University gun bans in sights of pro-carry effort

Lawmakers conduct review

ATLANTA - Legislators looking to expand where Georgians can carry guns may take aim at university campuses.

Carry a gun on or within 1,000 feet of any campus now and you could be charged with a felony, spend up to 10 years in prison and pay as much as $10,000 in fines.

But a panel of lawmakers conducting a wholesale review of Georgia's gun laws soon will solicit opinions on removing or altering the ban.

State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, R-Sharpsburg, who chairs the Senate Firearms Committee, sees nothing wrong with allowing a licensed gun owner to visit a college campus while carrying a concealed weapon. Students should be allowed to stow hunting rifles in their cars parked on campus, Seabaugh said.

Several senators on the committee, Democrats as well as Republicans, share that view.

Yet allowing students to carry firearms around campus raises the question of how students - especially those living in dorms - would secure their weapons when they're not carrying them, Seabaugh said.

That is the duty of any responsible gun owner, said John Wharton, campus leader for the University of Georgia chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.

"Of course, irresponsibility can cause problems," Wharton said.

UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson isn't taking sides.

"Whatever is on the books, that is what I'll deal with," said Williamson, whose officers made seven arrests for firearms violations under the ban in 2007.

Williamson did not want to speculate how changing in the gun ban would affect campus.

Some unknowingly violate the ban, including Eric Dewayne Baylis, 45, of Albany, who was arrested July 16 for keeping a gun in his room at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, a hotel on the UGA campus.

Baylis, who pleaded not guilty to the felony charge earlier this month, has said he did not know the hotel was owned by the university when his employer booked him a room for a conference.

The specter of gun violence on campuses in Virginia and Illinois is never far from debate over guns on campus. Supporters say if students had been carrying guns, such massacres could have been prevented. Opponents fear the presence of guns in a college environment, where indiscretion and alcohol are often plenty.

For Wharton and others, it's simply a matter of safety.

"Police simply cannot react fast enough to stop a mad man from taking lives in mass quantity," Wharton said.

The University System Board of Regents supports the gun ban as is and would resist changes, said spokesman John Millsaps.

"We would oppose the end of a ban of guns on campuses," Millsaps said.

At the national level, the victory in the U.S. Supreme Court over a handgun ban in Washington provided little momentum for efforts to remove campus gun bans. In its ruling in June, the court's majority was careful to point out that the opinion was not intended to cast doubt on firearms prohibitions in schools or government buildings.

The reality is that the gun ban does not keep weapons off campus, according to Seabaugh.

"There already are firearms on our college campuses," he said. "These are people who have no regard for our law or policy, or are ignorant of what the law is."

The Firearms Committee plans to hold a series of hearings on firearms bans over the next few months and may recommend legislation in January. The committee will meet Sept. 23 to discuss the state's ban on guns at public gatherings and will meet again Nov. 13 to talk about the campus gun ban. Both meetings will be held in the state Capitol in Atlanta.

By: Jake Armstrong, The Athens Banner-Herald

Can a Local Washington, D.C. Government Thumb its Nose at the United States Supreme Court and Get Away With It?

WASHINGTON-- Can the local government of Washington, D.C. thumb its nose at a constitutional decision of the United States Supreme Court and get away with it?

"That," says right to self-defense advocate John M. Snyder, "is the question underlying a constitutional crisis brewing now in our Nation's Capital. It's up to Congress to nip this crisis in the bud before its effects spread to a multiplicity of locales and involve a wide range of public issues."

"The nexus of the burgeoning constitutional crisis," says Snyder, "was the refusal of officials of the local Washington, D.C. government to accept fully the June decision of the Supreme Court in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller."

"In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that the District ban on the possession of handguns in the home is a constitutional violation of the individual Second Amendment civil right to keep and bear arms."

"Instead of complying fully and in good faith with the decision of the Supreme Court," charges Snyder, named dean of gun lobbyists by The Washington Post and The New York Times, "local officials came up with new legislation which, while complying ostensibly with the letter of the Supreme Court's ruling, actually attempts to evade implementation of the Court's decision."

"Among the more outrageous examples of this evasion is the continued inclusion of semiautomatic handguns in the definition of machine guns. This prevents law-abiding Washington, D.C. residents from obtaining popular semiautomatic handguns for protection despite the Supreme Court's decision in support of the right to self-defense."

"Fortunately," continues Snyder, Manager of Telum Associates and Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, "just before the congressional summer recess began, a bipartisan group of over 50 U.S. Representatives proposed legislation to truncate District officials' attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court. This measure, H.R. 6691, the Second Amendment Enforcement Act, deserves support from firearm owners around the country, as well as from all Americans concerned about the constitutional anarchy that would result if local governments are able to challenge reasonable constitutional decisions of the highest court in the land."

By: John Snyder, Matket Watch

Kirk gets boost from N.Y.'s Bloomberg on gun-control stance

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk snagged a high-profile endorsement from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg while announcing his push for gun-control legislation Monday.

"He is a big boost," Kirk said following the afternoon news conference in Northbrook.

Kirk is sponsoring legislation to close a so-called loophole that allows gun dealers to sell weapons without the required background checks if their distribution licenses are revoked.

The measure is one of several that Bloomberg and other mayors across the country are pushing through the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition.

"(Kirk) has had the courage to stand up," Bloomberg said surrounded by suburban police officers and the mayors of Palatine and Arlington Heights. "That is the kind of elected official we need."

Kirk has long been a proponent of gun-control measures, including a ban on assault weapons and gun show sales that lack background checks. His position on gun laws has set him apart from traditional Republican doctrine in the Democratic-leaning district.

Bloomberg, an independent mayor, headlined a fundraiser for Kirk following the news conference at a Glencoe residence that brought in more than $100,000.

The Highland Park Republican is facing one of the toughest challenges of his career this election season.

Democrat Dan Seals, a Wilmette businessman, is running against Kirk for a second time, having garnered 47 percent of the vote in 2006.

Seals' campaign released a statement saying gun-control is "not a point of contention in this race" because the Democrat also supports similar measures.

In reference to Bloomberg's endorsement, Seals spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith said their campaign will remind voters Kirk falls in line with President George Bush on numerous issues.

By: Joseph Ryan, The Daily Herald