Governor Sonny Perdue posthumously honored actor Charlton Heston, former NRA (National Rifle Association) president by signing into law House Bill 89. His signature will make this law effective as of July 1 but will not signify that anyone may walk into a store and buy weapons among them rifles and hand guns without question. Purchasers will have to register with the local police as well as with the FBI and wait at least 60 days before receiving a permit in Georgia.
Many, like restaurant associations are alarmed at the passage of HB 89 since it allows gun owners to carry their weapons in public areas such as buses, parks and restaurants. Restaurant owners fear that gun toting patrons will cause even more problems in their establishments especially when alcohol consumption is involved. They won't know who is carrying a weapon and they will be risking their business license if they provide alcohol to whom is carrying it .
Some Georgia legislators maintain that well meaning gun owners will only carry their firearms for their personal protection and that criminals will always have access to weapons with or without this law. According to supporters of the new law it offers the community at large a sense of security so that criminals will think twice before they would accost the public realizing that their intended victims may also be armed.
Presently anyone who apply for a permit and does not have a criminal history is granted a permit to carry a firearm in their home and their automobile. HB 89 expands that right to include public places.
Of course it is possible that there may be carelessness on the part of some who will carry their firearms into a hospital, movie theater or their own workplace due to the gun owners paranoid tendencies. More specifically this refers to those who may suffer from anxiety or persecution complexes or who feel they have been chosen for some special purpose, like saving the world. In the coming months we will see the true effects of this law and whether or not it results in an actual decrease in overall crime in Georgia or conversely we witness an increase.
What is certain is that we are in an election year and like other such years the politicians always have something up their sleeves. It is clear that Perdue's signature on HB 89 sent a direct message responding to the Republican Party's wishes, in spite of the fact that the people's priorities seem to have more to do with the need for a reduction of the public's costs for adequate medical care, better education and improved ways of making a living that can counteract the increased cost of living and threat of bankruptcy among other issues.