Posted on 06/30/2008 8:05:48 PM PDT by Turbopilot
You could call it the Atlanta version of "High Noon."
Top city officials will announce Tuesday that despite a new state gun law that went into effect at midnight, they will have anyone carrying a weapon at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport arrested. The state lawmaker who sponsored the new gun law says if they do, the city will immediately be sued. And state Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica) said the plaintiff in the lawsuit could be himself.
"I have a permit, and I have family I have to pick up at the airport tomorrow [Tuesday]," Bearden told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. "I'll have one [a concealed weapon] with me at all times."
Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said if Bearden shows up at the world's busiest airport with a gun, he'll be busted.
"I can identify him, and I'll have him arrested," DeCosta said Monday. "We're not fooling around. This is a post-terrorism environment."
The new law, which Bearden sponsored, permits licensed gun owners to carry concealed firearms in parks, on public transportation and in restaurants that serve liquor. The law takes effect Tuesday.
Firearms proponents hailed the law as a victory for the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They say law-abiding citizens with the appropriate permits should be allowed to carry firearms in formerly forbidden areas for self-protection.
Before the new law was passed, Georgia law banned guns from venues like public transportation and restaurants serving alcohol. More than 40 other states permit guns on public transportation, Bearden said, and 37 allow permit holders to carry weapons into restaurants.
"I was in law enforcement for 15 years," Bearden said as the bill awaited the governor's signature two months ago. "I never rode up on a shooting in progress. I don't like the idea of the police telling you, 'Get mugged, get raped, get murdered. We'll come by, take the report, or send flowers.' That's the wrong message."
Opponents, however, blasted the proposal, saying it has the potential to spark more violence than it stops. DeCosta wrote to Gov. Sonny Perdue asking him to veto the bill, and Mayor Shirley Franklin and MARTA officials publicly lambasted the idea. MARTA bus drivers gathered more than 1,000 signatures on petitions demanding bulletproof shields.
Federal law already bans guns past the security checkpoints at U.S. airports. The new state law, however, apparently would permit guns to be carried on the non-secure side of Hartsfield-Jackson by people who have gone through a background check and have been certified to carry a weapon. Licensed gun owners would be permitted to carry weapons on public transportation coming into the airport, its lobby and in restaurants outside the security checkpoints.
DeCosta said he will use the first day the new law takes effect to declare Hartsfield-Jackson a "gun-free" zone.
"We're going to make it clear that the law does not make any allowance for guns at the airport," DeCosta said. "Guns are not appropriate for any airport in Georgia."
He and Franklin plan a 10 a.m. news conference to discuss the new gun law.
Bearden said the new law clearly permits guns in some areas of the airport.
"They are not appropriate once you go past security," he said. "But in parking lots or restaurants or public transportation, they are OK."
The state lawmaker said the city does not have the authority to defy a state law, and if they make arrests they will end up in court.
DeCosta said city officials will not back down from their position on the new law and again vowed to have Bearden or anyone else carrying a gun on airport property arrested.
"He can then have all the NRA [National Rifle Association] lawyers say why it's OK for him to bring a gun to the airport," DeCosta said.
MARTA, meanwhile, released a statement late Monday noting that state law prohibits firearms on public transit unless the carrier has a valid license to carry a gun.
"This license must be carried at any time that an individual is carrying a firearm on MARTA," the statement said.
On the one hand, I don't want anyone harassed illegally by the police to serve a lunatic political agenda. On the other, if it did happen, the city and the airport would get smacked down hard in court, and the corrupt idiots who run the airport could actually face criminal charges, which would be wonderful. It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out tomorrow.
42 U$C 1988
A sentiment I fully agree with.
Relatively low level authority acting like he has more power than he does. No surprise there. I’m sure the state will win.
Taking orders from an airport manager shouldn’t shield the cops from a false arrest charge. Surely they won’t resort to the old “ignorance of the law” excuse. They could nab the airport manager for filing a false police report though.
The left doesn't want us to have our own cars and insists we take public transportation and follow their rules. Even here in commie Wisconsin we can't have a gun in the passenger compartment of a car.
WTG Rep. Bearden! No matter how small his power may be, I thank him for going against these atl thugs.
We only need to put a few of these low level tyrants and lawbreakers into jail, or paying large settlements, to teach the rest the lesson.
The law seems very clear.
Is Ben DeCosta nuts? If he won’t follow the law, he needs to be fired.
Maybe suing the airport for violation of civil rights.
Ya know where they can find a good lawyer?
The leftist just can grasp the concept of freedom. It isn’t selective. If the law says he can do it, he can do it. Hopefully he will carry and then sue the crap out of these people. This is what is going to take place over and over again now that we have the second amendment confirmed as an individual right. Eventually we will win and return this country to something of its former free status.
And, of course, as every public official knows, a criminal bent on mayhem or murder with a weapon would NEVER think of bringing a gun into a gun-free area.
Virginia Tech was just one of the more recent events highlighting how careful nutcases are about observing those laws.
The other thing we all know is that most of the administrators at all levels here in Atlanta are, themselves, nutcases.
Nothing new here. Keep moving.
Since it is perfectly legal to carry a gun and ammo to the airport and travel with both through checked baggage, I can’t wait to see how this goes down.
Actually there is a shyster in the atl area that is a specialists at representing and suing city, county, gov’t entities. Last name was Grey or Gray, don’t know the guy- just ran across him as an aside on a Fourth Amendment issue I was helping a friend with.
My thoughts, exactly. By their pre-admission, they are willingly and knowingly violating his rights, and are engaged in a concerted effort to harass him and further deprive him.
And, not just the Airport, but, the individuals who have made these public statements.
Wish I had the time and money to join him, sounds like a good financial investment. The herewego house could use a new porch.
I hope the cameras are rolling.
I wished I knew what time he would be there. I’d take a few hours off and join the fun. I’m only 37 miles from Hartsfield.
$$$$$$ away from the corrupt politicians = good in this world!
As an aside, since scotus spent so much time on the history of the meaning of such words as militia and other romper room crap, why couldn’t those great minds decipher the term “shall not be infringed”?
10 A.M I think.
Excellent point. You were already able to check a firearm. How did these idjits think you were going to check it if they didn’t let you bring it to the ticket counter??
It seems lately that dire hysterics are the norm for the hoplophobes in office. I've seen them on TV by the dozens insisting "damn the laws, we'll arrest you anyway," or "We'll face up to those NRA outlander goons" (well something like that).
The vermin are quaking in their boots! Yeah! No moral and now no LEGAL authority!
That certainly worked out well for SCHOOL BUS Nagin and his band of gun-grabbing thugs...
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=3647
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
This article confuses me.
On the one hand, the Representative sponsored the bill that he’s going to use to its full effect, ie. being able to carry concealed in the non-secure part of the airport. But, the airport manager said he would have the Representative arrested if he sees him there.
What am I missing?
You’re probably under the assumption that the corrupt crony who runs the Atlanta airport believes he’s subject to the laws of the US and the state of Georgia. He in fact believes he can do anything he wants contrary to those laws. Fortunately, Rep. Bearden has some very good lawyers on his side ready to slap down the airport and the city (again - they just lost a lawsuit to these same people a few weeks ago regarding another illegal no-carry ordinance. You’d think they’d learn.)
I hope the representative has his lawyers with him, camera crews, news reporters when he is arrested. I would like to be there myself and watch it unfold. Maybe these two guys can meet outside the airport saloon and make it a real wild west show?
I live in S. Georgia and I travel to Atlanta on business now and again. Where I live, dang near everyone has a firearm in their possession, at all times. Period.
I carry a firearm with me, unconcealed, on the seat. (My ccw expired and I haven’t gone to the courthouse to get a new one) It sits there silently as I zip, and I mean zip, through Atlanta.
This law will make it really nice for people such as myself who are untrusting of public transportation in large cities. While I may not have a ccw, the guy next to me may and that makes me feel safer.
I am glad we have a governor who appreciates things like this.
Before I go back to Atl, I will have my ccw and may use MARTA.
I heard about this on the radio on the way to work this morning. I REALLY wish I had known about this in advance. I wouldn’t have thought twice about taking a day of vacation and joining Bearden. This two-bit manager needs his ass handed to him in a very public way.
FYI, the new law allows people without permits (but who are eligible for one) to carry a loaded firearm anywhere in their vehicle. So as of today if you prefer to have your gun somewhere more convenient or concealed in your car you can do so.
B U M P
That’s good enough. I think the point of getting arrested was to create a court case, which is kind of silly if one can be filed anyway. I do wonder how they have standing to sue without getting arrested, but that’s a question for lawyers.
What is the Georgia penalty for filing a false police report.
Decosta should consider it before taking the law into his own hands.
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