Deal turns to history to defend campus carry veto

In explaining his rationale Tuesday for vetoing guns on Georgia’s public colleges and universities, Gov. Nathan Deal sounded like an attorney making his case to a skeptical jury.

And Deal faced many skeptics, mostly in his own party, in deciding guns would not make Georgia's campuses safer. Deal reached back into history to bolster his arguments against House Bill 859.

Among the points he raises in his written summation of the veto: “Perhaps the most enlightening evidence of the historical significance of prohibiting weapons on a college campus is found in the minutes of October 4, 1824, Board of Visitors of the newly created University of Virginia. Present for that meeting were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, along with four other members. In that meeting of the Board of Visitors, detailed rules were set forth for the operation of the University which would open several months later. Under the rules relating to the conduct of students, it provided that “No student shall, within the precincts of the University, introduce, keep or use any spirituous or venomous liquors, keep or use weapons or arms of any kind…”