Democrat Senator Applauds as Georgia Governor Balks on Campus Carry

Although campus carry passed the Georgia House and Senate amid much pro-gun fanfare–including fanfare from Governor Nathan Deal (R)–the bill may be in jeopardy as Deal outlines substantive changes he wants made before signing the measure.

For example, a central tenet of the bill is that it overrides a university or collegiate governing board’s ability to infringe on the Second Amendment rights of students. It bars the schools from prohibiting law-abiding, licensed students from carrying guns. This is the same type of law that exists in Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Mississippi, Colorado, Wisconsin, and soon-t0-be in Texas and Kansas. But Deal now says he believes the governing boards “should have the discretion to set reasonable rules” regarding carry limitations in “disciplinary hearings and faculty and administration offices.”

Deal also sided with state Senator Elena Parent’s (D) argument that exceptions need to be made for colleges or universities that have childcare facilities on campus. Rather than think of how much safer those facilities are when law-abiding citizens–particularly parents–are armed to defend themselves and their children, Deal is asking lawmakers to revisit the law where it impacts such facilities.

According to Fox 5, Parent praised Deal, saying, “I’m pleased that the Governor has obviously identified and agreed that there are some very serious concerns with this legislation.”

The irony of this is that Deal was a staunch supporter of the campus carry legislation as it moved from the House to the Senate. On February 26, Deal dismissed opposition to the bill, which included the kind of opposition voiced by Senator Parent, as “hype” and a rehashing of the same arguments that were made against concealed carry in years gone by. Now, Deal is entertaining those very arguments, with only three days remaining to sign campus carry into law.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.