http://www.ajc.com/wireless/content/met ... _0115.html
"Gutted" and "rebuke" seem to be a bit over the top. The NRA and presumably the Georgian equivalent of TSRA swung for the fences but only got to second base. Hardly a loss. Getting at least CHL holders covered seems a pretty big step forward...Gun bill gutted after opposition from governor
By ANDREA JONES, JIM GALLOWAY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/15/08
A key Senate committee gutted a gun bill Tuesday that would have allowed Georgians to carry guns in their cars to work, in an attempt to diffuse a two-year battle between gun lobbyists and business owners. The vote came just a few hours after Gov. Sonny Perdue announced his opposition to the bill, which was backed by the National Rifle Association.
The Senate Rules Committee, which sets the agenda for the chamber, drastically narrowed the scope of the bill that originally would have allowed any employee to keep a firearm in cars parked in company lots. The new version applies only to Georgians with state-issued concealed weapons permits, and only in limited circumstances.
Originally, the bill would have applied to 9.5 million Georgia workers. The current version gives limited protection to the estimated 300,000 holders of state-issued concealed weapons permits.
State Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) sponsored the new version. "It's really so narrow there shouldn't be any opposition to it," he said.
Though no representatives of the NRA spoke for or against the watered-down version, Rogers said the gun owners organization will support the legislation when it comes to the Senate floor on Thursday for a vote.
Andrew Arulanandan, the NRA spokesman said the bill preserves the integrity of Georgia's right to carry laws.
However, he said, "if there is any further effort to tamper with the bill, it will be a non-starter."
State Sen. Jeff Mullis, who supported the wider version of the bill, said it was a "philosophical" victory for the NRA rather than a numerical one.
Joe Fleming, spokesman for the Chamber of Commerce, which vehemently opposed the bill, called it a "huge defeat" for the group.
"It's basically a rebuke of the NRA's position," he said. "That said, are we completely satisfied with the legislation? No. It is still poorly drafted and contradictory."
The committee also amended the bill to allow Georgians with concealed weapons permits to carry guns into state parks, an issue that has snagged the spotlight in the weeks after the murder of UGA graduate Meredith Emerson.
Rules chairman Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) called the new version a compromise for gun supporters and business owners.
"It's a restrictive bill," he said. "You're trying to figure out with the wisdom of Solomon how to split the baby."
Next up, Kentucky and college campuses...
http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/287756.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Bill would allow guns on campus
DAMRON HAS BIPARTISAN SUPPORT
By Art Jester And Ryan Alessi
AJESTER@HERALD-LEADER.COM, RALESSI@HERALD-LEADER.COM
State Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, signed up 44 co-sponsors Tuesday for his bill that would allow people who park on public university property to keep a legally registered gun in their vehicle.
Currently, this can be prohibited by weapons policies set by the state universities.
"All this bill does is say you're going to be treated like everyone else," Damron said. "Anywhere else you can have a gun in your car."
The co-sponsors for HB 114 include Democrats and Republicans.
The Nicholasville legislator led the successful fight for Kentucky's "concealed-carry" law for weapons in 1996. Under that law, people can get a permit to carry a concealed deadly weapon. Damron agreed at that time to an exemption for Kentucky's public universities and community colleges so that each institution could set its own policy on possession of firearms on campus.
The University of Kentucky bans guns on campus. And UK spokesman Jay Blanton said the university wants to retain its authority to set its policy.
"We believe that policy best serves the safety of our students and employees," Blanton said. "We would hope that the members of the Kentucky General Assembly recognize that the university administration and board of trustees are rightfully suited to manage and set policy that is in the best interest of the campus."
Guns at universities became a national issue after the mass shooting last spring at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., where a student gunman killed 32 people and then himself.
Morehead State University President Wayne Andrews said the bill "gives me great concern. I think we need to tread very lightly with the issue of weapons on campus."
Andrews said "if people have weapons on campus, they might use them," endangering the campus community.
But Damron said he doesn't expect much opposition to his bill in the House.
"I've heard two or three people who work at UK who are concerned that they're in violation of UK policy because they keep a gun in their car for their public safety," he said.
State Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, chairwoman of the House judiciary committee, said the bill "needs a lot of studying" before it can get the panel's approval.
Stein raised a couple of concerns. One is that the bill is not urgent, and the universities need to be focused on how they will deal with the state's massive shortfall that is expected to reach more than $500,000 next year. In addition, she said, Damron has been inconsistent in giving leeway to the universities.
Yesterday, Damron's perennial bill to give the universities their own bonding authority for capital projects passed the House and moves to the Senate, where it has normally been shelved in the face of opposition from the upper chamber's GOP majority.
With that bill, Damron favors giving the universities the freedom to make important management decisions on their own, Stein said. But with HB 114, she said, Damron is trying to micromanage the campuses by setting their policies on possession of firearms.
Does Kentucky really require guns, CHL-related or not, to be "legally registered?" I smell ignorance/sloppy writing here...
And finally, Oregon, and that teacher who sued to have her CHL-authorized gun at school:
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/sto ... xml&coll=7
The Oregonian
Medford teacher appeals gun ban
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
A Medford English teacher has appealed a court decision blocking her from carrying a gun at school.
Shirley Katz, who teaches at South Medford High School, is seeking to overturn last year's Circuit Court ruling upholding a school district policy that forbids employees from carrying guns on campus.
Katz told Medford School District officials last fall that she wanted to carry a semiautomatic 9 mm Glock to protect herself from her ex-husband.
Katz claims the district policy conflicted with a state law that prohibits local governments from restricting the public's use of firearms. Jackson County Circuit Judge G. Philip Arnold ruled that the law did not govern school district employment policies. A member of the public with a concealed handgun permit can carry a gun into a public school.
Katz filed her appeal last week with the Oregon Court of Appeals.
-- Ashbel S. Green
You go girl! Glad to see she is still in the fight.
I see these as basically good news, never mind the "gutted" rhetoric. C'mon Texas Leg in 2009!
elb
