Comments on: Altanta Mayor Does Not Believe Herself Bound by State Law

By: splante

splante — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:38:54 +0000

ERTBen & Hel0,
For the sake of argument lets presume the airport general areas *are* safe. What about the travel to and from the airport? I walk several block to the MARTA station where I board the train to the airport to pick up people coming to visit or family returning from a trip. These numerous police you refer to in the airport don’t come and serve as my personal armed guard from my house to the airport and back. There is no facility for me to check my gun as I leave MARTA and enter the airport. By banning guns in the airport, you would make the entire trip less safe.

By: benjamin1981

benjamin1981 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:43:32 +0000

ERTBen and Hel0,

What part of the term “law-abiding” do you not understand? What percent of people who shoot other people for no reason are law abiding? Once you allow the government to place restrictions on constitutional rights, you allow them much more than that.

The mere fact that the government can issue “permits” to truths that are self-evident and naturally our right, only highlights the fact that we are not truly free as constitutionally intended. The government has no right to restrict the right to bear arms no more than they do to “validate” a marriage via certificate.

KTHX.

By: PauldingJustin

PauldingJustin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:07:53 +0000

Hel0145: “What do you want next, to take your 9mm to church. It’s about the same dam thing. Just think about it.”

Yes, actually, I would like to be able to take my “9mm” to church.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Colorado_YWAM_and_New_Life_shootings

At about 1 p.m. MST (20:00 UTC), 30 minutes after the 11 a.m. service had ended at New Life Church, Murray opened fire in the church parking lot shooting the Works family and Judy Purcell, 40. Murray then entered the building’s main foyer where he shot Larry Bourbonnais, 59, hitting him in the forearm. At this point, Jeanne Assam, a church member volunteering as a church security guard, opened fire on Murray with her personally owned concealed weapon. After suffering multiple hits from Assam’s gun, Murray fatally shot himself.

Assam later stated that “God guided me and protected me [and I] did not think for a minute to run away.”

The pastor of the church stated that Assam shot Murray before he entered 50 feet inside the building, after she encountered him in the hallway, and that Assam probably saved “over 100 lives.”

By: Dawn2Dusk

Dawn2Dusk — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:39:32 +0000

According to the results of a survey of imprisoned felons conducted by Professors James D. Wright and Peter H. Rossi, conducted between August, 1982, and January, 1983, fifty-six percent of the felons surveyed agreed that “A criminal is not going to mess around with a victim he knows is armed with a gun;” 74% agreed that “One reason burglars avoid houses when people are at home is that they fear being shot.” In short, criminals fear armed citizens and when you have legally licensed to carry citizens, who have proved themselves to be some of the safest individuals with firearms, spread out among the general population you have criminals second guessing themselves on what targets to try to take advantage of thereby thwarting many instances of crime before it ever occurs. Do I want firearms to be carried by legally licensed individuals into airports? YES. If by a individual of felony mindset takes it upon themselves to go to a airport with a weapon to kill innocent people he’ll now have to not only mark easy to spot police officers but he’ll have to worry about GFL carrying citizens that could take him out before they kill dozens and dozens of people. With this in mind, that crime might not ever occur due to the fact that people can carry into the air port.

By: ctdonath

ctdonath — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:33:55 +0000

Hel0145,

1. Nothing physically restrains anyone from carrying at the airport lobby. If someone is with forethough willing to commit a morally horrific and legally heinous crime therein, a mere “you can’t carry here” won’t stop them. Should that happen, then yes indeed I want some upstanding law-abiding responsible citizens to be equipped to deal with the situation.

2. Do I want to shoot back? Yes indeed – if someone is killing innocents, particularly my family, heck yeah I want to be able to stop the assailant. Could I? Yes indeed – I have contemplated such scenarios, equipped accordingly, and trained to a high degree (to the point of teaching police what I’ve learned).

3. Yes, I would carry to church. God does not protect churches any more than He does airports.

By: Ed Stone

Ed Stone — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:26:27 +0000

Helo145, does not your argument apply equally well to carrying guns anywhere in public? Why do you think this is not happening everywhere? Have you bothered to notice that the vast majority of states do not ban carry in their airports (in the unsecured areas), but they are not experiencing the problems you so colorfully describe?
Should somebody decide to do as you say and carry a firearm into the airport to “take out as many people as they can before they die,” what in the world makes you think that a gun ban will stop them? And why do you think that I should not be able to stop him?
As for the question you ask about carrying my weapon to church, well, yes, I do want to repeal that law. But you were already aware that this is legal in 80% of the states, right?
Right.

By: Hel0145

Hel0145 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:25:41 +0000

The right to bear arms is one thing, and I do not disbelieve in it. But there is also a concern for public safety in a place as crowded as an airport. Think about this before you start going on a rampage about how you should be able to carry a gun anywhere. Anyone can get a gun permit, expect felons, and allowing anyone to carry a gun into a place where there are tens of thousands of people is not a great idea. Think about the one nut who decides to go Rambo and take out as many people as they can before they die. This has happened several times in our recent past and is getting worse. Do you really want to be in the airport and watch someone next to you get shot for no good reason and then have to use your firearm to take them out. Do you think that you would be able to do it? And if you do, what if someone else is trying the same thing; can you imagine bullets flying all over the terminal, how many innocent people would die? This isn’t just a rule in Atlanta; to my knowledge guns are not allowed into any airport around the world. This idea would be opening a can of worms that we would never be able to close. What do you want next, to take your 9mm to church. It’s about the same dam thing. Just think about it.

By: ctdonath

ctdonath — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:01:26 +0000

Assuming she put it in writing rather than merely verbalizing the decree, can we see a copy of her edict?

By: ERTBen

ERTBen — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:54:07 +0000

This is a misdirected effort that will bring nothing but bad press. What good reason could a person possibly have for carrying a concealed handgun into an airport terminal? It’s one of the most protected places in the country, with police everywhere armed with everything from handguns to shotguns to tasers to submachine guns. The last thing we need is a pack of vigilantes shooting up the airport because they think people are acting “suspiciously”.

It’s efforts like this that turn people against lawful, reasonable gun ownership. Guns have their place, and the airport is not it.

By: Thor

Thor — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:55:00 +0000

The next restriction to go should be the “public gathering”; some police and politicians use this as a catch all when there is no real restriction to enforce.