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When you go to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, you can pack your ID, toothbrush and lunch.

But you still can't pack heat.

That was the verdict — at least temporarily — of U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob, who denied a temporary injunction to prevent the city of Atlanta from enforcing its 30-year ban on concealed weapons at Hartsfield-Jackson.

In a hearing, Shoob asked airport executives to describe what would happen if a firearm was discharged by accident in a crowded terminal.

"First, we would have a stampede," testified airport official Robert Kennedy. Then the airport would be "frozen" as law enforcement responded. No flights would depart and passengers would be kept waiting for possibly hours.

Such testimony led Shoob to rule against gun-rights group GeorgiaCarry.org and state Rep. Timothy Bearden (R-Villa Rica) in their request for a preliminary injunction.

In his decision, Shoob cut through the pro-gun rhetoric and sided with public safety: "Where there is any question as to whether the public safety and welfare is threatened, the court must rule on the side of that public interest."

GeorgiaCarry.org claims Atlanta's ban violates a new state law that allows Georgians with concealed weapons permits to bring weapons to state parks, restaurants that serve alcohol and on public transportation. GeorgiaCarry.org contends that non-secure areas of the airport, including terminals, parking lots and baggage claim, qualify as public transportation. Atlanta disagrees that the airport was covered by the law.

Shoob could have granted a preliminary injunction to GeorgiaCarry.org only if he decided that the group had "a substantial likelihood" of winning once the full case is heard and decided. But as Shoob noted, it's a stretch to define an international airport as public transportation. (An airplane is a means of transportation; an airport is not.)

Shoob treated other arguments offered by GeorgiaCarry.org with equal skepticism, especially its insistence that concealed permit holders are vetted carefully by the state and pose no risk to Hartsfield's 90 million annual passengers.

As Shoob noted, "The only requirements to obtain a firearms license in Georgia are to pay a $15 fee and undergo a criminal background check and, at the discretion of the probate court, a mental health background check. There is no requirement that applicants demonstrate any proficiency in the handling of a firearm."

Shoob also doubted that a state law — passed in haste and without discussion by the Georgia General Assembly in its final hours — would trump the many federal regulations that govern airports and airport safety, especially in the wake of 9/11.

Although the full case must still be heard, such common-sense doubts would seem difficult to overcome.

— Maureen Downey, for the editorial board