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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2007 > April > 17 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USShooting spree hangs heavy over pending gun debate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The shooting spree at Virginia Tech is hanging heavy over the pending debate today in the Senate on a bill that would give Georgians greater access to firearms in motor vehicles.
The Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police has strongly opposed both House Bill 89 and Senate Bill 43, which were morphed into one bill — HB 89 — on Monday. The bills would allow motorists without a criminal record or history of mental illness to conceal weapons inside their cars and in many cases store them inside their cars while parked in their employers’ lots.
But the massacre at Virginia Tech has hit close to home for the head of the police chiefs’ group.
Frank V. Rotondo, executive director of the Georgia Assocatiion of Chiefs of Police, wrote a letter to senators today, urging them to vote against HB 89. Rotondo, a former police chief in Helen, Ga. and homicide detective in New York, wore a Virginia Tech tie at the Capitol today. It was given to him by his son, who graduated from Virginia Tech last year.
“Yesterday was indeed a day that we as Americans should never forget,” the letter opens. “The shooting deaths of 33 innocent individuals at one of our nation’s premier institutions of higher learning, Virginia Tech, has shown us that the bizarre conduct of one person, presumably a ‘law abiding citizen’ with firearms, could wreak havoc on the tranquility of society.”
Rotondo argues that Georgians who want to conceal weapons in their cars can apply for a firearms permit. Changing the law may encourage more people to pack guns in cars, which could lead to “road rage” and other impulse shootings, police have argued.
“The law as it stands now is fine,” Rotondo wrote. “Any attempt at refining the statute will clearly mean more deaths.”
Rotondo goes on to note that the bill is also opposed by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia PTA, the Georgia chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, Georgians for Gun Safety and other groups.
A vote on the bill is scheduled for later today.
Permalink | | Categories: politics
