Reloading Gun Laws?

A recent change to Georgia's laws for possesing firearms in school zones has my internal "cop vs. citizen" battle heating up. Again...

First of all, the legislature saw fit to remove the 1000 foot Safe School Zone within which possessing a weapon fitting the definition was a felony. This zone meant the police had a very effective means of making sure armed persons could not get near a public school. Why did they take it away? I can only assume my colleagues around the state abused the statute, perhaps making arrests using this code well after school hours. Abuse a code or stretch it and it will go away.

So now the law reads if you have a permit, you can bring your weapon, particularly a firearm, into the school parkinglot if you are dropping off or picking up your child. You can leave it in a locked container or locked in the gunrack of your truck. If you try to bring it inside, then your guilty of a misdemeanor. If you don't have a permit, it's a felony to bring a weapon in your car into a school zone, even though the law regarding firearms possession says you don't need a concealed carry permit to have a firearm in your house, business or vehicle. Okay, so the permit is the key, but does it prevent problems beter than the Safety Zone did? I think not.

The Second Amendment is the law of the land, controversially so, but it seems to be counterintuitive to relax the law about the proximity of dangerous weapons and school children. Especially when we look at another recent requirement has all law enforcement officers not assigned to court security lock out their weapons prior to entering court.

Huh?

That's right. A professional trained in the use of firearms, especially in hostile situations has to lock up their weapons when going into a court house but a 21 year-old who passed a background check for his permit  can bring a loaded firearm onto a school campus. At least South Carolina requires people wanting to carry a gun to pass a training course. That would make me a little more comfortable with this concept.

I have no problem with a responsible citizen owning a firearm. I enourage it. But let's focus on the word responsible. Is your world so dangerous that you need your fire-breathing hog leg (gotta love that Southern phrase!) close to you at all times, even when picking the kids up at school? If it is, I don't think having your piece nearby will really solve your problem. In fact, it just might add more problems to your pile.

Chip Grefski