On February 22 the Georgia House passed Campus Carry, with House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) saying the “Second Amendment does not stop at the edge of a college campus.”
The Campus Carry legislation–HB 859–is sponsored by state representatives Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper) and Mandi Ballinger (R-Canton).
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), HB 859 is titled the “Campus Safety Act.” Japserse calls it “a real-world solution to a real-world problem.”
AJC reports that recent “robberies at Georgia State University’s downtown campus library–committed within weeks of each other, with two occurring on the same day –have increased support among some students and lawmakers for campus carry.” Georgia state is “just a few blocks” from the Georgia Capitol building.
Ja’Quan Taylor is a senior at Georgia Tech and the president of GT’s Students for Concealed Carry. He praised the House passage of Campus Carry, saying, “This bill will give students an opportunity to be one step closer to being able to properly defend themselves. [And] this could be the difference between life or death for a student that is being threatened by a deadly weapon.”
But Democrats are already stating their disapproval as the bill moves to the Georgia Senate for consideration. State senator Harold Jones II (D-Augusta) said the Campus Carry legislation “doesn’t guarantee safety at all.” He added, “Persons have to be trained to use a weapon in a matter to fight back. Georgia doesn’t do any kind of training to allow you to carry even if you have a permit. It doesn’t guarantee that you will protect anyone or that the law is going to work.”
Jones did not address the benefits HB 859 would provide to female college students who could keep a pistol in their purse or backpack–or on their person–to fend off sexual predators on campus.
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.