HB 89 (car carry bill) and HB 6 (Katrina bill) both passed out of committee today without amendment.  GCO strongly supports both of these bills.  It is now up to Rules to schedule a floor vote in the House on these bills.

The Appellant in Camp v. Cason, has filed his reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals.  All briefs are now filed, and this case is ready for the court decide.  The reply brief can be viewed at

http://www.georgiapacking.org/camp/AppellantReply.pdf

GCO and ”[m]ore than two dozen national and regional groups of American citizens over the weekend called for a federal investigation of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.”  See this article in Human Events.

On Sunday, a man murdered another in the parking lot of a church in Norcross during evening services.  Parishioners reported hearing gunfire in the parking lot before finding the body of the victim.  As most of you know, Georgia’s public gathering law, O.C.G.A. 16-11-127, disarms and leaves defenseless the law-abiding when going “to or while at” a church, and this law includes the parking lots adjacent to the church.

The Emory University School of Law chapter of the Federalist Society has invited GCO to speak to the group about its work in the state of Georgia, this Wednesday, January 24, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. in room 1E.  The Federalist Society informs GCO that non-students are also welcome to attend.

Timothy Bearden of the 68th has reintroduced his car carry bill as HB 89.  It already has 2 cosponsors.

This bill changes 16-11-126 for those that do not yet have a Georgia Firearms License (but are not prohibited from obtaining one) from having to keep a firearm open to view or in a closed container (like console or glove box) and will allow them to carry a loaded firearm anywhere in the motor vehicle.

Georgia Carry supports this bill as we see no reason why a person who is not disqualified from obtaining a firearms license and is already allowed to carry a firearm in a closed container, should not be able to carry anywhere else in a vehicle.

The state Department of Public Safety and the Carroll County Probate Judge have filed their briefs in the Camp case, currently pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.  The appellant, who sued to enforce his rights under the federal Privacy Act and the state GFL law, has 20 days to file a reply.  The appellees’ briefs can be viewed at:

www.georgiapacking.org/camp

2006 was the foundational year for GCO, and with 2007 beginning, we thought it might be a good time to look back over the previous year and see what was accomplished in just a few short months.

(1) GCO filed litigation in federal court resulting in the abandonment by the government of the requirement that an applicant  disclose his SSN in violation of the federal Privacy Act and disclose his irrelevant employment information under the guise of determining “good moral character.”  This litigation resulted in a change to the application form statewide, but GCO is not finished.  Stay tuned in 2007.

(2) GCO forced Cobb County’s probate court to reverse its policy of refusing to grant temporary renewal licenses.  Thanks to GCO, Cobb County residents may now obtain temporary renewal licenses and not lose their privilege to carry while waiting for the five year license to issue.  GCO also obtained temporary renewal licenses for two GCO members by initiating litigation after the members’ respective probate judges refused to issue temporary renewal licenses.  GCO intends to resolve this issue once and for all in 2007.

(3) GCO successfully urged Forsyth County to repeal its gun ban in county parks.  GCO wants to extend special recognition to GCO member and Forsyth County resident Kelly Kennett, who tirelessly advocated a repeal of the ban and was present at every public hearing to speak on GCO’s behalf.  Stay tuned in 2007 as GCO attacks the few remaining county level gun bans.  If your county has such a ban, consider getting involved in 2007!

(4) GCO successfully sued the Georgia Department of Public Safety to require them to provide certain open records related to Georgia Fireamrs Licenses that they originally had refused to provide, plus the Department of Public Safety agreed to pay GCO’s costs and attorneys fees for its blatant violation of the Open Records Act.

As a look forward into 2007, GCO currently has the issue of whether a probate judge “shall issue” a firearms license “[n]ot later than 60 days after the date of application,” as stated in 16-11-129(d)(4), on appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeals.  A decision should issue from that court in early 2007.  If this appeal wins, it will change the procedure statewide, requiring probate judges to issue within 60 days.  If the appeal loses, then nothing will change, as the judges who currently ignore the 60 day language will continue to ignore it.  A third but remote possibility is that the court will find a way to dodge the issue.

GCO intends to be very active in the General Assembly during the 2007 legislative session, with a goal of relaxing the onerous public gathering provisions and other restrictions on places where firearms are currently banned under state law.

This is an organization that began accepting memberships only on October 26, 2006.  If GCO can move this much in such a short couple of months, imagine what we can make happen 2007!  But we need your help. Consider taking the time to Join Us!

According to Tom Baxter and Jim Galloway at the AJC’s Political Insider, the NRA is pushing a bill, not yet prefiled, to bar employers from banning guns in automobiles parked in company parking lots, unless the company parking lot is secured by “gates and fences.”

Such a bill would still allow corporations with “fences and gates” to disarm their employees not only while at work, but while running errands during or immediately before or after the commute to or from work.   From the comments section: “Those that hunt or shoot recreationally are impacted by parking lot bans, because they can’t plan before or after work activities that involve firearms (e.g., no leaving directly for the hunting trip right after work on Friday).”

A 19-year-old man told police Dec. 27 an armed man attacked and robbed him while he was running in Best Friend Park in Norcross.

According to a police report, the victim was jogging near the tennis courts in the park when a black man armed with a knife grabbed him from behind.

The victim told police he tried to run away, eventually escaping after the man took his wallet containing his driver’s license, credit cards and $300.

The victim’s alleged attacker fled on foot in an unknown direction.

 Link to Source.