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View Full Version : Georgia House votes to allow weapons in bars, churches




aGameOfThrones
02-19-2014, 05:25 PM
The measure heads for the state Senate after the members of Georgia's House of Representatives approved the legislation with a 119-56 vote, according to the chamber's Twitter account.

Gun-control and gun-rights advocates have turned their respective efforts to statehouses after gun control legislation stalled in the U.S. Congress.

Under the Georgia bill, churches and bars would be allowed to decide whether to allow weapons inside their buildings, according to the legislation's sponsor, Rep. Rick Jasperse, a Republican.

"We don't need to be penalizing law-abiding citizens and taking away their Second Amendment rights," Jasperse said, referring to the U.S. Constitution's right to bear arms.

The legislation would also allow secondary schools to decide whether to allow teachers and administrators to carry weapons.

"The legislation does not represent the majority of people of Georgia, but only a small number of gun advocates," said Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, a Democrat who voted against the bill.

If the bill passes, gun owners will also be able to take their weapons into governmental buildings if security screenings are not in place, but guns would remain prohibited in courthouses and prisons.

http://news.yahoo.com/georgia-house-votes-allow-weapons-bars-churches-030733089--sector.html

DGambler
02-19-2014, 06:07 PM
Mary Oliver is a moron, most Georgians I know ARE gun advocates.

donnay
02-19-2014, 06:50 PM
Isn't there a town in Georgia that requires people to own a gun, kind of like Switzerland?

aGameOfThrones
02-19-2014, 07:14 PM
Isn't there a town in Georgia that requires people to own a gun, kind of like Switzerland?

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?275688-Gun-Ownership-Mandatory-In-Kennesaw-Georgia-Crime-Rate-Plummets&highlight=georgia

Spikender
02-19-2014, 07:30 PM
Private organizations should be able to decide their own rules about what kind of patrons to allow into their establishment.

Guess that's just too complicated of an idea for most statists to fathom.

eduardo89
02-19-2014, 07:37 PM
Isn't there a town in Georgia that requires people to own a gun, kind of like Switzerland?

Pretty sure that law is unconstitutional, just like Obamacare. You can't force anyone to buy a product.

And Switzerland does not have mandatory gun ownership. If you are part of the militia you are given a gun to keep in your home, but gun ownership is not mandatory.

TaftFan
02-19-2014, 07:39 PM
Isn't there a town in Georgia that requires people to own a gun, kind of like Switzerland?

Yes, although it technically isn't mandatory. It does keep crime down though.

nobody's_hero
02-19-2014, 07:40 PM
FYI, there's no penalty for not owning a gun in Kennesaw.

There is a penalty, however, for not buying insurance under Obamacare.

eduardo89
02-19-2014, 07:43 PM
Yes, although it technically isn't mandatory. It does keep crime down though.

This is the ordinance:


(a) In order to provide for the emergency management of the city, and further in order to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants, every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain a firearm, together with ammunition therefore.

(b) Exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who suffer a physical or mental disability which would prohibit them from using such a firearm. Further exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who are paupers or who conscientiously oppose maintaining firearms as a result of beliefs or religious doctrine, or persons convicted of a felony.

So basically if you don't want a gun, you don't have to have one.

DamianTV
02-19-2014, 07:59 PM
Why not let the property owner decide? Gun in church? Up to the church. Gun in a bar? Up to the Bar. Gun in your house? Your call, totally up to you.

Anti Federalist
02-19-2014, 08:04 PM
Isn't there a town in Georgia that requires people to own a gun, kind of like Switzerland?

Yes, Kennesaw, GA

They did it in response to Morton Grove, IL banning handguns.

Case Study: Morton Grove, Illinois v. Kennesaw, Georgia

http://guncontroltruth.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/case-study-morton-grove-illinois-v-kennesaw-georgia/

Many advocates of gun rights know of the small town of Kennesaw, Georgia. For those that are not familiar with the city and its recent history, in 1982, the city passed a law that requires each household to own a firearm and ammunition. Exempt from this law were felons, paupers, and those physically or mentally unable to maintain a firearm. The local government passed this law in response to a law passed in 1981 in Morton Grove, Illinois that outlawed the private ownership of handguns. Even though this law is difficult to enforce and was passed primarily as a symbolic measure, it gained worldwide attention. Now, I choose this example to contrast the opposite nature of these two cities. The results may surprise you.

Before the comparison begins, first let me point out a few differences in the two cities that could have an effect on the data. Kennesaw grew as a city over the next ten years or so, nearly doubling in population. This urbanization typically causes crime to increase. Morton Grove however began with a relatively low crime rate and a fairly urbanized city that remained constant throughout the next ten years. In a direct comparison, Kennesaw ought to be more predisposed for crime to increase. However, in reality, the opposite happened.

Immediately after the passage of Kennesaw’s law, the amount of burglaries was cut in half. Violent crime within the city dropped at all levels. The community did not suffer a murder for years after that, and according the police chief at the time that was done by a knife. The gun requirement acted as a deterrent for criminals around the city. According to a past police chief D. Wilson, inmates had contacted the government of Kennesaw with the message that they would avoid Kennesaw because of the gun requirement. Those criminals knew that their potential victims would probably be armed, and that fear caused them to go elsewhere. Other fears with a mandatory gun law include escalations in domestic violence and an increase in fatal accidents involving children. Since the law was enacted, neither has happened. In the decade after the law was passed, there were no instances of handguns used against spouses nor were there any instances of children being injured due to accidental discharge. That in itself supports the theory that guns are safe in the hands of a safe person.

Now that we have examined the effects of the law on the Kennesaw community, let us examine the effects in Morton Grove. The complete ban of private ownership of handguns did not cause crime to go down. In fact, violent crime increased by 15% in the city the following year. In the surrounding areas, crime increased only 3%. This increased rate stayed constant in the years after. Statistically speaking, the ban led to an increase in crime. Pundits can debate the reasons for this until we all puke, but it makes sense to think that the ban makes criminals more active. Either way, in this case, the ban did not have the effect of reducing crime.

While the effects of gun laws and gun restrictions vary based on the culture of each community and the backgrounds of the people within them, these two cities provide a good example of how gun laws impact the community. Would the law in Kennesaw work in other cities? Not necessarily. Does the data seem to support that it may help reduce crime? In this scenario it does. The crime rate in Kennesaw dropped significantly after they (loosely) required every citizen to own a firearm and stayed at this low level for years despite undergoing changes in population that typically lead to increased crime. Morton Grove on the other hand banned the ownership of handguns within their city and saw their crime rate go up. Whether or not this change in crime is the result of these laws is debatable and should be debated, but the facts themselves have a strong voice.

-J.G.