The bill that would have allowed firearms to be carried in churches, college campuses, and bars died on the vine at the end of the 2013 Georgia General Assembly legislative session.
House Bill 512 easily made it through the State House of Representatives, notably with the support of all Cherokee County legislators in the lower house.
Canton's Mandi Ballinger, Woodstock's Michael Caldwell, Marietta's John Carson, Hickory Flat's Calvin Hill, and Holly Springs' Scot Turner voted to support the measure.
"Private property owners should be allowed to decide for themselves whether or not to allow guns on their property and not have that decision made for them by government mandate," said Ballinger in a press release last month regarding her yes vote.
Hill went so far as to predict the bill would pass in the Senate, saying, “I can’t see why it wouldn’t at this point. It’s a very good, solid bill."
Unfortunately for Hill, the bill never came up for a vote during the final hours of the General Assembly's 2013 session.
Would you like to see this legislation pass in 2014? Tell us in the comments!
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, House and Senate members struck a deal that would have seen the measure come to a vote, but at the eleventh-hour the provision that would have allowed students to carry weapons in certain parts of state school campuses broke the agreement.
The AJC reported that the initial deal would have allowed all 21-to-25-year-old concealed weapons permit holders to carry on campus provided they passed an eight hour safety course. On Thursday morning, the last day of the 2013 General Assembly, Senate negotiators wanted to extend the safety training course requirement to every permit holder that would bring a concealed weapon on campus. The last-minute change derailed any attempt to bring the bill to the floor for a vote before the session expired.
Despite the bill's failure in 2013, it could still be proposed and passed during the 2014 General Assembly legislative session, which will begin on Jan. 13, 2014.