Branded as the “Guns Everywhere Bill,” the Safe Carry Protection Act allows citizens living in Georgia to carry firearms into clubs, bars, certain governmental buildings, some churches, schools, and even TSA checkpoints at airports. “House Bill 60 will protect law-abiding citizens by expanding the number of places that they can carry their guns without penalty, while at the same time this bill respects the rights of private property owners who still set the rules for their land and their buildings,” Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said. This includes bars, and schools if they decide to allow for it. High school teachers can be armed, drunk individuals in bars can be armed… The list goes on.
The Bill states that, “Every license holder shall have his or her valid weapons carry license in his or her immediate possession at all times when carrying a weapon, or if such person is exempt from having a weapons carry license… he or she shall have proof of his or her exemption in his or her immediate possession at all times when carrying a weapon, and his or her failure to do so shall be prima-facie evidence of a violation.”
The penalty for a violation is addressed later when the bill states, “A person convicted of a violation of this Code section shall be fined not more than $10.00 if he or she produces in court his or her weapons carry license, provided that it was valid at the time of his or her arrest, or produces proof of his or her exemption.”
The bill becomes paradoxical, however, when it later states, “A person carrying a weapon shall not be subject to detention for the sole purpose of investigating whether such person has a weapons carry license,” putting every single law enforcement officer at risk because it is disallowing them to do their job and enforce the law.
Howard Sills, who is the sheriff of Putnam County in Georgia, spoke out regarding this conflict within the bill, “There is one sentence, and it destroys everything… That one sentence says police may not detain anyone to demand to see a weapons permit. That means that if someone is walking down the street late at night with a pistol stuck in his waistband, police may not stop him and ask to see his weapons permit. I don’t think the intent of the bill is to put law enforcement in danger, [but] it is one with devastating potential.”
Sheriff Sills is one of the few people able to see the hypocrisy within – and the danger created by – this so-called “Safe” Carry Protection Act.
Gun fanatics all over the country are continuing to go further and further in their demands that more laws be passed and more rules be implemented that ensure their right to carry their weapon wherever they please. As these people become increasingly ignorant of the basic facts surrounding this issue, society is succumbing to complete and total vulnerability that has now hit a new high in Georgia.
Recently, Stanford University conducted a study that debunked a previous study by John R. Lott, which he published as a book titled, More Guns, Less Crime. Stanford News states, “Stanford research reaffirms that right-to-carry gun laws are connected with an increase in violent crime. This debunks – with the latest empirical evidence – earlier claims that more guns actually lead to less crime.”
“Among its many extreme provisions, it allows guns in TSA lines at the country’s busiest airport, forces community school boards into bitter, divisive debates about whether they should allow guns in their children’s classrooms, and broadens the conceal carry eligibility to people who have previously committed crimes with guns,” said Pia Carusone, senior advisor of Americans for Responsible Solutions.
The new gun laws allow schools to arm their employees, the goal being to prevent gun violence in schools. This, of course, requires training, drills, and exercises to ensure that each teacher is properly equipped with the necessary skills to kill a student if necessary.
Let us not forget what school is for: Providing education and instilling values in children that they may not be getting at home. Let us not forget what teachers are there to do: be the providers of this education and these values. Let us not forget who we are training to fill these positions at high schools: teachers. Not soldiers. But this bill will now give schools the option to require a certain type of training for teachers. Instead of taking on a career that includes AP training or Google training, teachers will now have a job description that includes training to use, carry, and potentially kill a student using a firearm.
Also, we are living in a time where it seems that every other day there is a mass shooting.
The Columbine High School Shooting. People don’t get it.
The Tucson, Arizona shooting. People don’t get it.
The Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting. People don’t get it.
The Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. People still don’t get it.
I could go on naming shooting after shooting, killing after killing, and massacre after massacre, and it probably would not make a difference in the minds of the people that support this irrational bill. The fact of the matter is that increasing the amount of guns in the hands of everyday citizens, and the places they can carry these guns, is counter-productive to the goal of ending gun violence. It also presents a greater potential for accidents to occur.
Recently, a woman in Idaho was recently shot and killed in a Wall Mart by her two-year old son who accidentally got her gun out of her purse and pulled the trigger.
Last year, right here in Pennsylvania, a more violent and sinister action was taken by a student at Franklin Regional High School – allegedly Alex Hribal – who brought a knife to school and went on a rampage that left 22 people stabbed and two others injured in the ensuing chaos, not to mention the emotional damage done to everyone who witnessed this horrific event. The argument that if teachers were armed this could have been prevented is nonsensical. First, teachers are trained to instill nourishment and knowledge in the minds of their students. Simply arming teachers would not change this fact. One’s predisposition to killing another human being, let alone a student – regardless of the chaos and commotion that person is causing by committing such a heinous act – does not change simply because the times have.
Arming teachers assumes them be capable of killing one of their students whenever the time to do so is at hand.
Excessive violence in The United States is causing these types of ideas to become legislation, but the reality is that there is no training for such an event that can truly prepare a teacher for the chaos, urgency, and insanity that will take place in the case of a school attack. Again, these are teachers, not soldiers.
Beyond that, the idea that having guns more readily available will somehow stop violence is completely ungrounded, and numerous studies show that the likelihood of both homicide and suicide increase with gun ownership. One of the most prominent studies was conducted by Dr. David Hemenway of the Harvard School of Public Health.
Now that the bill has been signed, perhaps we will see people who otherwise would not own a weapon succumbing to their fears and acquiring weapons to defend themselves against the peril that will exist in Georgia. Or, perhaps we will see a new wave of migration as rational human beings flee from the gun-worshipping state.
Wow. This is an extremely well-written piece with frighteningly revealing information.