Legislation to loosen restrictions on gun owners who carry weapons into Georgia from out of state is close to clearing the General Assembly amid backlash from recent mass shootings in the Atlanta area.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mandi Ballinger, R-Canton, would allow anyone licensed to carry weapons in other states to bring their guns legally into Georgia and have their concealed-carry permits recognized.
It would also let Georgia probate judges create online application portals for weapons-carry license requests and renewals, as well as prohibit state officials from halting weapons and ammunition sales during officially declared emergencies.
The gun measure follows mass shootings at three different spas in metro Atlanta earlier this month that left eight people dead, sparking calls from firearm opponents and Democratic lawmakers in favor of tighter gun-ownership rules.
Republican lawmakers have dismissed calls to shelve Ballinger’s gun measure in the wake of the spa shootings, arguing that loosening rules on carry-permit reciprocity between states aims to bolster constitutional gun-ownership rights for Georgians and those who visit the state.
“This bill will protect the Second Amendment rights of Georgians,” said Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia.
Ballinger’s bill passed by a 34-18 vote in the state Senate Monday along party lines. It now heads back to the Georgia House of Representatives for a final decision after clearing that chamber by a largely party-line vote in late February.
The gun measure comes as Democratic lawmakers push a separate bill filed last week to require that gun sellers wait five weekdays before clearing firearms purchases or face a felony charge with possible prison time for violating the delay time.
The purchasing delay aims to stave off future rushed purchases of guns by dangerous persons such as the suspect in the recent Atlanta-area spa shootings, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, who police say bought his weapon the same day he went on the killing spree.
“Gun safety should not be a partisan issue,” said Sen. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek. “Gun safety is a public-health issue.”
Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, noting the U.S. sees higher rates of gun violence than many other countries, argued the reciprocity bill would add “more guns to our over-armed and over-weaponized society.”
“Second Amendment rights are great,” Parent said on the Senate floor Monday. “But we also need to talk about saving lives.”
Gun restrictions habitually face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled state legislature, where the Second Amendment’s right-to-carry rules rank high on the list of conservative priorities to preserve.
Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, pushed back on Democrats’ arguments that passing Ballinger’s bill would worsen gun violence, arguing that mass shootings such as those at the Atlanta-area spas are the result of mental-health issues in perpetrators that go unaddressed.
“It was a hate crime, not a gun crime,” Summers said. “Let’s not go down the gun-control road.”