No, this is clearly newsworthy. In spite of the fact that there were two people with guns in this situation, there was only one idiot. If there were two, we’d have another statistic.
Read his comment more closely. He never mentioned the murder rate; he mentioned the number of murders. Surprisingly, a city of almost three million people had more murders last week than my (much smaller) city. How could this be? It’s probably caused by gun control! Somehow!
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While it was legal to carry into the gas station convenience store - that’s not the effect the new law had that caused the spark up. You kinda missed the problem.
The new law also prohibits other citizens and police from even asking to see the permits of people carrying guns. One guy with a concealed weapon demanded to see the i.d. and license of another guy with a concealed weapon. Under the new law, he couldn’t do that. That created an angry stand off.
The altered text is in portion 16-11-137 of the law (Georgia HB60). Part (a) first requires that “Every license holder shall have his or her valid weapons carry license in his or her immediate possession at all times when carrying a weapon…” (or proof of exemption).
Then part (b) turns around and immediately says, “(b) A person carrying a weapon shall not be subject to detention for the sole purpose of investigating whether such person has a weapons carry license.”
So, the police (and no one else) is allowed to even check if a license is on your person. You have to be doing something specific other than carrying for anyone to ask.
It gets really bad when you find out that part © introduces a whopping $10 fine for failure to carry your license - when you have to be doing something else illegal, or at the least suspicious, for anyone to have even legally asked you about it.
P.S. Not saying it wasn’t a stupid move.
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Sign on Front Street of Dodge City, 1878: “The Carrying of Firearms Strictly Forbidden”
Wild west was much more civilized place.
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Duels aside, people commonly carrying guns means that every confrontation turns into a potentially deadly game of “Prisoner’s Dilemma.” Do you wait for someone to pull their gun and, maybe, shoot you, or do you draw first when things get heated?
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Yep. Total gun bans were quite common in Western towns of the period. People tended to shoot up the place, otherwise…
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Oh, lawd. The whole point of the law is to legally negate busybodies, and this guy decides to become super-busybody. I bet he thought he was the hero Georgia deserved or some shit. But, this anecdote involved two open-carriers, which isn’t what the new law is about, right? Open carry was already legal here for something like five years.
So, I showed up to work the other day; while waiting for them to let me in, I spied a new sign next to the door: “No firearms permitted.”
“What’s with the sign? Open carry is legal in GA.”
“Right, and then if someone was openly carrying, we could walk over to them and say, ‘hey, we don’t allow firearms.’ But the law just changed, and now you can legally concealed carry, so we have to put the sign up.”
“OK, wait, so even though it’s legal to carry, the owners of the premises have the final say for their own property?”
“Yes, as long as it’s posted. The holder can’t be arrested for carrying, they’re still legal, but we can tell them to get the gun off the property”
And that’s how I learned that the gun laws had changed.
(I haven’t actually looked any of this up myself but that’s what I was told, anyway. So, apologies if this is totally misinformed. My boss kinda sucks, but for all his faults I trust that he learned all this stuff vis-a-vis his own business.)
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He got it right.
Lines 127-134 of HB60 say this: “(d) Any person who is not prohibited by law from possessing a handgun or long gun who is eligible for a weapons carry license may transport a handgun or long gun in any private passenger motor vehicle; provided, however, that private property owners or persons in legal control of private property through a lease, rental agreement, licensing agreement, contract, or any other agreement to control access to such private property shall have the right to exclude or eject a person who is in possession of a weapon or long gun on their private property in accordance with paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of Code Section 16-7-21, except as provided in Code Section 16-11-135.” (italics denote changes to verbiage)
GEORGIA STATUTES AND CODES
§ 16-7-21(3)(b) - Criminal trespass
(b) A person commits the offense of criminal trespass when he or she knowingly and without authority:
(3) Remains upon the land or premises of another person or within the vehicle, railroad car, aircraft, or watercraft of another person after receiving notice from the owner, rightful occupant, or, upon proper identification, an authorized representative of the owner or rightful occupant to depart.
The exception, Code Section 16-11-135, is for employees who are parked on site and have left licensed guns concealed inside locked vehicles.
http://www.georgiapacking.org/GaCode/?title=16&chapter=11§ion=135
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Shoot first - check for permit later?
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If it gets more people thinking about maths, this can only be good thing.
Interesting, regardless of being a new law or an old law, it is quite funny that one of the plonkers is displaying the same sort of behaviour that these gun toting carrots abhor in their police.
Amazing how much perceived power a gun seems to create in a persons mind. His inner policemannie was coming oot.
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And yet nothing happened. There was no wild west showdown and shootout, one man was dumb, the other knew his rights, butts were hurt but none of the mythical concealed carrier violence happened.
There was no “angry standoff”. The carrier who was asked just said he didn’t have to show anything, then he paid for his purchases and left, thus diffusing the situation.
It is all but inevitable that gun totting carrots like these will end up shooting each other. This was an “angry standoff” one of them just lost their bottle on this occasion. Next time.
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Which one is the good guy with the gun?
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“No, I detained him so I could shoot him. I checked his license as an afterthought.”
I do agree with the detractors that this isn’t such a big story, but it is a small reminder that when everyone is carrying around guns that doesn’t change whether or not many of those people are crazy idiots. The idea that everyone carrying around guns makes us safer is just plain nuts.
And a quick reminder - the crazy idiots don’t think they are the crazy idiots and you can never be 100% sure whether you are one of them.
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Yes there is. I really don’t like the idea of short-fused individuals carrying loaded handguns in places where I might be. Unfortunately it’s the kind of person that feels they need a pistol on their hip to be complete that worries me.
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In general, I’d worry less about the guy with one in a holster on his/her hip, and more about the one hiding one in their waist band.
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Think about this - those people in Chicago have guns, which gun-people are in favor of. So Chicago is basically the concealed-carry dream-city. No pesky regulations! Just get a gun and start blazing away! Oh, wait, you mean those are the wrong people? I beg to differ! Just patriotic Americans exercising their right to bear arms. They just happen to be black and poor. So you want to prevent those people from having guns? What about the second amendment?
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If they are under age and/or convicted felons, they yeah, they are the wrong people.
Poor and black are probably the two biggest indicators of actually needing something for self defense.
