Explanation

Local school boards will now be allowed to vote on whether they want to let teachers and other members of the school’s staff bring guns to campus. The staff members will apply to the school board, and they will go through training that includes “judgement pistol shooting,” “marksmanship,” and a review of Georgia’s laws about shooting people to defend yourself and others. If a teacher doesn’t want to carry the gun at all times, he or she will have to store it in a safe or lock box.

Analysis

It's not that people in Georgia couldn't bring guns to school before. But the law was unclear on how exactly that could be done. According to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated 16-11-127.1(c)(6), someone can bring a gun to campus if an "authorized official of the school" gives that gun owner permission. But what constitutes an "authorized official of the school"? A principal? A guidance counselor? A PE teacher? The new bill changes how gun owners can get permission to bring their weapons to school. Now, local school boards will decide which staff members can carry a weapon. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, said this will make it easier for trained teachers in poor school districts that can't afford security to bring their own guns for protection. But Frank Rotondo, the executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, said the bill does not specifically demand strict enough training for the teachers. He said some people do not properly understand what is deemed a legitimate threat, and when they can shoot people in self defense.

Explanation

Right now, gun owners are not allowed to bring their firearms into bars unless the bar owner is OK with it. But under the Safe Carry Protection Act, the emphasis is reversed. A patron can bring guns into bars unless the owner tells him or her to leave.

Analysis

Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, says gun owners shouldn’t automatically get charged with a crime for walking into the bar with a weapon. He says the bar owner should confront gun holders first and tell them to leave. If they refuse, Jasperse says, they should be arrested. But some gun control groups say guns shouldn’t be allowed in bars at all. Americans for Responsible Solutions, the group founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, sent an email attacking this part of the bill: “Guns and alcohol, like cars and drunk drivers, can be a deadly combination. Bar brawls will become lethal for bar patrons and bystanders.”

Explanation

Under the Safe Carry Protection Act, a police officer will no longer be able to ask someone with a gun if he or she has a license to carry that weapon. An officer can only ask this question if the officer has a reason to believe that the gun owner has committed a crime. For example, if an officer is responding to a bank robbery and sees someone running away from a building with a gun, an officer will be allowed to stop that person and ask for his or her license.

Analysis

Jerry Henry, the executive director of the gun rights group Georgia Carry, says this part of the bill protects gun owners’ constitutional rights. He says that, without this bill, police officers can harass anyone with a gun for no reason. But Todd Edwards, a legislative director for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, says this bill means people have little incentive to even apply for a gun carry license, which is designed in part to cut down on illegal gun possession: "By hindering our law enforcement from being able to do that, we are hindering our officers from potentially stopping a crime."

Explanation

Church leaders will now be able to decide whether to allow their members to bring guns into their buildings. Right now, bringing guns into houses of worship is illegal. Under the Safe Carry Protection Act, if a gun license holder brings a gun into church against the wishes of that church’s leaders, the gun owner will be fined $100. If a non-license holder brings a gun to that same church, he or she will be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Analysis

During an early draft of the Safe Carry Protection Act, the bill’s sponsors wanted all churches to allow guns. However, many prominent religious leaders in Georgia protested, and that part of the bill was re-written to give churches a choice. But Rabbi Loren Lapidus of Atlanta's The Temple, one of the bill's protestors, says this change was not enough. She says allowing any guns in any church sets a dangerous precedent. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, said church’s need security. And, in a small rural church, pastors can’t afford to hire outside protection, so the congregation should be allowed to bring their own weapons.

Explanation

This part of the Safe Carry Protection Act makes it illegal for public housing authorities in Georgia to restrict its tenants from keeping guns in their homes. That is, of course, assuming no other laws ban those tenants from owning guns.

Analysis

As seen with many elements of the bill, opinions concerning this law are really about the scope of the Second Amendment. Would banning guns in public housing infringe on a citizen’s fundamental rights as an American? The Delaware Supreme Court faced this same question last month, when the justices unanimously concluded that the Wilmington Housing Authority’s rules against allowing guns in the common areas of the state’s public housing complexes was illegal. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, said most public housing authorities already allow legal guns, but this is ""statement to make sure that those people who live in public housing were able to use their 2nd Amendment rights to defend themselves in their home."

Explanation

During a state of emergency, the governor of Georgia will no longer be able to stop the sale or transportation of guns.

Analysis

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, said this amendment is necessary because of events like Hurricane Katrina, when New Orleans police officers confiscated civilians’ weapons in preparation for a forced evacuation. But this amendment does not actually accomplish that. There is already a state law protecting private gun owners from losing their weapons during an emergency. Still, John Monroe, an attorney for the gun rights group Georgia Carry, said taking away the governor's ability to stop the transfer of guns during an emergency is important because, in those situations, people often flee -- and when they flee, they bring their guns. Frank Rotondo, the executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, says this part of the bill is actually dangerous. He said the governor should be able to suspend gun sales during events like the Watts RIots of 1965, when 34 people died during a six-day protest against Los Angeles police brutality.

Explanation

This part of the Safe Carry Protection Act makes it illegal for public housing authorities in Georgia to restrict its tenants from keeping guns in their homes. That is, of course, assuming no other laws ban those tenants from owning guns.

Analysis

As seen with many elements of the bill, opinions concerning this law are really about the scope of the Second Amendment. Would banning guns in public housing infringe on a citizen’s fundamental rights as an American? The Delaware Supreme Court faced this same question last month, when the justices unanimously concluded that the Wilmington Housing Authority’s rules against allowing guns in the common areas of the state’s public housing complexes was illegal. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, said most public housing authorities already allow legal guns, but this is ""statement to make sure that those people who live in public housing were able to use their 2nd Amendment rights to defend themselves in their home."

Explanation

If a killer claims that his or actions were in self defense (or to defend other people), the killer can ask a judge for immunity. If the judge grants that immunity, the killer won’t have to go to trial. In the past, killers who claimed self defense but broke other laws in the process couldn’t request this immunity. Now, the following people can: Convicted felons who can’t have guns in the first place, shooters who were drunk or on drugs, killers with guns in unauthorized places like nuclear power plants, shooters younger than 18 and killers carrying guns without a license.

Analysis

Gun control advocates and some media outlets -- including MSNBC, The Guardian and The Huffington Post -- have said this part of the bill expands Georgia’s “Stand Your Ground” law. This is incorrect. In fact, the change in the law will merely alter who can request immunity from prosecution. Most shooters who claim self defense can ask for this immunity, but a certain group cannot. However, under the Safe Carry Protection Act, this group of drunk killers, convicted felons and others will be able to ask for immunity. That doesn't necessarily mean they will receive it, of course.

Explanation

Right now, Georgia citizens who have been convicted of pointing a gun at somebody else are not allowed to get a weapons carry license, which would allow them to legally walk around with a gun hidden. But, under the Safe Carry Protection Act, those people will now be able to get a license.

Analysis

The gun control Americans for Responsible Solutions have spoken out against this part of the bill, arguing that husbands who have abused their wives and pointed a gun at them will still be able to legally carry a gun outside the home. But Jerry Henry, the executive director of the gun rights group Georgia Carry, says this part of the bill will not affect those who have perpetrated domestic violence. Those people have caused fear in their victims, and people who have caused fear are guilty of aggravated assault, a felony. And a convicted felon isn’t allowed to get a carry license anyway. However, there are cases in which someone points a gun at another person and the victim claims he or she was not afraid. In those cases, Henry argues, the person with a gun is not violent and should not lose his right to have a carry license.