The shootings at an Orlando gay nightclub that killed at least 50 people brought home two of the most divisive political debates roiling Georgia and the nation: the fight over gay rights and gun control.
The slaughter early Sunday at the crowded gay club is sure to stoke a new fight over restricting access to firearms - a so-far futile effort in Georgia - even as new battles over LGBT rights, such as transgender bathroom equality and the “religious liberty” debate, play out in statehouses and city halls across the country.
The gunman, identified by federal law enforcement as Omar Mateen, stormed the Pulse club wielding a handgun and an AR-15-type assault rifle, killing at least 50 and injuring another 53.
Horrific mass shootings typically trigger a familiar chain reaction. Gun control advocates, including many Democratic leaders, call for new restrictions on firearms. Gun rights forces, including many Republican politicians, counter by pushing for expanded gun carry rules to defend against would-be wrongdoers.
Georgia, led by conservatives largely embraced by the National Rifle Association and other firearms rights groups, has staunchly resisted any move to restrict gun rights, and two years ago adopted a measure that dramatically expanded where people can carry their weapons.
This year, the Republican-led Legislature passed a measure to allow people to carry concealed weapons most places on public college campuses, long a top goal for gun rights groups. It was vetoed by Gov. Nathan Deal, who questioned whether it would lead to more violence at Georgia's bastions of higher education.
Gun-control groups have already signaled the shooting could open a new battlefront. They’ve long tried to outlaw the type of assault rifle used in the Orlando massacre. Dan Gross of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said it’s too easy for terrorists and others who “hate and are intent on doing harm” to get guns.
And President Barack Obama urged lawmakers to open a new debate over gun control restrictions in the wake of the worst mass shooting in American history. Congress has rejected his efforts to pass gun control legislation, including attempts by Democrats to force votes on legislation that would block people on the terror watch list from obtaining firearms.
“This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone … (to) shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or in a movie theater or a night club,” he said. “And we have to decide if that’s the kind of country that we want to be. To actively do nothing is a decision as well.”
Gun rights groups pushed back. Jerry Henry of GeorgiaCarry.org said the shootings prove again that gun restrictions have done little to protect innocent people. He said the only way to “stop these mass shootings is to allow law-abiding citizens the right to protect themselves” and eliminate gun-free zones.
Orlando police said an armed off-duty officer working security at the club confronted Mateen and engaged in a “gun battle” before the suspect took hostages.
Some Georgia conservatives urged caution before a rush to action.
“What happened in Orlando is a senseless tragedy. Personal differences should never result in violence. Now is not the time to politicize the lives lost,” said state Rep. Trey Kelley, R-Cedartown. “As Americans, we are better than that. Now is a time to pray for the lost, the injured, their families and our country - that we may unite together in this difficult time.”
It also quickly spilled over into the race for president. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has also vowed to temporarily close the U.S. border to Muslim immigrants, said on Twitter the attacks prove he was “right on radical Islamic terrorism” and called for increased “toughness and vigilance.”
And Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, said the U.S. needs to harden its defenses to “redouble our efforts to defend our country from threats at home and abroad.”
The debate over gay rights is just as acrimonious. Georgia was at the center of a national fight when lawmakers passed a “religious liberty” measure that would expand legal protections to opponents of same-sex marriage.
Supporters cast it as a new safeguard to block the government from interfering with religious freedoms, but critics – including a bevy of business leaders – said it amounted to legalized discrimination. Deal vetoed the measure, citing his own religious beliefs as a driving force for his decision, and that measure, too, seems destined for a comeback next year.
Georgia last month also joined a federal lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's controversial directive to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity, with Deal saying a "one-size-fits-all solution to this is totally inappropriate." Some Republican lawmakers have promised to push legislation that would make it easier to fight those rules.
Anthony Kreis, a University of Georgia constitutional law scholar and gay rights activist, said the rampage did more than shatter the illusion of safety for gays across the nation.
“These types of places have a long history of providing refuge and allowing people to be who they are without the threat of violence,” said Kreis. “This needs to be a wakeup call for our elected officials to fully protect LGBT Americans with meaningful legislation and reject hateful rhetoric attacking sexual minorities.”
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