A push to allow guns on Georgia’s college campuses all but stopped in its tracks Thursday after the Legislature’s lawyers marked a key measure as likely unconstitutional.
The unexpected opinion delayed at least until Monday a sweeping gun bill expected to be filed in the House, with gun rights advocates still eager to use their majority in the General Assembly to burnish Georgia’s reputation as one of the friendliest states to gun owners. They are likely to still press for allowing guns in previously forbidden places, such as church sanctuaries.
The setback for the legislation involves a compromise proposed for the bill that would have allowed university presidents a say on whether to “opt in” and allow guns on their individual campuses.
Opponents were abuzz but cautious Thursday.
“I think it is hopefully a sign that lawmakers are starting to listen,” said Ronnie Mosley, a Morehouse College student and founder of the Millennials Movement, which is working with a statewide coalition called Georgia Gun Sense to fight the measure.
The “opt in” proposal had support from Gov. Nathan Deal and was aimed at easing opposition to what’s commonly called campus carry from members of the state Board of Regents, which governs the state’s powerful University System of Georgia; University System Chancellor Hank Huckaby, a former legislator who still holds sway with colleagues in the General Assembly; and Ron Jackson, the commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia.
It was a wink-wink proposal to some degree, since few expected any presidents to take the state up on the offer.
Still, assistant legislative counsel Julius Tolbert said the bigger problem was that Georgia’s Constitution says only the General Assembly may regulate gun laws in Georgia, not unelected college presidents.
Further, Tolbert said in a letter to state Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, a sponsor of the bill, that it also infringed on the constitutional authority of the regents to govern and control the University System as a whole.
With Deal unlikely to want a high-profile legal fight during an election year, the opinion now leaves supporters with two options: propose to universally allow guns on campus with no say-so from college leaders or leave out campus carry completely.
Deal has not supported universal access to guns on campus. Neither have Senate leaders, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who said earlier this week that he felt comfortable giving college leaders the option.
Those positions leave a mountainous climb for supporters of campus carry, which they are unlikely to win this year.
“There will be unhappiness from some of our members, but the totality of the bill will be a great thing even without campus carry,” said Jerry Henry, executive director of the 7,300-member Georgia Carry advocacy group.
The bill would strengthen the rules about how people with mental illness qualify for a weapons “carry” license. Otherwise, it is expected to follow a similar effort that failed last year that included the following provisions: allow guns in church sanctuaries, let school boards arm school administrators and permit military veterans younger than 21 to carry weapons.
State lawmakers last expanded where Georgians with concealed-carry permits can take their guns in 2010. That expansion was a major victory for gun rights advocates, although subsequent court rulings excluded churches, colleges and schools from the concealed-carry law.
Today, guns can be carried into bars, but only with the permission of bar owners. The state’s concealed-carry law prohibits anyone younger than 21 from carrying a gun. College students may store weapons in locked cars on campus, but they are barred from carrying them anywhere on campus.
This year’s bill is one of the most controversial issues expected this legislative session. And it is being pushed forward despite evidence that many Georgians don’t want it.
According to a recent poll for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 78 percent of respondents opposed allowing guns on the state’s college campuses; 72 percent opposed allowing guns in churches; and 82 percent would require any gun owner who wanted to carry a weapon in public to first take a safety course.
Those numbers stayed relatively consistent among rural and urban residents, and conservative, independent and liberal voters, according to Abt SRBI of New York, which conducted the poll.
Still, Jasperse on Thursday would not declare campus carry completely off-limits, noting that the House last year tried to authorize it for students who qualified for a state-issued concealed-carry permit.
That approach, however, put the House at loggerheads with the Senate and is in large part what led to the bill’s death in 2013. Asked whether trying the same approach again would lead to the same outcome, Jasperse said, “maybe.”
“But again, all of this is part of the process of education,” he said. “And people knowing the facts. We are specifically talking about 21-year-olds who went through background checks.”
Carrying guns in dormitories and sports venues would still be outlawed, he said.
“Common sense is in there,” he said. “We’re all parents here. We’re all parents of students and look at it from the eyes of parents.”
The argument is still unlikely to fly.
“It is so extreme, such a difficult position, that if you don’t have opt-in, opt-out, it probably doesn’t get done,” said Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta. “The bottom line is allowing guns (on campus) doesn’t make our schools any safer.”
About the Author
