The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Aug. 11th that a federal judge slapped down the gun lobby’s insane agenda to allow guns into non-secure areas of the Atlanta airport.
We have to ask: Just how nutty can the gun lobby get?
People with firearms licenses still can’t take guns into non-secure areas of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a federal judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Shoob refused to grant a preliminary injunction that would have stopped the city from enforcing the airport gun ban. Shoob ruled against gun-rights group GeorgiaCarry.org and state Rep. Timothy Bearden (R-Villa Rica).
Bearden sponsored House Bill 89, which became law on July 1 and permits people with firearms licenses to carry guns in state parks, restaurants that serve alcohol and on mass transit.
But Shoob said allowing concealed weapons into non-secure areas of the world’s busiest airport will make the airport less safe and require it to substantially revise its security procedures.
City officials say that 80 percent of the airport is “non-secure” areas where people have not been screened at a security checkpoint.”There can be no doubt that the public has an interest in safe air travel,” Shoob said. “Here, the evidence demonstrates, at the very least, that there is a significant question as to whether permitting the carrying of guns in the airport is a serious threat to the public safety and welfare.”
Shoob issued his ruling from the bench at the close of a two-hour hearing. He also said the plaintiffs failed to prove H.B. 89, which allows guns on “public transportation,” applies to airports.
The case brought by GeorgiaCarry.org and Bearden moves forward. Shoob’s ruling only addressed their request to allow those with permits to carry guns into the airport while the lawsuit makes its way through court.
Bearden, who expressed disappointment with the ruling, filed suit after airport general manager Ben DeCosta threatened the lawmaker with arrest if he brought a gun to the airport.
At Monday’s hearing, Robert Kennedy, the airport’s assistant general manager in charge of operations, maintenance and security, said the public is highly concerned about airport safety.
“We can’t get away from a post 9/11 environment,” Kennedy testified.
Kennedy said if a gun were to be accidentally discharged in a non-secure area it would cause mass panic. “It creates, in my mind, a stampede,” Kennedy said.
