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Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Concealed Carry in GA

I couldn't believe the headline on Yahoo today, it was not accurate at all. Link leads to the article that I arrived at from the highlighted link in the following screenshot. Article
GA law has legalized concealed weapons for a long time. I have had my concealed carry for over a year. They modified the law to clarify its intent and expand upon areas where carrying is legal.

The lawsuit has been filed because the city/airport has decided that people can not carry in the airport. The argument is about if you can carry up to the security checkpoint or not.

I think it is sort of silly. You can check a firearm in your luggage. That means that you have to take it through the airport. I suppose they think that a teleporter exists, where you send the firearm to a baggage claim. Realistically, thats a silly argument on my part, because it has to be unoperable and in a locked container and all of that. At any rate, then the only people that would legally carry at an airport would then be people meeting someone or picking someone up.

In the end, the state law trumps any local laws. The state preemptively claimed jurisdiction about gun laws and prohibits county or municipal groups from regulating firearms. They can issue as many proclamations that they want. A similar case ended in a summary judgment about carrying in city parks.
A telling quote:

GeorgiaCarry.org's attorney cited law, which says "No county or municipal corporation shall regulate in any manner? possession ownership, transport, (or) carrying? of firearms."

The full quote from GA Code 16-11-184:

(b)(1) No county or municipal corporation, by zoning or by ordinance, resolution, or other enactment, shall regulate in any manner gun shows, the possession, ownership, transport, carrying, transfer, sale, purchase, licensing, or registration of firearms, components of firearms, firearms dealers, or dealers in firearms components.


I took the time to find the link for you to read law, something that journalists never seem to do (where does it say that parking lots are off limits? (update, its in the case law or so a forum says, I couldn't find it. I did find something else, but they didn't say it was illegal in the parking lot, it just wasn't relevant to the murder case see case law... it shouldn't be that hard to verify what a journalist says)). GA Code 16-11-184

Any time you are citing law, I would argue that you might be on the right side. Change the law or follow it. Making up your own laws is not an option in the United States. Sometimes though, you might find a nice little grey area, see below.

As I was researching this, I came across that you can not carry in publically owned buildings. They may be able to enforce this ban. BUT then! HB 89 (which came into effect today) comes to the rescue in 16-11-127 e)
(e) A person licensed or permitted to carry a firearm by this part shall be permitted to carry such firearm, subject to the limitations of this part, in all parks, historic sites, and recreational areas, including all publicly owned buildings located in such parks, historic sites, and recreational areas and in wildlife management areas, notwithstanding Code Section 12-3-10, in wildlife management areas notwithstanding Code Section 27-3-1.1 and 27-3-6, and in public transportation notwithstanding Code Sections 16-12-122 through 16-12-127; provided, however, that a person shall not carry a firearm into a place prohibited by federal law.

where you can carry in public transportation, unless prohibited by federal law.

GA Code 16-12-123 has parts that have been repealed by HB89, specifically b).

So, you can't carry in public buildings, but you can carry on public transportation as long as you don't break federal law. I would think that a judge would find it against the spirit of the law if MARTA decided that you could not carry in the MARTA terminal. That would effectively bar you from carrying in public transportation. Not really sure what happens there though.

We also need to hold journalists to a higher standard. Headlines need to be correct. Facts need to be checked. With this new fangled thing called 'teh interwebs' which is made of a series of tubes, we can now provide links to relevant things in stories. We can link to law, if the article is taking about it. We can provide a link to where to buy or see any studies, books, or reports that an article talks about.

1 comment:

Spatchcock said...

Yes, journalists who fail to cite laws they are quoting (or worse, paraphrasing) are idiots. It's the easiest thing in the world to get right if they actually did the research.

As for the airport, the main terminal is a public building and off limits. If the case law says you can't have a firearm on your person in even the parking lot or immediate surroundings of a public gathering, then not being able to carry in the Hartsfield-Jackson MARTA terminal is kind of a moot point: you can't carry anywhere else around there either.

It doesn't sound like they need new law for this. The existing state public gathering law covers it.

I just wouldn't want to pick someone up or drop someone off, get out to help them lift bags to the curb, and expose myself to criminal liability. That's the most vulnerable part of the excursion I would imagine. Is the *street* outside a public gathering off limits?...

In related news, Georgia Carry is participating in a lawsuit against Stone Mountain for passing local ordinances prohibiting the possession of otherwise lawfully carried firearms. Seems like a summary judgment is in order here.

http://www.georgiacarry.com/smma/