H.B. 512, the so-called "Safe Carry Protection Act," passed the Georgia House of Representatives on March 7th with a "poison pill" amendment attached.
One of the worst of these provisions states:
"(L) Any person who, within the five years immediately preceding the application, has made a credible threat to do physical violence to another person which threat was heard by a law enforcement officer and reported to the Georgia Crime Information Center. The judge of the probate court shall request such information from the Georgia Crime Information Center and shall be entitled to such information as set forth in subsection (e.1) of Code Section 35-3-34;" (emphasis added)
These poison pill provisions could disarm law-abiding Georgians without due process of law!
During debate over the bill, Republicans lined up to cheer lead for its passage and ignored the dangers of the amendment which was being pushed by Governor Nathan Deal and House "leadership."
One "pro-gun" group in Georgia even gave these politicians cover by claiming that the provisions were politically "necessary" in order for the bill to pass and that it would be cleaned up in the State Senate!
The only Republican to stand up and speak-out against these poison pill provisions was Representative Charles Gregory of Kennesaw. Rep. Gregory stated in his floor testimony:
"In America we are supposed to have the presumption of innocence and should never have to lose any rights without due process and a trial by a jury of 12. Individuals shouldn't have to prove their 'mental competency' in order to exercise their natural rights... I find it extremely disconcerting that a law enforcement officer, without notice or without due process, can unilaterally put an individual into a database that can be used to deny that individual his God-given natural rights.
Now I've already heard some people say 'don't worry about it, we'll fix it later in the Senate.' The last time I heard such foolish nonsense it came from Nancy Pelosi when she said that we'll have to pass the bill and then we'll find out what's in the bill."
The State Senate quickly assigned H.B. 512 to the Senate Judiciary Non-Civil Committee where it may receive a hearing as early as Wednesday, March 13th.
Please contact these State Senators and insist that they either remove all of the "poison pill" provisions from H.B. 512 or kill the bill outright.
Insist that the bill respect all of our natural rights and particularly those protected by the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 8th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution:
- Oppose any new expansion of 'mental health' background checks;
- Oppose any provisions that would deny citizens due process of law;
- Oppose any provisions that do not adhere to the presumption of innocence;
- Oppose any new government mandated training requirements; and
- Oppose any other compromises of liberty!
"Senator Jesse Stone" <Jesse.Stone@senate.ga.gov>,
"Senator William T. Ligon Jr." <William.Ligon@senate.ga.gov>,
"Senator Curt Thompson" <Curt.Thompson@senate.ga.gov>,
"Senator Joshua McKoon" <Joshua.McKoon@senate.ga.gov>,
"Senator Charlie Bethel" <Charlie.Bethel@senate.ga.gov>,
"Senator John Crosby" <John.Crosby@senate.ga.gov>,
"Senator Vincent Fort" <Vincent.Fort@senate.ga.gov>,
"Senator Hunter Hill" <Hunter.Hill@senate.ga.gov>,
"Senator Ronald B. Ramsey" <Ronald.Ramsey@senate.ga.gov>,
Print 
PDF