Mother Jones
Soon gun owners in the state of Georgia may be allowed to pack heat almost anywhere—including K-12 schools, bars, churches, government buildings, and airports. The “Safe Carry Protection Act” (HB 875) would also expand Georgia’s Stand Your Ground statute, the controversial law made famous by the Trayvon Martin killing, which allows armed citizens to defend themselves with deadly force if they believe they are faced with serious physical harm.
The bill could pass as soon as next week, before the current legislative session ends on March 20. It is the latest effort in the battle over gun laws that continues to rage in statehouses around the country. It is perhaps also the most extreme yet. “Of all the bills pending right now in state legislatures, this is the most sweeping and most dangerous,” Laura Cutiletta, a staff attorney with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told PolitiFact. Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun-reform advocacy group founded by former congresswoman Gabby Giffords after she was shot in the head, has deemed it the “guns everywhere” bill. For its part, the National Rifle Association recently called HB 875 “the most comprehensive pro-gun reform legislation introduced in recent state history.”
In addition to overturning current state laws and dramatically rolling back concealed-carry restrictions, HB 875 would loosen other gun regulations in the state. The law would:
Remove the fingerprinting requirement for gun license renewals
Prohibit the state from keeping a gun license database
Tighten the state’s preemption statute, which restricts local governments from passing gun laws that conflict with state laws
Repeal the state licensing requirement for firearms dealers (requiring only a federal firearms license)
Expand gun owner rights in a declared state of emergency by prohibiting government authorities from seizing, registering, or otherwise limiting the carrying of guns in any way permitted by law before the emergency was declared
Limit the governor’s emergency powers by repealing the ability to regulate the sale of firearms during a declared state of emergency
Lower the age to obtain a concealed carry license from 21 to 18 for active-duty military and honorably discharged veterans who’ve completed basic training
Prohibit detaining someone for the sole purpose of checking whether they have a gun license
The sweeping bill would also expand the state’s Stand your Ground law into an “absolute” defense for the use of deadly force in self-protection. “Defense of self or others,” the bills reads “shall be an absolute defense to any violation under this part.” In its current wording, the bill would even allow individuals who possess a gun illegally—convicted felons, for example—to still claim a Stand Your Ground defense.
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