A Fulton County Judge ruled today the Atlanta Botanical Garden has the right to bar its visitors from bringing in fireams, even though the garden operates on public property.
The gun rights group GeorgiaCarry.org and a Gwinnett County man filed suit against the Botanical Garden after the man, Phillip Evans, was told he couldn't gain admission to the garden if he was armed. He had visited there with his family in October 2014 while carrying a handgun in a holster. Evans wanted a judge to prohibit the garden from having him arrested if he came back armed.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Gail Tusan agreed with the gardens, but the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in May that Tusan sided with the gardens for the wrong reason and sent the case back to her for another hearing.
On Thursday, GeorgiaCarry.org attorney John Monroe said patrons should be allowed to come to the gardens armed because the attraction sits on publicly owned land. Georgia law allows guns on government land and in government buildings, with some exceptions.
Tusan, however, said the gardens was a private entity, despite the ownership of the land, and it could lawfully prohibit guns.
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