Students For Concealed Carry On Campus (SCCC) Endorses Georgia HB 915, The "Second Amendment Protection Act of 2008"

After careful deliberation Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) has decided to fully endorse Georgia House Bill 915, also known as the "Second Amendment Protection Act of 2008," sponsored by state representative Timothy Bearden of Georgia's 68th district. This bill, pre-filed by Representative Bearden on December 26, 2007, will be introduced to the people of the great state of Georgia at 10 AM on Thursday, January 10, 2008, at a gun rights rally on the steps of the Georgia state capitol building.

Among the many logical provisions of this bill, it will remove technical schools, vocational schools, colleges, universities, and institutions of postsecondary education from the list of places where concealed handgun license (CHL)/concealed carry weapons permit (CCW)/concealed handgun permit (CHP) holders are prohibited from carrying concealed handguns, in the state of Georgia.

On April 16, 2007, twenty-seven students and five faculty members at Virginia Tech lost their lives to a madman who possessed one distinct advantage over his victims—He wasn't concerned with following the rules. Undeterred by Virginia Tech's status as a "gun free zone," this mentally unstable individual carried two handguns onto the university campus and indiscriminately opened fire.

Over the last quarter-century, the vast majority of the mass shootings in America—from the recent shooting at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, to the 1984 San Ysidro McDonald's massacre—have occurred in "gun free zones." Though labeling an area "gun free" may make some people feel safer, feeling safe is clearly not the same as being safe.

If HB 915 becomes law, Georgia's thirty-seven state colleges (along with Georgia's thirty-six state trade schools) will join Utah's nine state colleges, Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO), and Blue Ridge Community College (Weyers Cave, VA) in allowing the same individuals licensed to carry concealed handguns in virtually all other unsecured locations—locations without metal detectors and X-ray machines—to do so on campus.

Because studies by numerous independent researchers and state agencies have found that concealed handgun license holders are five times less likely than non-license holders to commit violent crimes; because no other type of location—from office buildings to churches to movie theaters to shopping malls—has seen an increased rate of violent crime since concealed carry became legal there; because the eleven universities that currently allow concealed carry on campus (and have done so for a combined total of over sixty semesters) have not seen any resulting incidents of gun violence, gun accidents, or gun thefts; because police and security officers cannot be everywhere at once; and because "gun free zones" recklessly stack the odds in favor of dangerous criminals, SCCC feels that this proposed change to Georgia state law is both prudent and supported by the relevant facts.

For more information contact W. Scott Lewis at media .at. concealedcampus .dot. org or visit www.ConcealedCampus.org.

HB 915 can be read here: http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2007_08/search/hb915.htm

ABOUT STUDENTS FOR CONCEALED CARRY ON CAMPUS - Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is a national, non-partisan, grassroots organization comprised of approximately 10,000 college students, college faculty members, parents of college students, and concerned citizens who believe that holders of concealed handgun licenses should enjoy the same rights on college campuses that current laws afford them virtually everywhere else. SCCC is dedicated to persuading state governments and school administrators to approve laws and campus policies that will grant all citizens with concealed handgun licenses the right to carry their concealed handguns on college campuses. We are not affiliated with the NRA, a political party, or any other organization.

CONTACT:

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus

W. Scott Lewis – Media Coordinator
media .at. concealedcampus .dot. org
www.ConcealedCampus.org