wednesday signed the state's "Safe Carry Protection Act," which critics dubbed the "guns everywhere bill," in north Georgia, on the edge of the Chattahoochee National Forest and Cohutta Wilderness area.
"Our state has some of the best protections for gun owners in the United States. And today we strengthen those rights protected by our nation's most revered founding document," Deal said in signing the bill.
The new law, which goes into effect July 1, allows licensed gun owners in Georgia and visitors from 28 other states to bring a gun into a bar without restrictions and carry a firearm into some government buildings that don't have security measures. It also allows school districts to decide whether they want some employees to carry a firearm and religious leaders to decide whether to allow licensed gun owners to tote to their church, synagogue or mosque.
Georgia's law enforcement community is not happy at this insane law being passed one bit:
"Among its many extreme provisions, it allows guns in TSA lines at the country's busiest airport, forces community school boards into bitter, divisive debates about whether they should allow guns in their children's classrooms, and broadens the conceal carry eligibility to people who have previously committed crimes with guns," said Pia Carusone, the group's senior adviser.
"So it is no surprise that while being trumpeted by the NRA as the 'most comprehensive' gun bill in state history, the legislation ... was opposed by Georgia law enforcement, county commissioners, municipal leaders, and the Transportation Security Administration for its potentially harmful impact on Georgians' safety."
Here's a few other tidbits of this law to chew over:
Other notable provisions of the law: allows hunters to use silencers and suppressors when the owner of the property where they're hunting is aware they're using such a device; permits gun owners who have had their licenses revoked to obtain a new license after three years; restricts access for anyone whom a court has deemed mentally incompetent or insane, or was involuntary committed to a mental institution; and forbids police officers who see a resident carrying a gun to ask for their permit unless they're committing another crime.
Yet gun supporting Conservatives are just fine with Arizona's law that would allow police to ask for proof of citizenship to any person of color they see fit to ask.