Senate panel hears more-guns-in-public debate

Gun-control advocates, religious leaders and government officials urged a key Senate panel Tuesday to not let more Georgians carry firearms into places of worship, schools, municipal buildings and mental hospitals.

But gun-rights supporters say there is no evidence Georgians licensed to carry firearms would endanger the public if allowed to bring their weapons to church or onto college campuses.

The two conflicting views were aired when a Senate committee heard testimony on possible legislation to amend Georgia’s 138-year-old law banning firearms at places of “public gatherings.”

The committee’s chairman, Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg), has written draft legislation that would allow Georgians with carry licenses to take weapons into most public places other than jails and courtrooms.

However, Seabaugh stressed that his draft is only the beginning of the process. He expects other places to be excluded in the bill before the 2009 session begins in January.

The move to weaken the current ban on guns at “public gatherings,” including churches and college campuses, comes on the heels of House Bill 89, which became law on July 1. That measure lets people with firearms licenses carry guns into state parks, restaurants that serve alcohol and on mass transit.

GeorgiaCarry.org, which pushed House Bill 89, is also backing the move to make it legal to carry guns to church and other places.

The group’s president, Ed Stone, said people with carry licenses rarely commit crimes. But he said current gun-control laws don’t prevent criminals from committing crimes.

“Public gatherings laws won’t keep criminals from carrying weapons,” Stone said. “Criminals don’t pay attention to laws. That’s why they are criminals. This only effects the most law-abiding of citizens.”

While several Georgians with carry licenses told the committee much the same thing, a parade of government, religious and gun safety officials urged lawmakers to be careful about opening up more public places to guns.

“I know there are those who think the world is a scary place, and that only by packing heat can they be truly safe,” said Valerie Hartman Levy, a self-described hunter and Georgia director of Million Moms March, which advocates for gun-control laws. “I think that is a terribly sad way to look at the world. I also think it doesn’t deal with reality.”

Marvin Bailey, CEO of Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, told the committee that only trained law enforcement should be carrying weapons at his facility.

“Other states don’t allow guns at mental hospitals,” he said. “You don’t want people with mental illnesses (at the hospital) having weapons. We don’t want family members to bring weapons in during a visit.”

Rabbi Peter Berg, senior rabbi at The Temple, told the committee that a man with a license to carry a weapon dropped his gun, wounding his daughter, during a service at his last congregation in Dallas, Texas.

“We can have guns, but there are places, particularly where children gather, that guns should not be,” he said.

Seabaugh said he has been contacted by churches that want the right to allow members to carry weapons. Supporters of such a change say churches that don’t want members carrying guns can simply ban them from their premise.