ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp plans to introduce a bill to allow Georgians to carry firearms in public without a permit.
That proposal is drawing criticism from state and national Democrats.
Kemp told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot that it’s a constitutional right. Democrats call it reckless.
It is shaping up to be one of the big battles at the State Capitol starting next week.
“I think it’s good timing. I mean, look, for me, it’s a public safety issue,” Kemp said in a one-on-one interview with Elliot.
Kemp announced Wednesday morning that he plans to introduce the Constitutional Carry Bill into the legislature.
Given the crime problem across the state, he thinks he has widespread support.
“But there’s a lot more, I think, legislative support now. And I think the public is more supportive now than they’ve ever been just because of crime issues which we’ve seen not only in places like the city of Atlanta, but really all over the country,” Kemp said.
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Georgia Democrats are anything but supportive.
“It’s despicable that Brian Kemp is willing to endanger Georgians’ lives for the sake of his re-election campaign. Kemp’s reckless proposal to make our state less safe is nothing more than a desperate ploy to appeal to the g-o-p’s increasingly far-right base,” Georgia Democrats said in a statement.
Former Georgia NAACP president James Woodall thinks Georgia gun laws are already lax enough…and a Constitutional Carry law would just make things worse.
“As a licensed gun owner, myself, I believe we need to be more responsible,” Woodall said. “we have one of the most accessible gun infrastructures in the world, and we’re still having conversations about well, we need more guns on the street. In fact, no.”
Elliot got a statement from gubernatorial candidate David Perdue which said, in part, “I’m glad Brian Kemp is answering my call for Constitutional Carry in Georgia, but real leaders lead from the start, not from behind.”
“I’m glad to see Governor Kemp follow my lead in supporting Constitutional Carry, which I outlined in my Contract with Georgia. During his 2018 campaign stump, Kemp sat on the back of a truck with an empty shotgun and said, I hunt, I Shoot, and I Carry. But the truth of the matter is, he hid in Joe Biden’s basement and did nothing to pass Constitutional Carry until it was time for his re-election,” gubernatorial candidate Vernon Jones said in a statement.
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