Ga. House passes college campus carry bill

Georgia lawmakers are set to vote on a bill permitting guns on state college campuses.

However, this bill would not apply to buildings or property used for athletic events or student housing including sorority and fraternity houses.

Echoing Holcomb’s sentiment, Bennett included, “I am pleased to see House Bill 827 pass unanimously”.

Some at the Capitol have dubbed House Bill 792 “campus carry lite” because it would legalize carrying what are formally called electroshock weapons onto the state’s public university and college campuses.

The “Campus Safety Act” is a safety measure, according to its sponsor Republican State Rep. Rick Jasperse. The bill now goes to the state Senate.

The Georgia Board of Regents, which governs the state’s colleges and universities, opposes the bill, spokesman Charles Sutlive said.

Existing law requires license applicants to be at least 21 years old and complete a background check; people are ineligible based on hospitalization for mental health or alcohol or drug abuse in the last five years or because of conviction for certain felonies or misdemeanors. Rep. Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates, said the change would breed “fear and paranoia” among students on campuses. The idea, Brockway said, came from conversations he had over the summer with students anxious about what they were and were not allowed to do on campus to increase their own safety.

“It gets down to this: I trust that college students will be able to protect themselves and be able to use them wisely”, Brockway said in the AJC article.

A similar “campus carry” provision failed in 2014 when senators stripped it from a broader gun bill.