A month after a misunderstanding between Callaway Gardens and Georgia Carry nearly cancelled the gun group’s annual get-together, the group announced their summer convention would go on as planned Aug. 9-10 in Vinings.
The decision represents a return by the group to the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel & Convention Center, located next door to the Cobb Galleria Centre.
Leaders for Georgia Carry, one of the state’s biggest gun advocacy groups, said the hotel’s staff had always been “terrific hosts” and understood the group’s needs. They also faced a short timeline after their original plans fell through in early May.
The group wanted to host their convention at Callaway, planning for which began in February after a resort employee told executive director Jerry Henry it was OK for members to openly carry their firearms on resort property.
That turned out to be a mistake, although it wasn’t caught until more than two months later. A resort spokeswoman apologized to the group, noting Callaway has a longstanding policy which does not permit weapons on the premises.
Henry has noted that the group, which has more than 8,200 members, wanted to host more activities outside the metro area to accommodate members who did not live near Atlanta. That effort is expected to continue, with the group looking ahead to next year for a “destination location.”
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