Georgia Carry Org Success To Learn From

[300winmag]

From my understanding it is legal to carry just about anywhere in Georgia now except on school property without permission from the school.  Georgia has recently has restaurant and park carry reforms like Tennessee.  From what I have read, publicly owned venues cannot keep people with carry licenses from carrying.

 

How have various GA state 2nd amend organizations approached publicly owned places, such as a zoo, fair grounds, ball parks, etc that try to deny entry of people with carry licenses?

 

Also are places like baseball parks and state fairs still able to deny entry with these law changes?

[dawgdoc]

Firstly, GeorgiaCarry.Org is the only effective gun rights organization in Georgia.  When the laws changed, it was literally the lawyers at GCO who wrote them for the legislators.  Some of the key legislators are members.

 

Backed when the laws first changed, such as when municipalities were no longer able to ban guns in parks, GCO ended up suing several of them and winning again and again.  They have had such success that now they can sometimes just contact the infringing entity and get things changed, but not always.  GCO was key in making sure we could carry at the airport, Stone Mountain, and parks in general.  I'm told that before GCO existed, Georgia's Jim Crow-era gun restrictions were numerous and confusing.

 

Most recently, two years ago, government buildings were changed from completely prohibited to only prohibited if there is screened security.  Phil1979 has some stories to tell, and I'm sure he will find this thread and fill in the details, but there are some government-owned ball parks that are still trying to ban legal gun toters.  Currently on GeorgiaPacking.Org (a site independent of GCO), there are threads about two airshows and at least one fair that want to ban guns.  GCO does not necessarily get involved in each of these separate issues, though.

 

One of the most recent lawsuits involves the Wings Over North Georgia Airshow.  The Sheriff said no one could carry weapons there, GCO sued, and some judge managed to interpret a pretty clear law in a way that said they could ban guns.  It is on appeal right now.

 

Other active lawsuits involve suing the Corps of Engineers about their weapons prohibition and suing the Georgia Code Commission, the Governor, and others about their refusal to codify a bill that was passed and signed that would allow school carry.

Edited September 14, 2015 by dawgdoc

[dawgdoc]

I should add that after the airshow lawsuit, the General Assembly tweaked the law this year to make it even clearer that a private entity can only ban guns on private property, which should be pretty clear.  Yet the Great Georgia Airshow is doing the exact same thing this year.  

 

The places that are still restricted include churches if the governing authority has not given permission; jails; nuclear power plants; courthouses; and within 150 ft of a polling place (which was changed this year to mean when active voting was occurring).  I'm typing this from memory, so I may have missed some.

 

Some personal examples that affect me that were only possible due to GCO's efforts:  both the local animal control and the water authority had "no weapons" signs up after the law changed.  Since they had no security screening, I contacted the people in charge and the signs were removed.  Previously, one of our parks still had a "no weapons" sign that was placed before the law changed; I contacted the county manager and it was removed within 48 hours.  Other effects are less noticeable but still can be attributed to GCO's actions.  I have seen two new parks built in my county, and they didn't even try to ban guns because Georgia has true state preemption.

 

Thanks to GCO, I don't have to disarm just to pay my water bill, get a car tag, go to the library, or register my dogs.  That was what I had to do before 2014.  There is still work to be done, like removing courthouses, polling places, and churches from the prohibited places altogether.

 

So yes, Tennessee needs an organization like GCO that makes friends with the legislators and sues the people who violate the law.  A carrot and stick, approach, if you will.

Edited September 14, 2015 by dawgdoc

[monkeylizard]

AIUI, TFA is as close to that as we get. I know they're active with the legislature.

 

Just a guess, but GCA may be better funded than TFA. Lawsuits get expensive.

[macville]

AIUI, TFA is as close to that as we get. I know they're active with the legislature.

 

Just a guess, but GCA may be better funded than TFA. Lawsuits get expensive.

 

Well, according to a friend who helps lobby in Nashville, John Harris at TFA has really pissed off even some of the most staunch gun rights lawmakers, so it's become even more of a battle to get stuff pushed through. I want to put my money where  my mouth is, but I no longer feel that TFA is the best way to do that:(

Honestly though, what is the point of getting stuff like the parks law passed and having local government ignore the law? If we don't start suing when they ignore the law, then they will continue to violate the law because they know there will be no consequences. I wonder if removing immunity from government officials would help in any way. Why should the tax payers pay out for lawsuits when the officials decide they don't have to follow the law. I am personally responsible in my job for my decisions, why aren't they?

[Worriedman]

Well, according to a friend who helps lobby in Nashville, John Harris at TFA has really pissed off even some of the most staunch gun rights lawmakers, so it's become even more of a battle to get stuff pushed through. I want to put my money where  my mouth is, but I no longer feel that TFA is the best way to do that:

I would like to know who those "staunch gun rights lawmakers" are.  The hate that most have for John Harris is that he tells the truth about the way they want to appear (legislators) and what they really do.

He and I have different means of conveying thoughts, but I have never known him to tell an untruth.  Yeah, he wears Leadership out, but what has it done to move the ball forward?  Bills passed still get you fired for having a gun in the wrong vehicle on the wrong parking lot, yet if you can prove they let you go over having a firearm in your vehicle you have a cause of action (prove that in an At Will employment State) and more and more Municipalities are thumbing their noses at the State.

As far as someone who helps lobby at the State, I would like to meet them and join forces, because there has been danged little if any going on in the last few years.  They do any testifying in committees?

[macville]

I would like to know who those "staunch gun rights lawmakers" are.  The hate that most have for John Harris is that he tells the truth about the way they want to appear (legislators) and what they really do.

He and I have different means of conveying thoughts, but I have never known him to tell an untruth.  Yeah, he wears Leadership out, but what has it done to move the ball forward?  Bills passed still get you fired for having a gun in the wrong vehicle on the wrong parking lot, yet if you can prove they let you go over having a firearm in your vehicle you have a cause of action (prove that in an At Will employment State) and more and more Municipalities are thumbing their noses at the State.

As far as someone who helps lobby at the State, I would like to meet them and join forces, because there has been danged little if any going on in the last few years.  They do any testifying in committees?

 

My friend said that it's not what he says, but how he says it and his general actions . One Rep he mentioned was Andy Holt, who is EXTREMELY  pro-gun. The way John treated Andy over the survey last year, in my opinion, did not win us any friends in Nashville. You can speak the truth without being a total jerk.

 

Again, if we are not willing to take things to court, we are not going to be taken seriously. The Mayor of Knoxville is proving that right now.

[dawgdoc]

GeorgiaCarry.Org formed as a true grass roots organization, and relatively recently also.  A few guys got together and decided to do something; there is no reason Tennessee couldn't have the same thing.

[Worriedman]

My friend said that it's not what he says, but how he says it and his general actions . One Rep he mentioned was Andy Holt, who is EXTREMELY  pro-gun. The way John treated Andy over the survey last year, in my opinion, did not win us any friends in Nashville. You can speak the truth without being a total jerk.

 

Again, if we are not willing to take things to court, we are not going to be taken seriously. The Mayor of Knoxville is proving that right now.

That rift has been repaired, Rep. Andy Holt is helping me start a Chapter in Weakley County.  He and I share spots on the radio.  If you ask him he will verify the fact that he is now supporting the TFA, to the point that he donated two of his tobacco stick flags for our auction this Saturday.

John and I have different delivery types, but his knowledge of the issues is as good as I have ever seen.

I do a lot of the face to face now, and in a few years when I am able to retire, I will have a much more visible role at LP. 

I can promise that I see less than a handful of activist each year, and I spend at least 15 days (will be 20 this year as I just topped 20 years at work so I get an extra week of vacation, and I have for the last several years spent it all up there) during session walking those halls.  I know the firearms friendly legislators, and I know the snakes.  With the exception of the Speaker of the House, I get audiences with committee chairs and even still am on friendly terms with the Lt. Governor.

I welcome any help, unless there are tons of money to pass out, (and we do not have that stash) Citizen activism is the only tool we have, and one or two guys do not sway the Chamber money loaded majority, unless they can be painted into a corner by shining light on their actions.

If we had one true activist in every district of Representatives and Senators, wearing them out by public speaking, (I will do my 21st and 22nd event next month in Dyer County, at the Rotary and the County Republican Party meeting respectively).  I do a radio show on average every two weeks.

Like John, I do not get paid for my gas, meals or time on any of the trips I make.  If we had more to help, John would not have to shoulder the entire effort of confronting recalcitrant public officials by himself.

However, there can be no doubt that John Harris has done yeoman's  ervice to the effort over the years, he just hates a liar, and talks bad about them when being silent is the easier thing.  Perhaps the problem in not John Harris, but rather the lying, feckless mouther's who feign support for the "2nd Amendment" when they are really firmly attached to the teat of the Chamber.

Funny just a few years ago...


I am not shilling for the organization, not seeking to "Mine" for members,  that is an agreement I have with TGO David, but possibly the cause of friction has to do with the failure of a Supermajority to produce the promises they made as they sought our help to achieve that status, and then forgot their friends who helped them get there.

[dawgdoc]

Are there places in Georgia that try to ban guns illegally?  Yes.  This is what happens to them:

 

http://georgiacarry.com/city/haralson_parks/demand_letter.pdf