Back in December, I wrote about a bill that was pre-filed in the Georgia House called the Georgia Constitutional Carry Act. I’m a big fan of laws that reinforce our Second Amendment rights, so I emailed my state representative, Paulette Braddock, and asked that she sign on as a cosponsor.
This past week I found out that she had indeed joined the effort as a cosponsor of the bill. (See, sometimes getting things done when you contact a legislator is that easy.) I had a chance on Saturday to speak with her for a few minutes, and she mentioned another bill she’s supporting that would allow for guns to be carried onto college campuses.
If either of these bills get any momentum, you can bet there’ll be a huge fight to stop them. The argument (with which I disagree) is that more guns means more crime. The truth is that a well-armed populace is the best deterrent to crime. Here’s why:
1. Laws won’t stop criminals. How much crime is thwarted because a would-be criminal stops and says “Oh yeah, I’m not allowed to take my gun there”? None, obviously. The point is that there are two kinds of people: those who obey the law and those who don’t. Somebody carrying a gun on to a college campus for the purpose of killing people is not even slightly concerned about the status of his concealed carry permit.
2. Gun-free zones attract crime. Does it make more sense for a criminal to commit a violent crime in a place where others could return fire or in a place where law-abiding citizens will be unarmed? State-ordered gun free zones don’t deter crime. Instead they make themselves appealing for a crime spree. In these “gun free” zones, any law-abiding gun owners won’t have their guns and will be left defenseless.
3. Laws will stop law-abiding citizens. While these laws don’t deter criminals, they do deter one group of people: law abiding citizens. People with license to conceal carry are some of the most reasonable, rational people in our society. Leaving rational people who are often trained and skilled in handling firearms defenseless in a crime is wrong.
I’m not sure where either of these bills will go. However, I do believe that Georgia should be leading by example on issues of Constitutional rights. At the very least, these bills will get people talking and thinking about gun rights and how the restrictions on our Second Amendment rights threatens our life and liberty.
Hopefully these bills will do more than start a conversation. Hopefully they will become law and the next time someone tries to go on a shooting spree at a Georgia college, the criminal will find his crime prematurely ended because some responsible citizen was able to protect himself.
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