Campus carry drawing renewed support in Georgia

ATLANTA – A proposal to allow handguns on public college campuses in Georgia is gathering momentum despite concerns from Democrats and the state’s universities.

The measure, which passed the House on Monday, allows those with a concealed carry license to bring a handgun into classrooms, dining halls, administrative buildings and other parts of public colleges, universities and technical schools in Georgia.

Weapons would still be banned from sporting venues such as football stadiums, in dorms and in fraternity and sorority houses – causing some to say the bill doesn’t go far enough.

Rep. Jason Shaw, R-Lakeland, for one, said he liked the measure as presented, calling it “common sense middle ground.”

Other requirements – that someone must be 21 years old and have gone through the state’s licensing process – are also a comfort, said Shaw and Rep. Amy Carter, R-Valdosta.

“I’d rather my children have the ability to protect themselves than for them to be out there with no protection,” Shaw said after the vote.

Still, Carter said, it was a tough decision with strong emotions on both sides – including from a wary higher-education community. Valdosta State University has said it prefers current law.

As the law now stands, Georgia is one of 19 states that prohibit concealed weapons on campus.

Proponents of campus carry have argued that letting licensed gun owners carry firearms on campus will empower students to protect themselves and make Georgia’s campuses safer.

“Ninety-two percent of all the slaughters and mass killings that have been done were done on no-carry property,” said Rep. John Meadows, R-Calhoun, on the House floor Monday.

“One person that had a license that was legally carrying, could he or she have made a difference? The answer is yes.”

Democrats disagreed and said the change will endanger students.

Firearms will be introduced among “binge-drinking, drug-using, suicide-contemplating, hormone-raging college students,” said Rep. Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates, who teaches at Devry and Keller universities.

The change will also “breed fear and paranoia,” she said, since no one will know who is carrying a handgun.

And that, Drenner said, does not create “the kind of climate where free and open academic debate and learning thrive.”

Rep. Dexter Sharper, D-Valdosta, who voted against the bill, said he anticipates an increase in people illegally carrying weapons on campus, with students younger than 21 bringing guns to class so that they can protect themselves, too.

The bill’s co-sponsor, Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, said such a large influx of people carrying weapons is unlikely. Only about 10 percent of Georgians have a license to carry, he said.

His proposal is part of a wave of campus-carry bills that have hit statehouses in the last few years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Lawmakers across the country have considered dozens of proposals since 2013. Those bills, and court rulings, have led to eight states allowing concealed carry on campuses. That’s in addition to the 23 states that allow individual colleges and universities to make the decision.

In Georgia, Monday’s vote in the state House of Representatives was 113 to 59, falling mostly along party lines. The bill heads to the Senate, where a similar measure died in 2014.

Two years ago, the House voted to allow campus carry as part of the “Guns Everywhere” law, which opened up churches, bars, most government buildings and other place to concealed carry. The bill that passed did not have the provision allowing weapons on campus.

Jasperse, who sponsored the Guns Everywhere law, said he thinks the proposal will find more support now since people have had time to observe the effects of the 2014 law.

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.