"Lawsuit filed over Atlanta airport barring guns"

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Airport gun showdown moves to courts
Lawmaker won't bring weapon today; will rely on court case to challenge ban 
By JIM THARPE
The Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution


A state representative decided not to carry a gun into the Atlanta airport
in defiance of the firearms ban there, saying he'll let a gun-rights group
fight the ban in court.

State Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica), who sponsored a new law that that
took effect Tuesday and allows licensed gun owners to carry in public
places, had vowed to take a gun to Hartsfield-Jackson when picking up his
father.

Airport officials said they would not relax the airport ban and promised to
have Bearden arrested if caught with a gun, setting up a showdown that drew
the national media's glare.

But Tuesday morning, Bearden said he reconsidered his strategy.

"That showdown will still happen, but it will take place in the courts not
in an airport parking lot," Bearden said. "We will beat them in the proper
venue."

His change-of-mind came after a group called Georgia Carry said it filed a
lawsuit in federal court against the city of Atlanta, which owns and runs
Hartsfield-Jackson, and Mayor Shirley Franklin and airport chief Ben
DeCosta. Citing the new state law, it challenges the city's ability to
maintain a gun-free zone at the airport.

An attorney for Georgia Carry showed up at a press conference by Franklin
and DeCosta to hand them a copy of the suit. DeCosta took it, while Franklin
walked away.

Franklin and DeCosta had called the press conference to say they will stick
with their no-guns policy for parts of the airport outside federal
jurisdiction, which include parking lots and main lobby and ticketing areas.
Franklin said she will lobby Congress to authorize gun bans in any public
facilities that get federal funds.

The new state law, which Bearden sponsored, permits licensed gun owners to
carry concealed firearms in parks, on public transportation and in
restaurants that serve liquor.

Firearms proponents hailed the law as a victory for the Second Amendment.
They say law-abiding citizens with the appropriate permits should be allowed
to carry firearms in formerly forbidden areas for self-protection.

Before the new law was passed, Georgia law banned guns from venues like
public transportation and restaurants serving alcohol. More than 40 other
states permit guns on public transportation, Bearden said, and 37 allow
permit holders to carry weapons into restaurants.

"I was in law enforcement for 15 years," Bearden said as the bill awaited
the governor's signature two months ago. "I never rode up on a shooting in
progress. I don't like the idea of the police telling you, 'Get mugged, get
raped, get murdered. We'll come by, take the report, or send flowers.'
That's the wrong message."

Opponents, however, blasted the proposal, saying it has the potential to
spark more violence than it stops. DeCosta wrote to Gov. Sonny Perdue asking
him to veto the bill, and Franklin and MARTA officials publicly lambasted
the idea. MARTA bus drivers gathered more than 1,000 signatures on petitions
demanding bulletproof shields.

Federal law already bans guns past the security checkpoints at U.S.
airports. The new state law, however, apparently would permit guns to be
carried on the non-secure side of Hartsfield-Jackson by people who have gone
through a background check and have been certified to carry a weapon.
Licensed gun owners would be permitted to carry weapons on public
transportation coming into the airport, its lobby and in restaurants outside
the security checkpoints.

"We're going to make it clear that the law does not make any allowance for
guns at the airport," DeCosta had said Monday. "Guns are not appropriate for
any airport in Georgia."

Bearden maintains the new law clearly permits guns in some areas of the
airport.

"They are not appropriate once you go past security," he had said Monday.
"But in parking lots or restaurants or public transportation, they are OK."

The state lawmaker said the city does not have the authority to defy a state
law.

DeCosta said city officials will not back down from their position on the
new law and again vowed to have Bearden or anyone else carrying a gun on
airport property arrested.

"He can then have all the NRA [National Rifle Association] lawyers say why
it's OK for him to bring a gun to the airport," DeCosta said.

MARTA, meanwhile, released a statement late Monday noting that state law
prohibits firearms on public transit unless the carrier has a valid license
to carry a gun.

"This license must be carried at any time that an individual is carrying a
firearm on MARTA," the statement said.

 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************