Campus Carry, a bill that caused a lot of controversy last year, is back on the agenda for the 2017 Georgia legislative session. Supporters say it may pass with the Governor’s blessing, thanks to one difference from its predecessor—but legislators are running out of out of time to get it through the house.
This year’s bill is almost word for word the same as the Campus Carry bill vetoed by Governor Deal last session. That one was vetoed by the governor because it didn’t have exemptions for places like day care centers. The new bill provides this exemption and maintains the previous bill’s exemptions for sporting venues and student housing. It’s currently in the committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. The vice chairman says it has a fighting chance. “The bill is generally the same bill that we saw last year with some minor adjustments so given the fact that it passed pretty handily last year I would think that it would,” said Eddie Lumsden, a representative from Jasper and vice chairman of the Public Safety and Homeland Security committee. HB 280 could be on the floor of the Georgia House of Representatives as early as next week, if it passes its current committee and its next stop in the House Rules Committee. However it is a race against the clock, as representatives are facing the quickly approaching crossover day. If the bill is not passed by the Georgia House of Representatives to the Georgia Senate in the next seven days that the legislature is in session, the bill will die in committee. By: Grace Holland |
