Posted on 03/09/2012 7:04:32 AM PST by marktwain
The Georgia Senate has approved two pro-gun bills, one that would require authorities to return stolen guns to their lawful owners and one that would lower the concealed carry license age requirement from 21 to 18.
Senate Bill 350 would require law enforcement agencies throughout the state to return all seized firearms, not being held as evidence, to their lawful owners no later than 30 days after the court renders its final judgment.
Now, if the firearms cannot be traced back to the original owners, S.B. 350 would require that authorities sell those firearms at a public auction. Current Georgia law allows for the immediate destruction of seized arms.
S.B. 350 passed by an overwhelming majority, 49-4 (to read more about S.B. 350, click here).
The other pro-gun legislation, Senate Bill 493, also passed the Georgia senate with ease.
This bill would lower the CCW permit age requirement from 21 to 18 provided the applicant satisfies certain requirements, including certified training.
The certified training requirements are as follows:
• Four hours of classroom instruction on gun-related laws, proper gun-handling methods and fundamentals of gun operation.
• Four hours of instruction on a firearms range.
• A written examination on classroom material and a practical examination on a firearms range.
S.B. 493 passed with bipartisan support with a vote of 41-13.
The impetus behind S.B. 493, according to its sponsor Sen. Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville), was to ensure young veterans had opportunities to fill jobs that require CCW permits.
"We have a lot of veterans returning from Iraq, Afghanistan and active duty National Guard. Military personnel that are highly trained," said Loudermilk.
Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), who cast one of the dissenting votes, had a different viewpoint.
“There is a reason we don’t allow young people to carry concealed weapons,” Fort told CBS Atlanta
Fort added that he would have supported the measure if it only granted CCW permits to military veterans 18-21. He contended that the bill may be a threat to public safety, especially at college campuses.
"It may make campuses more dangerous, classrooms more dangerous. I'm not convinced giving an 18-year-old a 9mm to carry to class is the way to go," said Fort.
What are your thoughts? Should concealed carry be a right reserved for military veterans? Or should all 18-year-olds be able to obtain a CCW?
Both bills will now head to the state House for review and consideration. We’ll continue to keep you updated.
Photo and Video Courtesy of CBS Atlanta
I see a bug in the ointment.
If I happen to have a weapon stolen that was, say, a gift from uncle Jim - and it's recovered. How am I determined to be the "lawful owner"?
Gun registration!
Not registered? No "lawful owner".
Most likely you would report the weapon stolen and then the police would contact you as part of the investigation.
Yes there is. Democrats like Fort do not want NAYONE to have any individual responsibility or individual freedom. Their ideal government is one where all citizens' every non-trivial actions are controlled by the state. Former Atlanta mayor, black Democrat the late and unlamented Mainturd Jackasson said it best when he said "I want a country where only the police and military are armed."
Wastes of skin like Fort are part of the reason for the "occupied" in my handle
Ooorah. North Carolina needs 18-yo conceal carry. 18-yo can open carry, but cops often harass them.
Now they just need to pass the consitutional carry bill that is in the legislature as we speak.
I would add three small provisions to this law.
1) If a gun is a collectible never fired, police are prohibited from test firing it, or attempting to test fire it for ballistic records (which could ruin it, and/or ruin its value.) (This has been done by the ATF to punish collectible gun owners, costing them tens of thousands of dollars in lost value of their collectibles.)
2) If at any time police determine a gun in their custody to be unserviceable, fouled, defective, or damaged, an annotation of that fact in writing must be provided to the rightful gun owner with the return of the gun. (A public safety measure, as a gun owner might attempt to use their returned gun before inspecting and cleaning it, possibly resulting in damage or injury.)
3) “In the US, firearms manufactured after 1968 must contain a unique serial number somewhere on the metal frame.”
18 USC § 922:
“It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to transport, ship, or receive, in interstate or foreign commerce, any firearm which has had the importer’s or manufacturer’s serial number removed, obliterated, or altered or to possess or receive any firearm which has had the importer’s or manufacturer’s serial number removed, obliterated, or altered and has, at any time, been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.”
There are also many state laws on this subject as well.
If the printed serial number of the gun has been obscured, damaged or tampered with, the police will restore the serial number before the return of the gun to its owner, so that he will not be subject to prosecution for this offense. The owner may have to pay the reasonable cost of this restoration, doing so before the gun is returned.
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