Common sense is a rare commodity, and totally
lacking in the gun nut crowd.
Atlanta air****t gun ban is challenged
By Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 2, 2008
ATLANTA -- The showdown over gun rights spilled into the nation's busiest
air****t Tuesday after a Georgia legislator announced that he would walk
into
the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Air****t carrying a handgun.
Republican State Rep. Timothy Bearden is the sponsor of a new law that
went
into effect Tuesday allowing licensed Georgia gun owners to carry their
firearms in public places. In his opinion, public places include the main
lobby, ticketing areas and restaurants of Georgia air****ts.
Hartsfield-Jackson's general manager, however, disagreed, declaring the
air****t a "gun-free zone" and insisting that anyone found in possession of
a
handgun could be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor.
The spat, which the Atlanta Journal-Constitution dubbed "the Atlanta
version
of 'High Noon,' " was the latest skirmish over Georgia's new law.
As of Tuesday, concealed firearms can be brought onto public
trans****tation
and into state parks, historic sites and restaurants that earn at least
half
their revenue from food sales.
They are not allowed at athletic events, churches, political rallies or
bars.
Atlanta officials, including the mayor, police chief and general manager
of
the air****t, have voiced strong opposition to the new law.
TV camera crews and re****ters descended on the air****t Tuesday for the
promised showdown, only to find that Bearden had backed down.
He picked up arriving family members from the air****t without a handgun
but
vowed that the showdown would take place in court.
A gun advocacy group, GeorgiaCarry.org, filed a federal lawsuit against
the
air****t and the city of Atlanta, which owns and runs it, challenging the
facility's firearms ban.
The legal challenge comes less than a week after the Supreme Court ruled
that Americans had the right to own a gun for self-defense.
In striking down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns as
incompatible
with gun rights under the 2nd Amendment, Justice Antonin Scalia noted that
the opinion should not cast doubt on "laws forbidding the carrying of
firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings."
For many Atlanta officials, Hartsfield-Jackson, an air****t that hosts more
than 84 million passengers a year, constitutes such a sensitive place.
Federal law already bans guns past the security checkpoints of U.S.
air****ts, but at a news conference at the Atlanta air****t's crowded
atrium,
Mayor ****rley Franklin vowed that the city would continue to enforce a
no-gun policy throughout the air****t.
Allowing concealed weapons at Hartsfield-Jackson, she said, would create
"an
unsafe environment that would endanger millions of people."
"My message is simple: Leave your firearms at home," said Benjamin R.
DeCosta, the air****t's general manager, who argued that the publicly owned
and operated facility fell under a public-gathering exception in the
Georgia
law.
John Monroe, an attorney for GeorgiaCarry.org who attended the news
conference to hand officials a copy of the lawsuit, said that the
threatened
detention and arrest of people carrying firearms violated a number of
constitutional rights, including an individual's right to bear arms and be
free from unreasonable searches and seizures.
The lawsuit states that until the new Georgia law took effect, anyone
carrying a firearm inside Georgia air****ts faced a penalty of up to 20
years
in prison and a $15,000 fine.
Monroe argued that the new law allowed Georgians to carry weapons on
public
trans****tation, which he said included the Atlanta air****t.
"It's astoni****ng to me that the city of Atlanta continues to hold itself
above the law," he said, noting that his group had successfully challenged
an Atlanta ordinance banning firearms in city parks.
Franklin said Tuesday that she intended to have "serious conversations"
with
Georgia's members of Congress, asking them to withhold federal funds from
facilities that allow firearms on their premises.
Bearden, however, said he thought that Georgians with firearms permits
would
soon be able to carry guns into air****ts.
"Now [that] the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the gun rights," he
said, "I fully expect the Georgia courts will rule in favor of gun
rights."
jenny.jarvie@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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