The surrender has begun. In true Atlanta fashion, Republicants are now trying to gut SB 259, the very important preemption bill, that would stop anti-gun localities from destroying the shooting sports via anti-gun ordinances. As you may remember, it was also amended from remove churches from the list of off-limits places, allow online permit applications, strengthen the database prohibition, and other things.

The bill has been sent back to a committee that it has already passed. - This is very bad. It's said that a few Republicants have a problem with the portions of the bill allowing discharge on properties larger than ten acres, church carry, and the portion allowing restoration of rights to those who have been denied previously for mental health reasons.

With the bill being sent back to a committee it has already passed, it is very likely the bill will be gutted unless we put enough pressure on the House to send it to the floor for a vote, without changes. Time is running out on this bill, with April 4th being the last day of the session. We REALLY need to contact everyone in the House who will listen, at this point.

My suggestion is to contact every member of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, the House Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the House, David Ralston, and ask that this bill be sent to the House floor for a vote, as-is, without changes.

Remind them that this bill has the support of the governor, and has already passed the Senate once. It will certainly pass as-is, if given a proper vote in the House.

I will link to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee's web page, as well as Speaker Ralston's web page. Their email addresses and phone numbers can be found by clicking their profiles.

It'd also be a good idea to contact the members of the Rules Committee, as they're the ones who sent it back to the Public Safety Committee in the first place. It also has a number of not particularly gun rights friendly Republicants and a number of downright awful Dems on it.

I'd respectfully ask that they hold their ground and insist on a full House vote, with no changes.

Georgia got really bad courthouse carry legislation, that makes a large number of government buildings off-limits, in this same manner. Not enough people spoke up then, so we need to speak up now. We're never gonna get rid of those restrictions, because our side gave them away without a fight; a fight we had already won - twice.  

The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee's web page can be found here.

The Rules Committee's web page can be found here.

Speaker Ralston's web page can be found here.

They may not return your call or email but I assure you, their assistants do keep tallies on the contacts in favor and those against. Please call, email, or both.

Thanks guys.

- 3/30/22 update: The new version of this bill includes language that will allow counties and other local governments to prohibit commercial shooting ranges by ordinance, but presumably allows private ones, on parcels of land ten acres or more. Meaning that commercial shooting ranges will no longer be afforded the protections this bill originally sought to provide. The protections for private shooting ranges has been weakened as well.

These changes make the bill worse and I don't support them.

I recommend we contact every member of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee and ask them to insist on the version of the bill that already passed their committee once, prior to being sent back by the Rules Committee. The committee will meet in the morning to vote on the weakened version of the bill. They meet at 10 A.M., so we don't have much time.

The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee's web page is here.

- 3/31/22 update: As expected, the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee gutted SB 359 today, after being instructed to do so by the Rules Committee. It weakened preemption, introducing language that will allow anti-gun localities to outlaw commercial shooting ranges by ordinance, removing the protections they would have previously been afforded if they were located on property of ten acres or more. They also removed language that would have protected private shooting ranges from most types of anti-gun ordinances, related to the discharge of firearms. This language would have protected the shooting sports in Georgia for many years to come and is very important.

This was done at the request of other Republicans, who joined the anti-gun Democrats. A number of anti-gun local politicians (city council members, assemblymen, etc.) spoke out against the bill, to members the Rules Committee, whom they appear to control by proxy. Another case of a vocal minority's wishes being placed above the voters of Georgia. This was done because a number of metro Republicans want to control what voters do with their own land.

Admittedly, time is running out here, and while there are 2 courses of possible action, I'd like to see a conference committee appointed here, in order to have the bad language stripped out and the previous version sent to both bodies for a floor vote. The way to go about that, is to ask the Senate to disagree with the House changes and ask that a conference committee be appointed.

The version we want of the bill is LC 39 3447S, the initial Public Safety and Homeland Security substitute.

The language we want struck from the bill is the following addition, to section 2:

"Nothing in this  paragraph shall preempt a zoning ordinance which prohibits or limits commercial  shooting ranges or other commercial activity upon such parcel."

The language we want added back to the bill is the following, which was removed from section 2 by the committee:

"Any such prohibition, by zoning, ordinance, resolution, or any other manner, is preempted."

I realize this is a big request guys but time is running out and they need to hear from us.

It's a bit of work, but we need to contact every one of the bill's sponsors, which can be found here.

We also need to contact Speaker Ralston, the members of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, and the members of the House Rules Committee. The contact information for all of them is listed earlier in the thread, above.

Tell them we want a conference committee appointed for SB 259 we want them to insist on version LC 39 3447S of the bill.

Thanks guys.  

- 4/1/22 update: SB 319 (permit-less carry) passed the Senate today. The bill will now be sent to the Governor for his signature.

Having said that, please don't allow it to overshadow SB 259, the preemption bill, which is probably the most important 2nd Amendment bill Georgia has seen or will see in a long time.


Republicans are hoping you'll be distracted enough with 319's passing, to ignore the fact that they are trying to run out the clock on SB 259. Please don't fall for that. If you can, please call or email the House Rules committee and ask for this to be brought to the floor for a vote. We only have until Monday to get this done. It will likely be the last pro-gun legislation passed in Georgia, for our lifetimes. It will help protect us, from a future regime that is anti-gun.


Of particular importance is to politely contact Representative John Burns, the House Majority Leader.

- 4/3/22 update: There are 2 days left to save this bill. It's very important that we call, email, or speak to in person, Republican Majority Leader John Burns, The House Rules Committee and Governor Kemp and ask that this bill be brought to the floor for a vote. Kemp doesn't have an easily accessible email addressed listed right now, so you will have to call his office. Monday will be the last day of the session. If we don't put the pressure on now, we lose this bill for the year and likely for the rest of our lifetimes. This will most likely be the last pro-gun legislation that will ever pass in Georgia, from this point onward.

This bill will legalize Church carry, allow online WCL applications, allow private property owners of property ten acres or larger to legally shoot on their own land and a number of other things that are good for gun owners. Metro counties from across the state and anti-gun groups from outside the state are actively trying to kill this bill. Only we can save it. It has already passed the Senate. Call and email all day Sunday and all day Monday, please.

The Governor's office can be reached at (404) 656-1776.

- 4/3/22 update 2: Another important thing I should add. We need SB 259 brought to the floor for a vote, regardless of what version it's in. Nothing else can happen to the bill, if it's allowed to die in committee. (Which is what they want. If the bill is allowed to die in committee, it lessens the heat on them in an election year.)

Bottom line, ask that SB 259 be brought to the House for a vote.

- 4/4/22 update: The bill is currently on the move and an effort is underway to push it out of the Rules Committee and to the House floor for a vote. Our requests are being heard. Please don't let up on the calls and emails, however. One thing I can tell you about Georgia politics, is that they love to use the excuse of not having enough time so the bill died in committee. None of us can afford to stop making contact. A number of people in power would love to have this bill die where it is and they are actively fighting for it to do so. We need to keep the heat up, all into the night. This will be one of the longest nights in Ga. politics and the session will likely go on until the wee hours of the night.

Don't let up, and thanks again for your efforts, everyone.

- 4/4/22 update 2: Late night update for you guys. There's less than one hour left in the session, so we need to keep those calls coming until midnight! This finally passed the House, so all we need now is the Senate to vote on it once more. This can be done fairly easily if we can have the bills author make a motion to agree. It's unlikely that we have enough time for a conference committee at this point, which means we won't get our preferred version but the current bill is still an improvement.

If any of you are still awake, I ask that you contact Senator Mullis, the bill's sponsors in the Senate, The Lt. Governor, and their assistants and ask them to convince Senator Mullis to make a motion for agreement on SB 259.

It might not hurt to ask Representative Alan Powell, to convince his friend Jeff Mullis to make the motion, either. :)

In the interest of time, I will post the contact info below.

Senator Jeff Mullis (Bill's Author)[email protected]
(404) 656-0057


Senator Steve Gooch
[email protected]
(404) 656-9221


Senator Butch Miller
[email protected]
(404) 656-6578


Senator Tyler Harper
[email protected]
(404) 463-5263


Representative Alan Powell
[email protected]
(404) 463-3793


Speaker of the House Representative David Ralston
[email protected]
(404) 656-5020


Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan
[email protected]
(404) 656-5030


- 4/4/22 update 3: As expected, Republicants surrendered, choosing to let this bill die on the Senate floor, after purposefully wasting the entire day in the House, so that they could pretend time ran out. This happens to gun bills, every single year, so that time can be used as an excuse if a bill becomes controversial. Make no mistake, this was done on purpose.

Of particular note in this tyrannical maneuvering, is anti-gun Republican Majority Leader in the House, Representative Jon Burns and the Georgia Municipal Association, a collection of anti-gun assholes, who represent other anti-gun assholes serving and enslaving, at the city and county level, all across the state. Of further note, is that it was Republicant city and county level council members who persuaded Jon Burns to first neuter this bill in committee, after it passed the Senate, then, hold it hostage and run out the clock, preventing it from coming up for a vote in time.

If you're looking for someone to vote against in future elections, I'd start there.

He's represents the 159th district. His contact info can be found here: https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/house/73?session=1029

I'd also vote against most of the House Rules Committee, who also voted to neuter and hold hostage this bill.

Their contact info can be found here: https://www.legis.ga.gov/committees/house/109

All Democrats on the committee helped kill the bill and a number of Republicants.

Also complicit in this were Brian Kemp, Geoff Duncan and David Ralston, to various degrees. None of them did much of anything to support the bill. Butch Miller also played a large role in running the clock out. The NRA gets special mention, because while they got their bill, they did little to support what Georgia residents were actually asking for, and did little to support this bill, until after it was already too late.

So there you have it. After being ignored for 4 years by Brian Kemp, the decision was made to buy back his political career by pushing the NRA's agenda bill. Almost everyone has fallen for it. He will win the primary and lose the general election and Georgia is done. 4 years of Republicant surrender.

Just like that, we lose church carry for the rest of our lifetimes, online applications for the rest of our lifetimes, enhanced shooting range protection for the rest of our lifetimes, become stuck with the big list of off-limits locations for the rest of our lifetimes and lose any chance of ever passing pro-gun legislation in Georgia, for the rest of our lifetimes.

4 years, wasted, until it came time to buy votes.

My thanks to everyone who tried to help get this bill passed. I appreciate it very much.  

- 4/8/22 Update: According to the bill's author, it was Brian Kemp who killed this bill right as it was about to pass.


According to the author of SB 259, it is was Brian Kemp who instructed Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan to kill this pro-gun bill right as it was about to pass.

While Geoff Duncan is not running for re-election, Brian Kemp is.  

Next up for the Lt. Governor spot behind Duncan, is Senator Butch Miller, who will likely be elected to the position.

Miller is currently President Pro Tem of the Senate and minion of Brian Kemp. He's in line to become the next Casey Cagle, which is fitting, given that he was previously Nathan Deal's minion.  

Done, done, and done.  Got a few bounce backs asking that email be sent to a Rep's admin-assistant, which I did as well.  I also copied my local Rep on the original emails.

Hit about 1/2 so far.  Will hit the rest this afternoon

Will do later today.

I know what "every member of" means, but is it of any use to contact any who are not your representatives?

Thanks guys. I very much appreciate you making contact.

Absolutely. The legislation they pass will effect everyone who lives or spends time here.

Another thing to keep in mind, say in the case of a Committee chair or member, is that they control which bills make it to the floor and in what state they make it. They generally expect to be contacted. It kind of comes with the territory.

I assure you the anti-gunners don't let that stop them.

A large amount of the anti-gun push back to legislation comes from special interest groups, who are primarily funded by out of state money, metro politicians, and out of state trouble makers.

Great -- I will get started on this!

DONE,DONE, AND DONE!

Thank you guys for making contact. I appreciate it very much.

Politics in this state are exhausting.  

Very much lol.

A rep serving on a committee represents all citizens of the state in their capacity of service on that committee.  It is completely appropriate to contact them in that context and they are obligated to consider your opinion.

OP updated with the following:

- 3/30/22 update: The new version of this bill includes language that will allow counties and other local governments to prohibit commercial shooting ranges by ordinance, but presumably allows private ones, on parcels of land ten acres or more. Meaning that commercial shooting ranges will no longer be afforded the protections this bill originally sought to provide. The protections for private shooting ranges has been weakened as well.
These changes make the bill worse and I don't support them.
I recommend we contact every member of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee and ask them to insist on the version of the bill that already passed their committee once, prior to being sent back by the Rules Committee. The committee will meet in the morning to vote on the weakened version of the bill. They meet at 10 A.M., so we don't have much time.
The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee's web page is here.

Just finished getting emails to all of them.  If I'd known it was so early this morning, I would have gotten it done sooner.  I wish I hadn't missed that key detail.

It's okay. Meeting on short notice, was by design. They don't want anyone to be able to mount opposition to the bad changes in the bill, as they intend to ram it through in its diminished state.

I appreciate you trying.

Added the following update to the OP:

- 3/31/22 update: As expected, the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee gutted SB 359 today, after being instructed to do so by the Rules Committee. It weakened preemption, introducing language that will allow anti-gun localities to outlaw commercial shooting ranges by ordinance, removing the protections they would have previously been afforded if they were located on property of ten acres or more. They also removed language that would have protected private shooting ranges from most types of anti-gun ordinances, related to the discharge of firearms. This language would have protected the shooting sports in Georgia for many years to come and is very important.

This was done at the request of other Republicans, who joined the anti-gun Democrats. A number of anti-gun local politicians (city council members, assemblymen, etc.) spoke out against the bill, to members the Rules Committee, whom they appear to control by proxy. Another case of a vocal minority's wishes being placed above the voters of Georgia. This was done because a number of metro Republicans want to control what voters do with their own land.

Admittedly, time is running out here, and while there are 2 courses of possible action, I'd like to see a conference committee appointed here, in order to have the bad language stripped out and the previous version sent to both bodies for a floor vote. The way to go about that, is to ask the Senate to disagree with the House changes and ask that a conference committee be appointed.

The version we want of the bill is LC 39 3447S, the initial Public Safety and Homeland Security substitute.

The language we want struck from the bill is the following addition, to section 2:

"Nothing in this  paragraph shall preempt a zoning ordinance which prohibits or limits commercial  shooting ranges or other commercial activity upon such parcel."

The language we want added back to the bill is the following, which was removed from section 2 by the committee:

"Any such prohibition, by zoning, ordinance, resolution, or any other manner, is preempted."

I realize this is a big request guys but time is running out and they need to hear from us.
It's a bit of work, but we need to contact every one of the bill's sponsors, which can be found here.

We also need to contact Speaker Ralston, the members of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, and the members of the House Rules Committee.

The contact information for all of them is listed earlier in the thread, above.

Tell them we want a conference committee appointed for SB 259 we want them to insist on version LC 39 3447S of the bill.

Thanks guys.  

Added to OP:

SB 319 (permit-less carry) passed the Senate today. The bill will now be sent to the Governor for his signature.
Having said that, please don't allow it to overshadow SB 259, the preemption bill, which is probably the most important 2nd Amendment bill Georgia has seen or will see in a long time.

Republicans are hoping you'll be distracted enough with 319's passing, to ignore the fact that they are trying to run out the clock on SB 259. Please don't fall for that. If you can, please call or email the House Rules committee and ask for this to be brought to the floor for a vote. We only have until Monday to get this done. It will likely be the last pro-gun legislation passed in Georgia, for our lifetimes. It will help protect us, from a future regime that is anti-gun.
Of particular importance is to politely contact Representative John Burns, the House Majority Leader.

Added to OP:

- 4/3/22 update: There are 2 days left to save this bill. It's very important that we call, email, or speak to in person, Republican Majority Leader John Burns, The House Rules Committee and Governor Kemp and ask that this bill be brought to the floor for a vote. Kemp doesn't have an easily accessible email addressed listed right now, so you will have to call his office. Monday will be the last day of the session. If we don't put the pressure on now, we lose this bill for the year and likely for the rest of our lifetimes. This will most likely be the last pro-gun legislation that will ever pass in Georgia, from this point onward.
This bill will legalize Church carry, allow online WCL applications, allow private property owners of property ten acres or larger to legally shoot on their own land and a number of other things that are good for gun owners. Metro counties from across the state and anti-gun groups from outside the state are actively trying to kill this bill. Only we can save it. It has already passed the Senate. Call and email all day Sunday and all day Monday, please.

The Governor's office can be reached at (404) 656-1776.

Another important thing I should add. We need SB 259 brought to the floor for a vote, regardless of what version it's in. Nothing else can happen to the bill, if it's allowed to die in committee. (Which is what they want. If the bill is allowed to die in committee, it lessens the heat on them in an election year.)

Bottom line, ask that SB 259 be brought to the House for a vote.

Added to OP:

- 4/4/22 update: The bill is currently on the move and an effort is underway to push it out of the Rules Committee and to the House floor for a vote. Our requests are being heard. Please don't let up on the calls and emails, however. One thing I can tell you about Georgia politics, is that they love to use the excuse of not having enough time so the bill died in committee. None of us can afford to stop making contact. A number of people in power would love to have this bill die where it is and they are actively fighting for it to do so. We need to keep the heat up, all into the night. This will be one of the longest nights in Ga. politics and the session will likely go on until the wee hours of the night.
Don't let up, and thanks again for your efforts, everyone.

Late night update for you guys. There's less than one hour left in the session, so we need to keep those calls coming until midnight! This finally passed the House, so all we need now is the Senate to vote on it once more. This can be done fairly easily if we can have the bills author make a motion to agree. It's unlikely that we have enough time for a conference committee at this point, which means we won't get our preferred version but the current bill is still an improvement.

If any of you are still awake, I ask that you contact Senator Mullis, the bill's sponsors in the Senate, The Lt. Governor, and their assistants and ask them to convince Senator Mullis to make a motion for agreement on SB 259.

It might not hurt to ask Representative Alan Powell, to convince his friend Jeff Mullis to make the motion, either. :)

In the interest of time, I will post the contact info below.

Senator Jeff Mullis (Bill's Author)
[email protected]
(404) 656-0057

Senator Steve Gooch
[email protected]
(404) 656-9221

Senator Butch Miller
[email protected]
(404) 656-6578

Senator Tyler Harper
[email protected]
(404) 463-5263

Representative Alan Powell
[email protected]
(404) 463-3793

Speaker of the House Representative David Ralston
[email protected]
(404) 656-5020

Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan
[email protected]
(404) 656-5030

- 4/4/22 update 3: As expected, Republicants surrendered, choosing to let this bill die on the Senate floor, after purposefully wasting the entire day in the House, so that they could pretend time ran out. This happens to gun bills, every single year, so that time can be used as an excuse if a bill becomes controversial. Make no mistake, this was done on purpose.

Of particular note in this tyrannical maneuvering, is anti-gun Republican Majority Leader in the House, Representative Jon Burns and the Georgia Municipal Association, a collection of anti-gun assholes, who represent other anti-gun assholes serving and enslaving, at the city and county level, all across the state. Of further note, is that it was Republicant city and county level council members who persuaded Jon Burns to first neuter this bill in committee, after it passed the Senate, then, hold it hostage and run out the clock, preventing it from coming up for a vote in time.

If you're looking for someone to vote against in future elections, I'd start there.

He's represents the 159th district. His contact info can be found here: https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/house/73?session=1029

I'd also vote against most of the House Rules Committee, who also voted to neuter and hold hostage this bill.

Their contact info can be found here: https://www.legis.ga.gov/committees/house/109

All Democrats on the committee helped kill the bill and a number of Republicants.

Also complicit in this were Brian Kemp, Geoff Duncan and David Ralston, to various degrees. Butch Miller also played a large role in running out the clock on this. None of them did much of anything to support the bill. The NRA gets special mention, because while they got their bill, they did little to support what Georgia residents were actually asking for, and did little to support this bill, until after it was already too late.

So there you have it. After being ignored for 4 years by Brian Kemp, the decision was made to buy back his political career by pushing the NRA's agenda bill. Almost everyone has fallen for it. He will win the primary and lose the general election and Georgia is done. 4 years of Republicant surrender.
Just like that, we lose church carry for the rest of our lifetimes, online applications for the rest of our lifetimes, enhanced shooting range protection for the rest of our lifetimes, become stuck with the big list of off-limits locations for the rest of our lifetimes and lose any chance of ever passing pro-gun legislation in Georgia, for the rest of our lifetimes.

4 years, wasted, until it came time to buy votes.

My thanks to everyone who tried to help get this bill passed. I appreciate it very much.  

Kemp has been a turd in the punch bowl since day one.  I regret my votes for him

It would be great for the state if we could get rid of Ralston

Added to OP:

- 4/8/22 Update: According to the bill's author, it was Brian Kemp who killed this bill right as it was about to pass.


 According to the author of SB 259, it is was Brian Kemp who instructed Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan to kill this pro-gun bill right as it was about to pass.

While Geoff Duncan is not running for re-election, Brian Kemp is.

Next up for the Lt. Governor spot behind Duncan, is Senator Butch Miller, who will likely be elected to the position.

Miller is currently President Pro Tem of the Senate and minion of Brian Kemp. He's in line to become the next Casey Cagle, which is fitting, given that he was previously Nathan Deal's minion.  

Agreed.

So Kemp just figured he'd secured the gun vote with constitutional carry and killed any of the other pro-gun bills? Sounds like classic RINO behavior.

Yep. In spite of his bs campaign ads with a gun in his hands, he ignored us for 4 years, while they had a majority. Everything we asked for, was ignored. Once he tanked his political career over election and other corruption issues, it's thought he was looking to take the money and run. Over the last year, he had a change of heart and started buying his way back in. Likely to keep corruption under wraps. He ran to the NRA (and vice versa) and agreed to push a few of their agenda bills for publicity.

The only gun bills that passed this year are the NRA's agenda bills (218 and 319) and that's only because they get the most publicity, of all the other gun groups, and only because he's trying to buy an election.

This has been the main pattern for Repubs all up and down for years now.  They get in, they do (mostly) nothing.  Nothing will be learned, even when (ESPECIALLY WHEN) they are voted out and then back in after a large swing back.  This sets the tone that they will still be voted back in even when they've done little to nothing.

Yep, it swings back and forth. They pander to the other side, who hate them anyway and will never vote for them, while ignoring their "base", until their "base" has enough and stops voting for them too. After, they act confused when trying to figure out why their numbers are continually dwindling.