Every day, an average of 245,000 travelers pass through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. So far this year, only 19 people have been arrested at the airport, and 16 of those arrests have been for stealing.

The airport, in other words, is one of the safest places in Georgia. Yet, in the name of safety, a local gun group is pushing to allow private citizens to come to the airport armed. They have even found an ally in Gov. Sonny Perdue.

"If my wife wanted to carry a gun, if she was walking from one of those far parking lots to pick up a grandchild or something like that, I think that's a good idea, yes," Perdue said.

However, in this post-terrorism environment, there are already plenty of guns at the airport, and they're being carried by trained law enforcement officers charged with keeping the public safe. Among the agencies safeguarding Hartsfield are the Airport Security Division, the Transportation Security Administration, the Atlanta Police Department, FBI and federal air marshals.

Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta fears airport safety would be compromised if trained law enforcement professionals were forced to assume that all civilians are carrying concealed firearms. As he also points out, the accidental discharge of a firearm in a terminal or parking lot could create a panic similar to what happened seven years ago when a traveler breached security checkpoints to retrieve a camera left at the checkpoint. The airport shut down, between 5,000 and 10,000 people were evacuated and Delta and other airlines lost millions of dollars.

The ban on guns at airports also makes legal sense.

When the U.S. Supreme Court last month affirmed the constitutional right to have guns for self-defense in the home, it took special care to stipulate that guns could be still be banned in "sensitive places." Certainly, the world's busiest airport qualifies as a sensitive place.

Nonetheless, GeorgiaCarry, a gun-rights group, insists that a new state law gives citizens the right to carry concealed weapons at the airport. That law allows licensed gun owners who pass background checks to carry concealed weapons on public transportation, in parks and recreation areas, and in restaurants that serve alcohol. GeorgiaCarry argues that law applies as well to nonsecure areas of the airport.

Leading the charge is state Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica), who sponsored the change in state law. Earlier this month, Bearden even threatened to take a concealed weapon to the airport to force a test of the law. After DeCosta warned Bearden he would be arrested, the legislator wisely backed off and decided to let the courts settle the dispute.

GeorgiaCarry has filed suit in federal court, with Bearden as the test case, seeking a temporary restraining order stopping officials from arresting anyone with a weapon at the airport. A court hearing is set for Aug. 11. (In a separate case, the group is also challenging a Georgia law allowing state concealed-weapons permits to be issued only to Georgia residents.)

To Bearden, GeorgiaCarry and other supporters of the gun lobby, more guns in more places means more safety. More guns in airports, more guns in restaurants, more guns on MARTA, and even more guns on college campuses, as if public safety is enhanced by drunk, emotionally unstable 18-year-olds with guns in dormitories or at frat parties.

Like airports, college campuses are among the safest places in America, even in the wake of tragedies such as that at Virginia Tech. In fact, 93 percent of the crimes against college students occur off campus. The same holds true for elementary, middle and high schools; less than 1 percent of gun incidents involving children occur either at school or going to or from school. It's when they return home to their neighborhoods and their homes that they encounter gun violence.

Concealed weapons in the hands of untrained private citizens will not make airports safer; in fact, they will make it more difficult for authorities to distinguish between armed civilians with no evil intent and those who bring weapons to the airport to inflict death and mayhem. For that and other reasons, the members of the American Association of Airport Executives and the Airports Council International-North America endorse the strong stance taken by Atlanta officials against the possession of loaded firearms at airports.

So should anyone with any sense in the state of Georgia.

—- Maureen Downey, for the editorial board (mdowney@ajc.com)

NO HIGH-FLYING CRIME AT HARTSFIELD

Here are the arrests to date in 2008 at the airport:

1: Aggravated assault with a knife on a police officer

16: Larcenies

2: Auto thefts

Sources: Atlanta Mayor's Office and Atlanta Police Department