Open Fire

originally published July 2, 2008

Last week’s Supreme Court decision affirming the rights of individuals to keep firearms in the home did far more than just overturn a Washington, D.C. ban on the ownership of handguns. This decision will now become the key element in a series of lawsuits filed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) that will try to overturn laws in every city and state that impose any kind of restrictions on the use of firearms.

“I consider this the opening salvo in a step-by-step process of providing relief for law-abiding Americans everywhere that have been deprived of this freedom,” said Wayne LaPierre, the head of the NRA, soon after the 5-4 decision was announced. The NRA won’t stop this legal crusade until it has eliminated all regulations governing the possession of firearms - which could even include a federal ban on the ownership of machine guns. The Supreme Court decision will make it a lot easier for the NRA’s lawyers to achieve that goal.

From Georgia’s point of view, the Supreme Court ruling was conveniently timed - it was announced just five days before a new state law took effect that expands the individual’s right to carry firearms in public places. That law, which slipped through on the last night of the General Assembly session at the insistence of NRA lobbyists, allows Georgians to carry handguns in parks, MARTA trains and other forms of public transportation, restaurants, and bars.

You can expect NRA lobbyists to come back next year and demand that legislators strike all the remaining restrictions on handgun possession from the state code. You can also expect that our lawmakers will do exactly what the NRA tells them to do.

One sure indicator of this is the fact that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle appointed a “Firearms Law Study Committee” the day after the decision was announced to review and recommend changes in the state’s gun laws. The committee is chaired by Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg), a hard-right ideologue, and is dominated by conservative Republican senators. If you think they will do anything other than recommend repeal of the state’s current gun control laws, then you haven’t been paying attention.

Cagle is a very shrewd politician who plans to run for governor in two years. Clearly, he’s seen some poll numbers that tell him the most advantageous political course is to get rid of the state’s gun laws. That is the only way you can reasonably interpret the ideological composition of the study committee he appointed.

By this time next year, I predict that our legislators will have repealed the state law that prohibits the carrying of firearms in school buildings. The NRA will argue that teachers need to protect themselves from the rougher elements in their classrooms, and our lawmakers will nod their heads in solemn agreement.

I think you will also see Georgia’s gun laws repealed or rewritten so that firearms can be legally carried at any public gathering or athletic event, even if the gun owner is consuming alcohol. If you’re a football fan at Georgia Tech or the University of Georgia, that could make the annual game between the two institutions all the more exciting.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has been fighting the NRA for two years over the ability of businesses and employers to keep firearms out of the workplace. Now that they have a favorable Supreme Court decision behind them, you can expect the NRA to prevail in that battle. This will make it easier for disgruntled employees at nuclear power plants to bring their guns to work, just to pick one example at random.

There is a very good possibility that you will also see the repeal of any laws that require a license or a criminal background check to make a gun purchase, which will make it all the more easy for convicted felons and the mentally ill to possess firearms.

There are probably some citizens who are a little concerned about this trend, but it’s useless to raise any protests about it. At this particular point in our great state’s history, the NRA rules supreme. The chances are good that those who support the right to carry a firearm anywhere and anyplace at anytime are going to see their fondest dreams come true.

Tom Crawford

Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news site at www.gareport.com that covers government and politics in Georgia.