On February 16, Campus Carry legislation passed in Georgia’s House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.
Democrats “protested” the vote, claiming committee chairman Alan Powell called up the legislation for a vote without giving them any time to prepare against it.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the legislation–House Bill 859–will allow concealed carry permit holders to “carry a gun anywhere on a public college or university campus, except for dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses and at athletic events.”
HB 859 is sponsored by Representatives Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper) and Mandi Ballinger (R-Canton), and Democrat protestations to the contrary, Jasperse and Ballinger argue that Campus Carry is not novel. For example, Campus Carry is the law of the land in eight states–which means public universities and colleges cannot bar it–and “in nearly two dozen others” the laws of the states allow colleges and universities to recognize or ban Campus Carry as they see fit.
Breitbart News previously reported that the eight states which allow are Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, and Kansas. (Note: Texas’ Campus Carry goes into effect in August 2016 and Kansas in 2017.) And according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the 23 states where public colleges and universities can allow or bar campus carry on a per-campus basis are “Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.”
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.