GCO has alerted the Clerk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit of the recent ruling in the 7th Circuit, which held that law-abiding citizens are entitled to a higher standard of review for Second Amendment cases than intermediate scrutiny. GCO had argued that very point in its reply brief in its Church Carry Case. The 7th Circuit now has adopted GCO’s very argument. Federal Appellate rules permit a party to write a letter to the clerk of the appellate court to advise the court of new court decisions that are pertinent to the case. GCO’s letter may be viewed here.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has announced that it will hear oral arguments in GCO’s church carry case. The case challenges the state law banning carrying firearms in places of worship. The case was dismissed by federal judge C. Ashley Royal, who determined that there is not a second amendment right to carry firearms in church and that the free exercise clause of the first amendment is not implicated by the ban. The state had objected to oral argument, but the court has ordered it over the state’s objection. Argument will take place in Atlanta the first week of October, with a firm date to be announced in early August.

Today, GCO filed its reply brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in its case challenging the constitutionality of the state ban on carrying firearms in places of worship. The court announced yesterday that it desires to hear oral arguments of the appeal. No date has been set, but it likely will be in the fall. Briefs in the case may be viewed here.

The State of Georgia and other appellees have responded to GCO’s appeal in GCO’s case challenging the state ban on carrying firearms in places of worship. The briefs may be viewed here.

GCO has filed its opening brief in the appeal of the dismissal of its case challenging Georgia’s ban on carrying firearms in places of worship. The brief and other documents in the case may be viewed here.

GCO has filed an appeal of the dismissal of its case challenging Georgia’s ban on carrying firearms in places of worship.

A federal judge in Macon dismissed GCO’s legal challenge against the state’s ban on carrying firearms in “places of worship.” The court ruled that the law does not burden religion because it does not interfere with anyone’s sincerely-held religious beliefs, despite the fact that one plaintiff testified that “I believe [Jesus' teachings] require me to obtain, keep, and carry a firearm wherever I happen to be [including] when I am attending regular worship services.” The court ruled the law does not infringe on the Second Amendment because the government has an important interest in protecting worshipers and banning them from carrying firearms is a significant means of doing so. The order may be viewed here.

GeorgiaCarry.Org has filed a reply brief in support of its motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit seeking to have Georgia’s ban on carrying firearms in places of worship ruled unconstitutional. The motion should now be submitted to the district judge for a ruling. The brief and other documents in the case can be viewed here.

GCO has filed a motion for summary judgment in its church carry case against the State of Georgia. GCO filed the case in the Superior Court of Upson County, but the defendants removed the case to federal district court in Macon. The judge in the case, Chief Judge C. Ashley Royal, has indicated he intends to rule on the case quickly and gave the parties 30 days to file briefs raising all issues they intended to raise in the case. GCO’s case rests on the theory that it is unconstitutional to ban carrying guns in churches, especially when guns are allowed almost everywhere else in the state.

GCO filed a motion for summary judgment. The State of Georgia and Governor Sonny Perdue filed motions to dismiss. Upson County and its manager, Kyle Hood, also filed motions to dismiss. The latter motions consisted of a “copy and paste” from the State motion.

Documents in the case may be viewed here.

Do guns belong in a place of worship?  GCO Vice President John Monroe appeared on Fox 5 News on August 26, 2010 to debate the issue.

Georgia remains one of only four states that maintain an outright ban on guns in places of worship, including Arkansas, Mississippi, and North Dakota.

The story and video of the debate can be found here.