I'm told that HB 218, the NRA's universal permit recognition bill passed the Senate today, although it hasn't made the General Assembly website yet. This and permit-less carry are 2 of the NRA's more prominent agenda bills, lately. This bill has undergone numerous changes and went from being a good bill, to one that does mostly nothing for Georgia residents. Mandi Ballinger, the bill's author recently offered an amendment that basically "started over", in that her amendment took out the few remaining changes that weren't stripped out in committee, and stripped those out too, which left the bill once again being universal permit recognition. I believe she did this as a political maneuver, to give Brian Kemp (and both houses) an easy punt, which allows him (and them) to get NRA credit with voters. Stripping the bill down to nothing allows them to claim they've passed an "NRA pro-gun bill", which actually does jack and shit. It makes for good headlines though, so they can pretend to be pro-gun until the next election, and ignore us again until then. It goes to Kemp now, who will certainly trip over himself to sign it, in front of plenty of cameras, no doubt.

It's also being reported that SB 259, the preemption, etc. bill has passed out of committee and will come before the full Senate for a vote. As I've mentioned here before, I view this as one of the most important gun bills in a while, as it helps protect the shooting sports from ever-changing anti-gun politics at the local level. I've really been pushing my Senator and Rep for this one and I hope everyone else will too. We'll have to see if the Senate tries to neuter it with floor amendments or if the House will take it up.

SB 319, the NRA's other agenda bill, is also reported to be on its way to the full Senate for a vote. It's not at all "Constitutional Carry", because it leaves all of the anti-gun "off-limits" restrictions in place, but the NRA loves that deceptive buzzword and they have tons of people fooled, and the General Assembly is after that NRA credit. Brian Kemp thinks it's going to save his political career.

So far, efforts to convince those responsible for this bill to remove some off-limits places seem to be falling on deaf ears, mainly because they have an election coming up and they don't want to change the NRA's bill.

I do support these bills, and urge everyone else to contact your Reps and Senators in support, although I suggest urging them to make them better and stop wasting time with political grandstanding.

  ETA: I'd also like to mention SB 277 again. That's the bill that gives more government employees, such as court clerks, the ability to carry in courthouses but not permit holders. I have a bad feeling they are going to sneak this one by at the last minute, so we need to keep the pressure on the House not to pass it. It has already passed the Senate and has had 2nd readers in the House.

Update:

- SB 319 The NRA's permit-less carry bill has passed the Senate and will now go to the House for a vote. I find it unlikely that any other bills that alter carry locations or methods will go anywhere, meaning that if we want any carry restrictions to be removed, we're likely stuck asking for the House or House Committee(s) to amend this bill, in order to remove said restrictions.

It is possible that one of the House bills dealing with permit-less carry may wind up being "the" permit-less carry bill for this year, or that parts of the House bill or other gun bills may be amended into this one but the Senate is unlikely to be willing to alter the NRA's bill, for fear that it may not pass. The NRA is particularly stubborn and quite protective of their bills, so they will let it be known to the Senators that they want it to remain unaltered and the Senate will be unwilling to go against the NRA's edict.

Short version is, we need to call/email and otherwise ask any Representatives in the House who will listen, to either pass a bill removing restrictions or amend SB 319 to do so.

- SB 259 also passed the Senate and now heads to the House for a vote. As I mentioned, this bill will become particularly important as time goes by, as it helps ensure that every anti-gun locality in 159 counties can't destroy the shooting sports in Ga. as quickly as they'd like to. I recommend speaking to your Reps in the House and asking them to pass this, without amendments.

- SB 277 The tyrannical hypocrite bill that allows clerks of court and other government employees to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights in buildings that you pay for, but doesn't allow you to exercise those same rights, is still waiting in the shadows, and I fear they may try to ram this one through at the last minute, as is always the case with gun bills in Georgia and anything controversial, in politics. I recommend contacting your Senators and every Senator who will listen and telling them not to pass this shit bill or to add permit holders to it, if they insist on passing it. I recommend telling every Rep in the House, the same thing.

Newest Update:

- HB 1358 House version of the NRA's permit-less carry agenda bill passed out of committee today. Much like the weak Senate version, is also leaves in place the numerous, unconstitutional "off-limits" restrictions that currently plague Georgia law, and that the General Assembly is too afraid to touch. It does however give them lots of NRA credit though, which they will continue to use to pretend to be pro-gun until the next election.

- HB 1378 Also passed out of committee today. This bill removes churches from the list of off-limits places, but for some reason, leaves in place the numerous other infringements. In typical Republican fashion, they aimed for the bottom, and... well... hit it. The bill also "authorizes" probate courts to to provide online applications, which many of them won't do, some of them are already partly doing, and all of them will drag their asses to actually implement entirely, if at all. If this bill passes, expect to see online applications actually available at maybe half of the probate courts, in maybe 25 years or so. The bill also has a few other purposes, but I've listed the most relevant parts here.

As always, I urge everyone to contact your members of the General Assembly and ask them to strengthen and pass all pro-gun legislation. With elections looming, this is the best time to make your voice heard. They will pretend to care about what you want for an entire legislative session, until they start ignoring us again, for years. Same with Brian Kemp. It's been 4 years since he last pretended to be pro-gun. Make sure you call him on it.

- 3/30/22 update: (SB 319) The House passed the committee substitute version of SB 319 (permit-less carry) today. The bill will now go back to the Senate where they can either agree with the changes, in which case the bill will be sent to Kemp for his signature or they can disagree with the changes, in which case a conference committee will likely be assigned. The conference committee will then come up with a bill that hashes out the differences, which will be sent to the House and Senate, for a vote on that version of the bill. If the bill passes both chambers, it will then be sent to Kemp for his signature. If any of this shall go wrong, well... welcome to Atlanta politics...

- 3/30/22 update #2: (SB 259) The new version of SB 259 (preemption) 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: (SB 259) 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.  

Contact information for those who wish to help can be found in the following thread: https://www.ar15.com/forums/Hometown/Republicants-Gutting-Gun-Legislation-3-31-22-Action-Needed-In-A-Hurry/35-661109/


- 4/1/22 update: (SB 319 and SB 259)

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: (SB 259) 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.

- 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 played a large role in running the clock out on this. 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 author of SB 259 (enhanced preemption/shooting range protection/church carry), it was Brian Kemp who killed the bill right as it was about to pass.

According to the author, 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.  


- 4/12/22 update:

Brian "Cagle" Kemp has signed SB 319 (permit-less carry) and HB 218 (universal permit recognition), after killing SB 259 (shooting range protection/church carry/online WCL applications) and refusing to pass any pro-gun legislation for 4 years.

SB 319 (permit-less carry) is effective immediately. You may now carry without a permit, provided that you are not ineligible for a permit. Keep in mind that the many and endless list of Unconstitutional off-limits locations (that Kemp refused to get rid of) currently in Georgia law are still in place.

- There are no new restrictions in the current version of the bill/law. If you could or couldn't carry there with a permit before, the same still applies now.


- Also keep in mind that none of the school zone exemptions apply to you if you do not have a permit issued to you by the state in which the school resides.


- The previous permitting system will remain in place, unaltered, for those who wish to apply for one for reciprocity, etc. issues.

HB 218 (universal permit recognition) does not become effective until the first day of July. It will allow anyone possessing a permit from any state to carry in Georgia.


And just like that, a primary election was bought...

Where do you get your updates? I don't know where to access the day to day happenings.

As of a couple days ago, everything I've found said 319 had been sitting for 20 days and there was no indication it was going to be addressed again.

I tried to find a state gov site with daily updates but it was like trying to wrangle cats negotiating that mess.  

And if anyone would know about wrangling cats it'd be you!!!  

Updated the OP.

That's a fact lol.

OP once again updated, to reflect the status of two House bills which passed out of committee today.

I was told constitutional carry passed both houses…guess that was wrong?

Thanks for the updates

So where, exactly, are we on this? Has either of these bills (319 or 1358) been put on the governor's desk or are they still waiting for it to time out and die in a couple days when session ends?

Got this email today.

So a number of these bills have taken a bit of a turn.

It looks like Extorris covered much of it above.

Both permit-less carry bills have had a bit of a reversal of sorts, in committee.

A Senate committee took HB 1358, the version of permit-less carry that passed the House, and substituted language from SB 319, basically turning HB 1358 into SB 319, in content.

A House committee took SB 319, the version of permit-less carry that passed the Senate, and substituted language from HB 1358, basically turning SB 319 into HB 1358, in content.

Clear as mud, right?

This is normally done as a way of either body insisting on using their version of a bill, to cover a particular topic, particularly when a legislative session is coming to an end. A hissy fit of sorts, saying that while we agree to pass a gun bill, we want to use our language. Given that time is winding down, and one bill has passed each body, this is a way of fast forwarding, the process, but insisting on particular language.

There are a number of ways this can work out. The House can pass the new version of SB 319, in which case it'd have to go back to the Senate, for concurrence. The Senate can agree, disagree, or insist on their original version, which means we would likely go to conference committee.

The same can happen with HB 1358.

Either bill can pass either body, in which case we'd have permit-less carry, after Kemp signs it.

There is also the option of killing either/both bills; some Constitutional, some Unconstitutional. I won't get into that here. It is politics though, so remember that nothing is certain until it's law and even then, it'll be ignored by every branch of government who chooses to ignore it.

Both bills are currently in play.

Having said that, my guess is the version of permit-less carry that will pass, will be SB 319, which had its language substituted for that of HB 1358.

Kemp has endorsed the changes made to SB 319 in committee and the bill's author has as well. The author appeared before committee to do so. Kemp knows time is running out on these bills and he doesn't want anything to endanger his NRA/gun votes. These maneuvers help him play it safe.

SB 259, the preemption bill has also taken an interesting turn.

A House committee amended it today, with language that was previously in HB 218, etc. before being stripped.

In addition, SB 259 now includes language for online Weapon License applications, that isn't strong enough and counties will ignore. It includes language to force municipalities to sell off seized weapons they have stolen every 12 months, which anti-gun municipalities will ignore anyway, because that's what they do. It includes language to strengthen the prohibition on databases, mental health language to help in the restoration of 2nd Amendment rights to those who have been denied those rights, it limits emergency powers and it removes the prohibition on carrying in churches.

As is always the case with politics, anything can still happen.

Kemp is very motivated to sign much of this, however, which has a way of also motivating the General Assembly.

He appears to have mostly bought his way back into good favor with the public this year and he knows this and a few other calculated maneuvers will win him the Primary, so that he can lose the General soon.

 

One bill from each body, has passed its respective body. The House needs to pass the Senate bill or the Senate needs to pass the House bill, so things can move forward.

You're welcome.

SB 319 has passed the Senate and HB 1358 has passed the House. One or the other needs to pass the opposite body. They generally wait until the last minute to pass gun bills in Atlanta, so they can avoid controversy and head home right away if they pass one, or use time as their excuse if the discussions fall apart. A tyrannical maneuver favored by the previous dictator of the Senate, Casey Cagle.

The Senate, in particular has been pretty resistant to gun rights bills as a matter of policy.

Yep. He'll be running on the raises for state workers and teachers, suspending the gas tax, income tax refunds, etc.
All Perdue seems to be running on is "I'm endorsed by Trump".

Exactly. Both choices are pure shit, but Kemp's round of vote buying is so obvious it'd make a Democrat blush. Gun bills are just a small part of that after pretending gun owners don't exist for the last 4 years. He had his chance to run the table with meaningful gun legislation and that is now gone. Instead, he hid in the corner, just as he did during the last election, when he should have been leading the way and calling for action.

Permit-less carry doesn't mean much with tons of off-limits places.

People seem to have eaten the shit up, too. Everyone seems content to ignore and forgive him being a statue for the last 4 years.

Find it particularly convenient that the gas tax suspension only lasts until slightly before the primary elections. You'd think they'd have at least made it slightly less obvious.

Find it particularly underhanded that he wants access to funds he is also trying to deny other candidates. Another common but shady political maneuver.

As best as anyone can tell, Purdue's been asleep since he decided to run. He's almost as awful as Kemp and in many ways worse, but this election would have been his to win if he'd been awake for any of it. Someone should wake him up after the primary.

At the very least, maybe people will be smart enough to get rid of Raffensperger.

The Republican party really does play to lose. It's insane because they could clean up at the state and national level, if they'd stop worrying so much about their 'gentlemen's game' version of politics.

I see, thank you.  I gotta get used to how things work here.  I got spoiled in Oklahoma.  After our last election there it was like a completely different world than we had under Mary Fallin.

Thanks again LucasHood.    Keep us posted.  

Since this Thursday, the 31st, is the last day of legislative session we'll know real soon whether they got one of the bills to the governor in time to be signed or if they let them both of them die in committee.  

If one of these bills isn't on Kemps desk by the end of the day on Thursday, both bills die.

My bet is, based on the last 13 years of Republican control of the Georgia state government and their history of refusing to support the constitutionally guaranteed rights of Georgians, they will allow both bills to die in committee, then each person involved will claim they tried to pass it but was blocked by someone else.  

That's not going to work this time I don't think.  I think Georgians are finally wise to their anti second amendment agenda and will work towards replacing everyone involved regardless of their claims of individually supporting the bill or bills.  It's not your individual support that matters swamp monster, it's getting it done that matters.  You could have played your little heart out but if you lost the game it doesn't matter.

Hopefully, they've seen the light and now actually fear Georgians voting them out for a change.

Don't underestimate the apathy of the voting public.  

Especially when a huge percentage of Atlanta is salivating at the chance to vote for Stacey Abrams again.

can't wait to GTFO out of this state.

As many times as they want too...

Not trying to kick this dead horse again, but your comment made me think of an article I saw today New Report:  255k Excess Votes for Biden in 6 Key States

From the article.  

NOTE:  This is not an endorsement of any political party or candidate.  Nor is it a comment on the accuracy of the information contained in the article cited.

Voter apathy has gotten Georgia where it is.  At some point people have to start giving a ----.

Yeah I read that as well... we are pretty much a Banana Republic at this point.

You're welcome. If it makes you feel any better, Georgians hate Atlanta politics, too. Atlanta certainly isn't a good reflection on the rest of the state. Too many get sent up there and do exactly the opposite of what their constituents want.

Governor Stitt is my kind of Governor. I wish the Oklahoma legislature would push to remove some of the many off-limits carry infringements there, as I believe he'd sign it in a heartbeat. If they did, I'd have trouble not moving there, myself.

You're welcome. I sure will.

One thing Republicans in general, are particularly bad about, is they repeatedly try to be the "nice guy" in politics. Even when they have majorities or super majorities, they look for reasons to talk themselves out of things, or water down their own bills, out of some ridiculous notion of "taking the high road" or "setting an example" or "reaching across the aisle".

Every time they do that, the Democrats demand concessions, which Republicants repeatedly make out of some self-imposed feeling of guilt. They're afraid to lead and afraid to win. It's like that guy on the football team who gets thrown the ball and he's standing at the end zone, frozen with panic, out of fear of what the other team may think of him or continually asking himself if he's doing something wrong. Naturally, the opposing team dog-piles him into the ground, right before he scores and they win the game.

I call this playing to lose. It's the Republicant playbook.

Modern day Democrats are generally awful, but they are generally awful, unapologetically. That is why they will always win. That is why Republicants in Georgia are losing their majority, with every election, and instead of changing that behavior, they look for someone else to surrender to. They trip over themselves, looking for reasons to apologize. They do the same, at the national level. It is frustrating, to no end.

 Even when they have super majorities, they always give into the vocal minority; whether that minority be a Democrat or Republican. They play every game "scared".

Republicants are in the process of gutting the preemption bill, SB 259. Given the limited amount of time involved, the amount of detail and the need for urgent action, I've made a separate thread, detailing the issue, here.

Same. They always play to lose.

Updated the OP to reflect passage of SB 319 (permit-less carry) by the House today, with the following information:

"- 3/30/22 update: The House passed the committee substitute version of SB 319 (permit-less carry) today. The bill will now go back to the Senate where they can either agree with the changes, in which case the bill will be sent to Kemp for his signature or they can disagree with the changes, in which case a conference committee will likely be assigned. The conference committee will then come up with a bill that hashes out the differences, which will be sent to the House and Senate, for a vote on that version of the bill. If the bill passes both chambers, it will then be sent to Kemp for his signature. If any of this shall go wrong, well... welcome to Atlanta politics..."

Updated OP with the following addition:

- 3/30/22 update #2: The new version of SB 259 (preemption) 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.

Added the following update to the OP:

- 3/31/22 update: (SB 259) 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.  

Contact information for those who wish to help can be found in the following thread: https://www.ar15.com/forums/Hometown/Republicants-Gutting-Gun-Legislation-3-31-22-Action-Needed-In-A-Hurry/35-661109/

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: (SB 259) 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.

I've noticed a few sneaky petes at my church for the 20+ years I've been a member.  

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You really committed to the emotes there.  You win "emote meister" of the month!

I'm not clear on what configuration SB 259 is in now.  Is it the previous version we wanted, or the mangled version we wrote/called the reps this past week and urged not to put forth (as described in the first paragraph of the 4/1/2022 2:37:00 AM EDT post)?  If it's the latter, do we really want this to pass?

Ya' know, it's funny; I've heard people go so far as to say that they ignore Malum Prohibitum, Unconstitutional laws, and carry everywhere they go. I've heard those people say that the Constitution doesn't provide for such infringements and that and that carrying everywhere is an inalienable right, given by our creator. Can you believe that?

Unfortunately, the current version of SB 259 is the neutered version, that removes protections for commercial shooting ranges severely weakens the protections against most anti-gun ordinances. LC 39 3447S is the better version, that we all prefer.

Having said that, even the current, weakened version is still an improvement over current law, as it would still legalize church carry, still allow legal shooting on parcels of property ten acres or more if it's for non-commercial purposes, allow online WCL applications and a few other things.

I would love to see a conference committee vote bring our preferred version (LC 39 3447S) to the floor, and I'm advocating for that, but time is running out very quickly, with us only having tomorrow to get this passed. The bill has to once again pass both chambers, because the House made changes to it, or a conference committee has to be assigned, so that both chambers can offer a version of the bill for both chambers to vote on, or the House can simply bring the original version that passed the Senate, to the floor for a vote and it won't have to go back to the Senate for concurrence again.

The good and bad of passing the original (Senate) version is that we regain the strengthened language to protect shooting ranges, but we lose church carry, online applications and a few other things.  

My preferred method is a conference committee, to restore the good language and drop the bad, but that is a big task with such little time.

The most important thing though, is that SB 259 be brought to the House floor for a vote, because none of these things can happen without it. The House Rules committee is currently holding it hostage. If they don't schedule it for a floor vote, it is unlikely anyone will speak up enough to free the bill from their committee. That's why it's up to us to contact as many people on Rules as we can, as well as the Speaker, Majority Leader John Burns, Governor and everyone else who will listen.

With the governor's support, this bill can be brought to the floor. We just have to let him (and the rest) know there's enough voters concerned about it to do so.

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.

Added to OP:

- 4/4/22 update: 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 played a large role in running the clock out on this. 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.  

Added to OP:

- 4/8/22 update: According to the author of SB 259 (enhanced preemption/shooting range protection/church carry), it was Brian Kemp who killed the bill right as it was about to pass.

According to the author, 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.  

Some things never change.

Brian "Cagle" Kemp has signed SB 319 (permit-less carry) and HB 218 (universal permit recognition), after killing SB 259 (shooting range protection/church carry/online WCL applications) and refusing to pass any pro-gun legislation for 4 years.