The City of Atlanta just issued a press release with a headline that declares, “Atlanta Mayor, Airport GM Declare Airport a Gun-Free Zone.” HB 89 takes effect tomorrow and it declares the policy of the state of Georgia, which is that transportation terminals are no longer off limits.  Mayor Shirley Franklin and airport General Manager Ben DeCosta are holding a press conference tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. in the airport atrium (clock tower). GCO will be watching this issue closely.  If the City of Atlanta clearly states that it will follow through with its threat, then GCO will file suit before the press conference is over.

Has Mayor Franklin forgotten about her recent loss in court to GCO, back in May?

The Stone Mountain Memorial Association, represented by the Attorney General, has answered GCO’s lawsuit challenging SMMA’s ordinance banning firearms in Stone Mountain Park.  The Answer may be viewed here.

GCO has filed a class action in federal court, challenging the state law that prohibits issuing GFLs to nonresidents. The GCO member plaintiff, who is a resident of Wisconsin, sought to obtain a GFL for when he visits Georgia. The Fulton County Probate Court confirmed that he would not be permitted to apply.

The case seeks to have the law ruled unconstitutional as violating the Privileges and Immunities Clause, the Militia Clause, the 2nd Amendment, and the 14th Amendment. The 2nd Amendment claim is bolstered by yesterday’s Supreme Court of the United States decision in Heller.

The case is somewhat unusual in that it seeks to sue all the probate judges in Georgia in a class action, with the class being the defendant judges. Class actions usually have a plaintiff class against a single defendant. Before the case can proceed as a class action, the federal judge to whom the case is assigned will have to certify the class.

The class representative, the Fulton County probate judge, was served on June 27, 2008, the day the complaint was filed.  Her answer will be due July 17.

The complaint may be viewed here.

After hearing reports that Screven County Probate Judge Debbie Brown was telling GFL applicants they only can carry in their cars, GCO wrote Judge Brown a letter to tell her of the many more places a GFL holder can carry.  A copy of the letter may be viewed here.

In order to settle a GCO lawsuit against Athens-Clarke County, the county has agreed to repeal an ordinance giving the city power to close gun stores in an emergency and prohibiting firearms in establishments that are licensed to sell alcohol.  The mayor and commission are scheduled to consider the repeal at their August 5 meeting.

In response to urging from GCO, Glynn County has repealed its ban on carrying firearms in county parks.  A copy of the revised ordinance can be viewed here.

In response to GCO’s inquiry about a sign in East Cobb Park forbidding firearms, the Cobb County Attorney’s Office has confirmed that there is no ordinance or policy in Cobb County banning guns in parks.  The office was not able to determine how or why the sign listing park rules came to include a firearms prohibition.  The sign will be changed soon, they said.

A GCO member has filed a motion to have Henry County Probate Judge Kelley Powell held in contempt of federal court for her failure obey a court order regarding requests for social security numbers.  In the 2007 case, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia declared that Judge Powell had violated the federal Privacy Act and ordered her to provide the notice required by Section 7(b) of the Act, including “by what statutory or other authority the information is requested” if she asks for SSNs.  It was reported on Georgiapacking.org that Judge Powell has been asking for SSNs without providing this notice.  The member has asked that Judge Powell be held in contempt, that all SSNs collected since the injunction was entered be purged from Judge Powell’s records, and that a court appointed monitor be established to report to the court whether Judge Powell is abiding by the injunction.  A copy of the motion, and earlier documents in the case, may be viewed here.

GCO has written the chief of the Glynn County Police Department, asking for this department to cease detaining people solely for open carrying.  The letter was prompted by a GCO member being twice detained by GCPD for no reason other than the members’ open carrying.  A copy of the letter may be viewed here.

Alice Johnson, executive director of Georgians for Gun Safety, has accused GCO of “reneging on its deal with the [Georgia] Senate,” in promoting the passage of HB 89. Ms. Johnson made this claim in a radio interview, but failed to provide any substantiation for her accusation. Ms. Johnson did not identify what this fictitious “deal” was, nor did she explain how an organization goes about making a “deal” with a legislative body.

For the record, GCO made no deals with the Georgia Senate or any other governmental organization related to HB 89. GCO zealously advocated what it believed to be the best legislation that could be passed in 2008 for the benefit of its members.