The Campaign’s Statement on Permitless Carry In GA
Last week, The Campaign partnered with GVPedia.org to rebut misinformation from gun researcher, John Lott, by demonstrating the harmful public safety impacts of eliminating permits for concealed handguns in Georgia. The article below was written initially as an op-ed, with an edited version appearing as a letter to the editor in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Permitless Concealed Carry Won’t Make Georgians Safer
The Georgia Legislature has eliminated the state’s concealed handgun permitting system and sent the bill to the Governor In a March 22nd commentary, pro-gun pundit John Lott urged the Georgia Legislature to pass this legislation, which he calls “Constitutional Carry.” Let’s call it what it is – Permitless Carry – as it will allow gun owners in Georgia to conceal-carry a handgun without training, a background check, or a permit. As he has done elsewhere, Lott argues that “predictions of doom and bloodshed” are overblown, refusing to acknowledge the bloodshed and violence that guns have already brought to Georgia.
Just last year, a gunman shot and killed eight people in Atlanta, six of whom were women of Asian descent. And in 2020, Ahmaud Arbery was brutally chased down and executed by racist vigilantes while jogging. The Arbery murder reinforces what will happen if dangerous individuals are allowed to carry loaded, concealed guns in public without a permitting system.
Georgians have already suffered the fatal consequences of weakening firearm laws. In 2014, Georgia passed the infamous “Guns Everywhere” bill (championed by John Lott, who appeared on Fox News in 2014 touting its alleged benefits) that allowed people to carry firearms into bars, schools, churches, and other sensitive places. At the time, proponents argued that the bill would not cause any additional bloodshed. Yet, after the law’s passage, gun violence surged.. Click here to read the complete statement on our website
Devin Hughes is the founder of GVPedia.org, a non-profit providing access to data and research about gun violence.
Andy Pelosi is the executive director of The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus