Georgia’s Safe Carry Protection Act: The Sky Is Not Falling!
After many years of discussion, debates, hearings, and public input, Governor Nathan Deal signed House Bill 60, The Safe Carry Protection Act. As predicted, many in the media and gun control advocates have gone, well, berserk. Like Chicken Little shouting warnings to anyone who would listen, and many who did not care to, the claims of Armageddon can be heard everywhere. Fortunately, they are mostly falling on deaf ears.
It is interesting to me how the same pundits, especially those who claim to be independent professionals, praise the unconstitutional and reactionary legislation passed in New York and Connecticut while criticizing the entire legislature and governor in Georgia. To those critics of our state, I have a radical suggestion; READ THE LAW!
The Safe Carry Protection Act does not change the laws of self-defense, does not allow criminals to carry or possess firearms, and does not, as a friend felt the need to point out, legalize murder. The law does, however, allow the involuntary commitment of a person for mental treatment to be reported to NCIC which will in turn prevent that person from buying a firearm or being issued a carry permit. That provision alone should deserve praise from all media sources.
So why has this law received so much bad press? It’s simple, really. Every time a state passes a law that makes it easier for law-abiding citizens to carry firearms more freely there is a reduction in crime. That’s not a thought, a notion, or hyperbole; its a fact. Look at the crime statistics. In contrast, the states and cities with the most restrictive gun control are unsafe and in some circumstances, slaughterhouses. To my point, during the same week that Governor Deal signed the Safe Carry Protection Act, the City of Chicago saw nine people shot and killed and thirty-six people shot and wounded in a single weekend! The social experiment in gun control played out in a laboratory labelled Chicago and that experiment has been a complete and utter failure.
Consider it another social experiment. Georgia has decided that a law-abiding armed citizen is a good thing. The law encourages people to obtain permits and thereby furthers the goal that those who carry firearms will by law-abiding. I ask the same people who support the rights of California and Colorado to legalize marijuana to support the decision of the Georgia legislature. Respect for the political process means more than just voting. It means recognizing that states will pass laws with which you will disagree.
The Safe Carry Protection Act deserves more respect and fair evaluation than most laws because it is an expression of the principles of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. The sky is not falling in Georgia, but the murder rate will. Stay safe.