The Supreme Court's decision affirming Americans' right to defend themselves with guns is high-caliber recognition of one of the country's most sacred amendments, lawmakers, hunters and other firearms enthusiasts said Thursday.

The decision, said Georgia sportsman Glenn Dowling, was as welcome as it was overdue.

"We've always thought it [the amendment] was the right thing," said Dowling, executive vice president of the Georgia Wildlife Federation, a hunting and fishing advocacy and lobbying group. "It's a cornerstone of our American way of life."

Even a representative of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence found reason to support the justices' decision.

The ruling is a "common-sense approach to guns," said Valerie Hartman Levy, president of the Metro Atlanta Million Mom March. The organization is a state chapter of the Washington-based Brady organization.

The court, she said, clarified firearm use in self-defense cases. "I find it extremely heartening," she said.

The decision triggered happy responses elsewhere, too.

"The Bill of Rights states what an individual's rights are," said Mickey Wright, owner of Artistry in Nature Taxidermy in Paulding County. Wright, 51, has been shooting since he was 8.

"It states what our natural rights are," he said. "It grants rights to people as individuals."

Others weren't as exuberant.

The ruling will be the subject of countless lawsuits that try to define where guns are prohibited, predicted Alice Johnson, executive director of Georgians For Gun Safety.

"Gun groups will be suing to test all kinds of state and ... local ordinances limiting firearms.," she said. "It means many of these questions won't be answered for many, many years."

Others, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, didn't question the panel's wisdom. He called the ruling "very good news."

"Today's [Thursday's] decision by the Supreme Court strengthens and upholds our fundamental right to bear arms," Cagle said. "The millions of law-abiding citizens in our country are promised in the Constitution the ability to protect and defend themselves."

'Very important'

Lawmakers were quick to issue news releases lauding the court.

"The Supreme Court confirmed our constitutional rights today," said state Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), who supported Georgia legislation allowing people with concealed-weapon permits to carry firearms in state parks and restaurants that serve alcohol, so long as they don't drink. The new law takes effect next week.

"As Americans," he said, "we should celebrate this historic decision and finally put to rest the notion that government can so callously take away a right guaranteed to us as U.S. citizens."

The court gave a broader interpretation of who can use a gun for protection, said Cumming sportsman Joe Schuster, "and that's very important."

"The court said you don't have to be in a militia to own a firearm," said Schuster, who routinely hunts and shoots with his three sons.

Cumming businessman Doug Clayton, who owns Bulls Eye Marksman Gun Club, was feeling good about the decision, too.

"Everybody's happy," Clayton said, his words punctuated by the muffled pops of firearms in his indoor range. "It wouldn't be champagne being splashed [in celebration], but beer. But since we're a gun shop, we don't have any of that here."

Dent Myers also was happy — to a point, anyway.

"I'm amazed at this ruling," said Myers, owner of Wildman's Civil War Surplus Shop in downtown Kennesaw, where in 1982 a law was passed that every head of household must own a firearm. That law is still on the books.

"I'm glad that it happened," Myers said of the ruling, "but I'm cautious. I think there's something afoot. I think there's an ulterior motive to make us complacent."

Staff Writers David Markiewicz, Doug Nurse, Yolanda Rodriguez and Jim Salzer contributed to this report.