Places Too "Sensitive" For Self-Defense © 2022 Phillip Evans

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in NEW YORK STATE RIFLE & PISTOL ASSOCIATION, INC., ET AL. v. BRUEN, SUPERINTENDENT OF NEW YORK STATE POLICE, ET AL., made it clear that New York's "special need" provision to obtain a license to carry a firearm in public was not constitutional, and established the new test for gun control bills to be the historical context of the literal words, meaning, and understanding of the Second Amendment.

Signing of the U.S. Constitution Painting by Thomas P. Rossiter

However, the opinion of the Court left an open window for governments to ban the carrying of firearms by un-badged or "not professional enough" citizens in "Sensitive Places", to be hammered out by other courts as to what qualifies as such and whether the decision is constitutional, eventually making it back up to the U.S. Supreme Court after another decade or two.

Of course, leftist governments bent on citizen disarmament will view this window as wide as the Grand Canyon.

It's obvious that a quick solution to this problem of continuing infringements will not lie with the Federal Courts, as Democrats are now moving with high velocity in a multi-salvo assault on our Second Amendment Rights by passing new bills greatly increasing the number of off-limits places, increasing the cost to obtain a license via additional training requirements, and other added infringements, as the state of New York has just done.

Perhaps the best short-term course of action is to focus on our state representatives, to demand the free exercise of liberty to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe from criminals. 

At no charge to any government or anyone else, I will provide the correct and logical, even moral definition of what a "Sensitive Place" is that could qualify for a constitutional weapons ban, in my opinion.

When government declares a particular place to be off limits to peacefully armed citizens, it is making a very clear and understood life and death contract with them:

This contract is a PROMISE that the government will provide protection against criminal acts equal to or greater than what the citizens can provide for themselves. It's really that simple. Anything less is unacceptable to those who value human life.

Governments pretty much view a "sensitive place" as a public place with vulnerable or valuable targets (such as children), or targets more likely to be attacked due to the organized activities that take place there, such as schools, churches, government buildings, polling places, etc.

Perhaps it's reasonable to believe such places are potential targets primarily because the government mandates that the general citizenry is not permitted to possess the means of armed defense via threat of imprisonment if they disobey this edict.

Tragically too often, the government's idea of exchanging it's "protection" of you for your disarmament at their command, is to merely let you have the option of dialing 911, wait for police to arrive, and wait for them to assess the situation to determine what they will do next, all the while you are under armed attack with no real way to fight back.

This government plan of "protection" was exactly all the victims had in the school shootings of Parkland, FL and Uvalde, TX (among several others), and that didn't work out well for them. The politicians who keep armed self-defense illegal for them in schools were all safe and snug with their armed security in place.

Some might argue that government should always prohibit armed citizens in K-12 schools, but in all school mass shootings, the shooters have ignored the weapons prohibition laws for school zones, as well as the laws against murder and attempted murder.

Licensed, legal carriers have never been a problem in schools, and a few states permit carry in schools even without a license. 

The problem has been the government tying our hands, as criminals ignore the law and bring their guns in to do damage to innocents. Why handicap the good guys/gals with a self-defense prohibition?

Good people outnumber criminals, so let our guns outnumber criminals' guns when they attack. Even criminals have a certain amount of self-preservation in them, and knowing that citizens are not sitting ducks would be a strong deterrent.

One concern is that accidents can happen, and in rare cases a few walls or floors have been damaged by teachers or other staff carrying a firearm legally or not in schools, but logically ALL public places should be off limits to the carrying of guns in public by anyone not a member of law-enforcement if accidents is the primary problem. Not to mention, law-enforcement is not immune to accidents as well.

Unfortunately, we have something far more nefarious to fear than accidents.

We have people walking the streets that do not value human life. They will put a bullet into you or your child just for fun. We do not give up our right to save our lives and those under our care just because of a fear of accidents.

Liberty is not perfect because people aren't perfect, but tyrannical creation of soft targets by government is an abomination, for it guarantees a high body count when evil strikes.

The cure must not be worse than the disease.

Folks, not all the blame lies with politicians. Citizens voted in the very ones who deny our right of self-defense. Vote them out and vote in ones who will stop threatening to punish you just because you want to be able to shoot back at monsters, whether the place is a K-12 school, church, unsecured government building, or anywhere else you happen to be.

New York Anti-Gun-Rights Hydra © 2022 Phillip Evans

For those who thought that Justice Clarence Thomas' great opinion in the Bruen decision was the Golden Sword that killed the Hydra, think again. For those not familiar with the mythical story, the Hydra* grew back two heads for each one chopped off, making it hard to kill. Much like the hard to kill infringements on our Second Amendment Rights.

Original Gov. Hochul photo by KC Kratt can be found by clicking here.

As was predicted by more than one person (myself included) in a forum thread at GeorgiaPacking.org, once New York was forced by the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a firearms carry license to all qualifying citizens, New York Democrats quickly moved to devalue that license to the point of making it almost worthless.

That's because the little people ("Let them eat cake!") are not worthy to have a carry license of any real value per the racketeering government officials in New York.

Gambling mobster Timothy Daniel Sullivan, who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1903 to 1906 pushed the NY Legislature to pass the Sullivan Act in 1911. This law made firearms licenses "may issue", meaning that law-abiding citizens could be denied a license merely at the whim of their Democrat overlords, for failing to show "good cause" or "special need". 

These tyrannical NY politicians (both past and present) would make King George of England absolutely giggly.

For over 100 years NY and NYC has had quite the racket going where their corrupt politicians could receive money and other favors from the rich and politically connected, in exchange for the privilege of being armed for their self-protection in public. 

This has been especially true for New York City, which does not accept a state carry license, but requires its own issued license.

Now that the racket has been busted by a 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Gov. Hochul has taken the lead to get her revenge. If the common people think they will ever get what the elites had access to, they better think twice according to her. She gave their state legislature marching orders for a bill to add numerous off-limits places to carry even with a license, making virtually the entire City of New York and much of the state unpractical for carrying a concealed pistol in public.

Even more perverse in the bill is the new signage provision. If you have a carry license, and enter ANY private business, you automatically commit a FELONY unless that business has posted a sign stating that concealed firearms are permitted. You can count on one hand how many businesses would post such a sign.

These Democrats have gone into full idiot mode just because mere citizens dare to desire the right of self-protection when going about their daily business often in high crime areas. "How dare women wish to defend themselves against rapists!", whines female Gov. Hochul in her mind.

To even obtain a license you have to provide not only four references vouching for your moral character, in the new bill now signed into law, you will also have to provide all of your social media handles for the past three years, so that your Facebook and other Internet posts can be scrutinized by these same corrupt Democrats diligently looking for any possible excuse to not issue you a license to carry a firearm in public. 

Would my blog article here disqualify me from receiving a NY carry license? Saying "probably" would likely be an understatement. As well as any criticisms of Democrats you've made on social media.

You will also have to provide all the names and contact info of any adults living with you, including your adult children. Talk about a privacy invasion!

Additionally, you will be required to take a 16 hour government approved firearms course, making the expense out of reach for poor New Yorkers who live in areas where they have an even greater need of self-defense from armed criminals. Don't believe me? See the next sentence:

Just to apply for a New York City firearms carry license costs $340! 

Many poor New Yorkers are Black citizens. Just like Democrats in the Jim Crow days of the old South, modern Democrats want to keep Blacks unarmed, especially in public.

I suspect Gov. Hochul's new law will have some backfire effect, as the elites there just received a healthy dose of her fangs' poison. Their ability to carry a gun with their license has just been greatly diminished.

Of course, New York will waste millions of dollars of tax-payer money to defend this new law in court, as challenges will soon be filed, if not already, by gun-rights organizations such as the NRA, GOA, and SAF.

You can help too, by joining your state's gun-rights organizations. And always VOTE for true Second Amendment Supporters! 

* Obviously, the Hydra I'm talking about is laws that infringe on our rights. I'm not saying that Gov. Hochul is literally a hydra. Her photo is on the hydra image because she is the face of these laws in NY. No advocacy of violence against any politician is stated or implied in my article here.

https://waronguns.com/youve-got-the-teeth-of-the-hydra-upon-you/

Second Amendment Supreme Court Decision Victory! © 2022 Phillip Evans

On June 23rd, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion on the side of liberty in NEW YORK STATE RIFLE & PISTOL ASSOCIATION, INC., ET AL. v. BRUEN, SUPERINTENDENT OF NEW YORK STATE POLICE, ET AL.

U.S. Supreme Court Building

Photo by Don Sniegowski

The lawsuit was brought because the plaintiffs were denied a license to carry a firearm on the basis that they could not show a "special need", supposedly to consist of a specific threat against their lives. Sometimes needing to walk through a high crime area prone to murders, rapes, robberies, and assaults wasn't good enough for their government overlords.

The "special need" in practice, was having the right connections via being rich, being friends with folks in high places, or both, which they lacked. Believe me, money passed many times under the table (or other favors exchanged) in this government-run racketeering scheme.

The little people didn't even get scraps in New York with regard to their self-defense rights. They paid the hundreds of dollars in application fees just to be laughed at behind their backs while they waited for their big fat "NO, you cannot exercise your right of armed self-defense in public because your life isn't worth it" answer.

Why it even took this long to get such a case to the U.S. Supreme Court is unfathomable, but at least we finally got it.

Don't make the mistake of assuming this was a narrow decision pertaining only to an onerous licensing scheme. Carefully read their reasoning for ruling the way they did, and you will see that it essentially sets a new and higher bar for ANY gun law challenged on constitutional grounds, that being a historical approach favoring the literal text and original application of the Second Amendment.

The two-step right of the people vs. government interests means test has now been abolished with regard to the Second Amendment, at long last.

This means that governments, when challenged in court, must prove that their restrictive laws on the possession and carrying of arms do not violate the Second Amendment. 

Unfortunately, leftist courts will keep doing what leftist courts do until other cases make it back up to the U.S. Supreme Court, with whatever makeup it will have then. But at least the low-hanging fruit can be picked in a fairly timely manner, so other infringement states such as Hawaii, New Jersey, California, and others are on notice.

The general bans on carrying a holstered pistol in a visible manner ("open carry") are also ripe for picking. 

New York, California, Florida, and Illinois, and the District of Columbia make it a crime to wear your handgun on your hip uncovered when walking down the street, even if you are a licensed carrier. But a historical approach will show that even when the Second Amendment was penned, carrying openly, and without a license, was the norm.

That even the "gunshine" state of Florida will enthusiastically throw you into a steel-barred concrete cell for having the audacity not to hide your exercise of a fundamental right in public is surprising, while Republican Governor Ron DeSantis smiles on TV and says he supports your Second Amendment Rights with an eye for the Presidency.

Gov. DeSantis sure has been taking his time about it if he does. Perhaps this Court's decision will lend him a little backbone to finally publicly call for true "Constitutional Carry" with no license requirement, and with the only off-limits places being jails/prisons, dedicated and guarded mental institutions, and courtrooms in session, which is what New Hampshire has, being the only state that can honestly lay claim to being a real "Constitutional Carry" state. A few others come close, but look at the state mandated off-limits places in each before giving them that moniker.

Florida's state laws banning K-12 school carry along with school district and local and federal law-enforcement's failures added up to a recipe for disaster for Douglas Stoneman High in Parkland, Florida in 2018. The government forbade teachers and staff to be armed, and failed to come to their rescue when they needed it, especially being unarmed, needlessly costing many innocent lives.

Florida now has the Guardian program, with about two thirds of counties participating. School employees that volunteer must take 144 hours of training to qualify to be armed. It's better than nothing, but the numbers of volunteers is likely to be few with that high hurdle to clear.

Unfortunately, it looks like even with this U.S. Supreme Court decision, armed self-defense in K-12 schools will likely remain a third-class right, as the Court gave a wink and nod to weapons bans in "sensitive places", with the only approved "arms" to fight back being books, erasers, chairs, and perhaps even buckets of rocks. But not a large bucket of rocks. No one needs a high-capacity rock bucket magazine.

It looks like now it's up to us citizens to lobby our state legislatures to demand they remove the existing infringements on our God-given right of effective self-defense, free to protect our lives and those of our loved ones wherever we need to be as we go about our peaceful daily business.

We shall see if this decision injects a little calcium into the spines of our Republican state lawmakers. 14 Congressional Republicans certainly weren't affected. They turned coat and voted for Biden/Pelosi's Second Amendment infringements.

Parkland and Uvalde: Government Failures of Colossal Proportions © 2022 Phillip Evans

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that law-enforcement have no constitutional duty to protect a person from harm. In light of police taking this to heart, via either fear or incompetence, "gun-free" zones, especially where our most vulnerable are gathered at, are at even more risk of becoming free killing zones.

Tragic Math

Image by Author

The K-12 school massacres of Parkland and Uvalde, only four years apart, prove that police failures to protect are REPEATABLE, and mark my words, WILL be repeated again, because police are only human, too. 

The constant mantra drilled into them every day by their leadership is the PRIORITY to "go home safe at the end of your shift". So naturally that's what they'll give their best efforts toward.

Can you blame them that much? No police officer wants to be hurt or killed, and society doesn't want that either, but if that's their number one thought each day, then trading in their badge for a different profession might be in order. They SIGNED UP for a duty "To Protect and To Serve", though puzzlingly not legally required to perform that catchy motto.

So here's what it boils down to: The government is NOT obligated to protect you, AND at the same time the law in most states forbids your right to SHOOT BACK at mass murderers in schools because, well, those are special "safe" places where we do not allow weapons, especially firearms. 

That adds up to a recipe for disaster.

Let this slowly sink in: Guns are not permitted in school zones by decree of even our grinning "Second Amendment friendly" politicians because these places are "school safety zones". However, criminals somehow manage to bring them in anyway. 

Apparently, murderous gunmen are not frightened by words on paper forbidding them to bring their guns into schools.

Parents, teachers, staff, even those that are vetted and supposedly "trusted" by their government, having received a firearms permit or weapons carry license, do not dare carry their guns in schools for self-defense because they fear being jailed if caught. 

This is what law-abiding people do, they obey the law - and by doing so are unarmed and helpless when evil strikes. So their only recourse is to wait for others to come save them. Ask Suzanna Hupp, survivor of a 1991 mass shooting at a restaurant. 

And how is this plan working out, especially with soft, victim-rich targets like schools?

Orwellian double-speak is strong in the phrase "School Safety Zone", when such words, whether published by lawmakers on paper or printed on a metal sign do little to confer actual safety.

The laws prohibiting armed defense in schools were originally put in place by and large by Democrats, mainly because they are liberty haters, and want people to remain dependent on and at the mercy of government "help". They know better than we little people, we unwashed masses that need to be treated like children who cannot be trusted to protect ourselves.

When Republicans grow a backbone, which appears to be a rarity these days, they repeal such laws. Let's hope they start drinking their calcium fortified milk soon before too many more innocent lives are lost.

While we cannot prevent future police failures, we can demand that the government stops failing us, and allow us free adult citizens the human decency of self-defense wherever we have business to be, even at schools. At the very least for those of us who've obtained our government approved license to carry a firearm in public.

If you agree with me, share this article with your state lawmakers and demand that you be trusted to be armed in schools, that the problem is with criminals and not us law-abiding citizens. Any law which requires us to be defenseless is immoral.

School Districts - Legal Liability In Mass Shootings? © 2022 Phillip Evans

There is a principle in law which says if you neglect to do something you should have done, and someone is harmed in connection to that, you could be held liable for failing to do your legal responsibilities. There's probably a fancy legal term or phrase for this, but some things come to mind (I really just looked it up), such as: "Nonfeasance", "Dereliction", "Negligence".

Oxford High School in Michigan

Photo by Adrienne of Oxford

Well well, it seems that 20 students have correctly picked up on this principle, and have launched a Federal lawsuit against the Oxford Community School District for its failures which allegedly enabled the shooting deaths of four teenagers with others injured at the Oxford High School by 15 year old Ethan Crumbley, who was charged as an adult for his Nov. 30th, 2021 crimes.

"The federal lawsuit being filed Friday names the Oxford Community School District, its former superintendent and other officials. It seeks an independent review and policy changes, including increased transparency and communication from the district." - WEST BLOOMFIELD, Michigan (AP) 06/17/2022

Frankly, they should have sued for money also. Hurt pocketbooks have a strange and wonderful way of incentivizing folks to change their ways and start doing what they are supposed to do.

In the lawsuit, they ask for changes to make schools more secure, for more transparency and communication from district officials, and a better effort to keep students out of school that have shown warning signs of wanting to hurt themselves or others.

I haven't seen the text of the lawsuit, so I don't know if one of their demands is for the district to allow volunteer teachers and staff who possess a license to carry, to be armed with a pistol in schools to protect themselves and their students. I doubt it, though. Sheep will still be sheep when it boils down to it. I'd be happy to be corrected on this if I'm wrong.

Transitioning to another Michigan School District, in September of 2019 Addison school officials openly talked about becoming the first school district in Michigan to allow school staff to carry firearms.

Apparently a bunch of folks, including students, parents and community members had spoken up at a public meeting both for and against having guns in schools, and got their attention.

Who knows what became of that, whether they opted to use their authority to arm willing school staff, or just talked about it? These days most officials and politicians just talk, while blood is still being shed and innocent lives are still being lost.

Now here's where you come in. You probably live in a state where carrying a firearm in a school is generally prohibited by law, even for licensed carriers. But many if not most states  have a provision authorizing any school board or district that wants it, to allow teachers and staff who hold a weapons license to be armed in schools for a proper self-defense response when a murdering gunman enters to do evil.

First of all, speak up at school board meetings and demand that they allow for armed defense in schools for all willing and licensed staff. Most state legislative bodies have chickenly passed the buck to these school officials instead of simply decriminalizing the self-defense carry of firearms in K-12 schools by licensed citizens as they should do.

The second thing is to call, email, and meet with your state lawmakers to demand just that, that if licensed citizens can carry a gun in public even in crowded areas filled with adults and children, why can't they carry in K-12 schools as well?

Anyone with a functioning brain knows that "gun-free zones" are free killing zones or victim-rich zones where all you can do is dial 911 and hope that the police get there before too many more are murdered. 

And if they do get there, that they do their job and go in immediately. But that didn't work out too well for the victims of the Parkland, Florida and Uvalde, Texas mass shootings where in both cases the police hunkered down outside wondering what to do, as precious time passed and the body count continued to increase.

Those events must have given great pause to folks who trust the government to come save them in time when evil strikes. 

Let me spell it out. Those who are being shot at are the ones that have an immediate need to shoot back. 

Many state legislatures and general assemblies have a majority of "pro Second Amendment" politicians harping from the hills about how gun-rights friendly they are, and it's true that sometimes they do pass good bills while blocking bad ones (well, sometimes they pass the bad ones, too).

But when it comes to K-12 Carry, most (not all, really) Republicans are spineless cowards. 

They don't know how to articulate this common sense liberty of self-protection and are either too lazy or too scared to learn how. Teach them anyway. Be incessant in your demands. If each one of you out there does their part, this ship will be turned around and our schools will be much safer as a result.

I'm only one voice writing these multiple articles advocating for the freedom to keep ourselves safe even in K-12 schools. Add your voice as well, and we will be heard...

I guarantee you this 100%.

Also, I would encourage you all to join state and national gun rights groups, and make your desire for legalized K-12 Carry known to them, that you want them to make it a PRIORITY in lobbying state lawmakers to get it done.

Active School Shooter? Make The Victims Wait! © 2022 Phillip Evans

The 2022 Uvalde, TX and 2018 Parkland, FL public school massacres has me scratching my head why any state (including Georgia) in our country would criminalize citizens who are licensed to carry, while being armed with their peacefully holstered handguns at a K-12 school. In both cases, law-enforcement stood down and let many innocents be murdered.

School Zone Sign

Photo by Dan Reed

Forcing unarmed teachers and staff in charge of children who are being fired upon to fight back with books, erasers, and chairs while the police sit outside wondering what to do is not an option that any sane  person supports.

Imagine the horror in that moment of having no way to save yourself or your innocent students that are dying before your eyes, if living long enough to witness it.

Whenever Democrats in power put Second Amendment infringements into law, count on Republicans who later come into power to take their own sweet time in removing them - if they ever do.

Case in point: Georgia's public gathering law made most public places off-limits to firearms carry, even for those who had a license to carry! It was put in place by Democrats in 1870 to disarm Blacks who wanted to be armed while protesting for their right to be decently treated, in order to keep from being murdered by Whites for doing so.

The Georgia General Assembly saw Republicans gaining control of both the House and Senate Chambers by 2007, but they waited three long years before finally repealing this Jim Crow law in 2010, with SB 308 signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

And that was only after much lobbying by Georgia Carry (now GA2A).

Permitless carry, hyped as "Constitutional Carry" was passed and signed into law Feb. 2022, but ALL of the current off-limits places (placed into law by Democrats in the past), were preserved by our "pro-Second Amendment" Republican state lawmakers. Wow, thanks a lot folks. 

Since public college Campus Carry passed in 2017 with HB 280 (again, after years of begging), NOTHING has been done for licensed carriers of firearms. Five years of ZILCH. Not even crumbs. 

If we take the trouble to get a license, passing state and federal background checks, why can't we be trusted to carry everywhere we have business to be, with the exception of jails/prisons, courtrooms in session, and locked down, guarded mental institutions?

Make no mistake, Kemp's "Constitutional Carry" bill was only brought forth because David Perdue brought up permitless carry in his primary challenge against Kemp. 

Apparently, infringements can quickly be removed when politics matter. 

I thought it was innocent lives that should matter, instead of politics?

Need proof that it was politics and not concern for folks that wanted to carry a gun for self-protection? GA2A begged Kemp to suspend the restriction on unlicensed carry of handguns when county courtrooms stopped issuing licenses, or required months to wait for an appointment. Kemp REFUSED to suspend the license requirement, although he did suspend the mask law during the pandemic.

It's nice that health mattered to him, but not self-defense against criminals if you were unlucky to not be able to get a license to carry. Isn't that health related also? It is when a criminal threatens your health and life.

DEMOCRATS put in place the license requirement to carry a handgun, back in 1910. It only took our "pro-Second Amendment" state Republicans 15 years after getting control in 2007 to remove this infringement, when politics of reelecting Kemp mattered.

And please DON'T CALL it "Constitutional Carry", as there is still the ban on adults 18-20 years old to carry a handgun in public, unless they are active military members or in one of the favored special professions.

One of these state favored professions is Superior Court Clerk. They can carry in places licensed carriers cannot legally carry, yet they can do so even without a license or training...

Places like K-12 schools, polling places when voting, and churches, not to mention government buildings with screening. How does that make sense, or is in any way fair to us citizens that took the time and trouble to obtain a Georgia Weapons Carry License?

If political expediency can remove the license requirement to carry in public, how much more bloodshed of innocent lives in "gun free" zones do we need to witness before removing the remaining off-limits places, AT LEAST for those with a LICENSE to carry.

Here's a hint to the Georgia General Assembly in case they didn't know... Criminals carry in all those places regardless of the law. Words on paper cannot stop an evil gunman, but a good guy/gal with a gun can.

Criminals should not have the upper hand just because politicians are afraid to trust licensed carriers.

Lawmakers will say that local school boards have the authority to arm teachers and staff, but only two small rural counties in Georgia have done so, leaving the rest defenseless. Passing the buck to anti-armed-defense school boards is not leadership.

Do you want to see greater self-defense liberty in Georgia? Join GA2A (formerly Georgia Carry). I've been a member since 2010. This article was not written on behalf of GA2A, but is my own personal work.

Georgia Lawmakers: "K-12 Disarmament A-Okay" © 2022 Phillip Evans

Trusting anti-self-defense local school boards to decide whether or not to arm volunteer teachers and staff to protect K-12 school children from mass shooters, is tantamount to stating that you are A-Okay with helpless, sitting ducks.

Sitting Ducks

Photo by Jon Kolbert

That's exactly what our "pro-Second Amendment" Georgia General Assembly lawmakers are saying. Oh sure, they've finally removed the Jim Crow license requirement to carry a pistol in public, but they've left in place numerous off-limits places where they make sure you'll be punished just for carrying a pistol for self-defense where they say you can't. Never mind that criminals carry in those places anyway.

These Jim Crow laws were put in place when Democrats had lawmaking control in Georgia. Off-limit carry prohibitions such as churches, K-12 schools, and polling places were placed into law by White Democrats who didn't want Blacks gathering together to protest for equal rights while armed, much less to protect themselves in public.

Republican lawmakers actually do believe it takes a good guy/gal with a gun to stop a bad one with a gun.

But they have a logic disconnect when it comes to K-12 schools (all the off-limits places, actually).

They've turned common sense upside down by refusing to let the good guys/gals even be armed in the first place to be able to shoot back. They need to let go of these Jim Crow laws!

It's so rare for a school board to allow teachers and staff to be armed, that it makes news whenever it happens, such as with Laurens County back in 2018, in response to the Parkland, Florida school massacre.

Because of the recent Uvalde, Texas school massacre, Laurens County is back in the news again, to let everyone know they still have their program arming teachers and staff, to be a warning to would-be shooters that might target their schools.

Fannin County, Georgia was the second school district to arm teachers and staff in 2018 in response to Parkland.

Georgia has 159 counties, and only two small rural counties have used their state-given authority to protect their children. 

How's that for falling back on trusting school boards to make this life or death decision? Lawmakers KNOW school boards won't do it, with rare exception.

Our lawmakers seem to be content with this strategy. It's politically soothing for them - this pass the buck mentality.

They fear the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), a teachers union which opposes armed self-defense in schools.

I wonder if victims of murdered children would be soothed knowing our lawmakers had their hands tied with this fear. Some consolation, huh?

The irony is that those union members and officials don't vote for Republicans anyway, so why are they sitting back doing nothing to further liberty, in order to appease them?

Perhaps like former Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, they have "no appetite" to further remove the shackles from liberty for law-abiding citizens, that we should just shut up and be happy with what we've got.

They need to step up to the Leadership Plate and repeal the law that makes it a crime to be armed for self-defense in K-12 schools, at the very least for those who've been vetted and received a license to carry.

I trust an armed citizen in a K-12 school far more to protect children, than I do most local school boards. Our lawmakers should too.

Do you want to see greater self-defense liberty in Georgia? Join GA2A (formerly Georgia Carry). I've been a member since 2010. This article was not written on behalf of GA2A, but is my own personal work.

"School Defenseless Zone": K-12 Schools in Georgia © 2022 Phillip Evans

The Georgia General Assembly needs to stop mandating K-12 schools be "Gun Free Zones" (State law does give a wink and a nod to local school boards, allowing them to decide to arm teachers and staff, but lawmakers know they would never do that, with very few exceptions, leaving the vast majority unprotected).

Gun Buster Image created by Author

Ironically, state law calls school property and buildings a "school safety zone" (OCGA 16-11-127.1). I suppose this law in general prohibiting firearms carry for law-abiding citizens is meant to keep everyone safe from criminals that will carry anyway? Right.

This disarmament philosophy only works when all entry points are protected by armed guards and metal detectors, like lawmakers provide themselves at the Capitol Building. Even so, our schools shouldn't have to be run like prisons, as this further indoctrinates children into the poisonous sheep mentality which places the responsibility of self-protection on the shaky shoulders of the government, instead of where it belongs - on us individual citizens.

After the mass school shootings in Parkland, Florida (2018) and Uvalde, Texas (2022), the usual mantra to dial 911 and wait for help rings hollow.

Regardless, no state politician in Georgia is advocating that schools receive these protective measures, so tax-dollar protected politicians should stop making it a crime for licensed adults to carry their firearms as a defense for themselves and the children they care for at school. Those lives matter too.

State lawmakers KNOW the status quo doesn't work, and if they don't take real steps to fix it, that means THEY DON'T CARE, or at least it means they don't care enough to let people have effective tools to protect themselves in a school "safety" zone. What that is, is for the government to STOP making self-defense preparedness a CRIME.

It's high time they stop playing politics with innocent lives. Evil will strike again, and the best way to save the most lives is to shoot down murdering maniacs on the spot.

Disarming teachers, staff, parents and other caretakers as if they are children not to be trusted with guns, is to leave actual children defenseless, not to mention the adults too.

Police often take minutes to arrive, and victims under fire don't have minutes to spare.

Therefore, the best security option is first responders that are already on the scene: teachers, staff, visiting parents, etc. Plenty of these already possess a valid Georgia Weapons Carry License, having passed their state and federal background checks, and are willing and able to be frontline defenders. So why can't they be?

To that best option our state politicians say "NO", passing the buck to local school boards that also say "NO".

So we are left back at square one, with innocent lives being sitting ducks in a barrel, with Gold Dome Republicans afraid to remove from us the shackles of the threat of jail, so that we citizens can exercise our God-given right of self-defense even in K-12 schools.

It's a crying shame they don't do so.

If saving children's lives won't help politicians grow a backbone, nothing will.

Note: According to OCGA 16-11-127.1 a "lawful weapons carrier" may be armed on their person in a "school safety zone" when such person carries or picks up a student. Not all judges, prosecutors, or juries may agree with the literal wording of this statute, so doing so would be risky at best. We need to expect better from our elected lawmakers who are supposed to have our best interests at heart.

Do you want to see greater self-defense liberty in Georgia? Join GA2A (formerly Georgia Carry). I've been a member since 2010. This article was not written on behalf of GA2A, but is my own personal work.

K-12 Carry In Georgia - Declined By School Districts © 2022 Phillip Evans

On June 1st, 2022, I emailed my "pro-Second Amendment" Georgia lawmakers a petition to decriminalize carry of firearms in K-12 schools for self-defense purposes by those who possess a license to carry. You can view the text of the email here.

Children at School

Photo by Lucélia Ribeiro

In spite of current law allowing school boards to arm teachers and staff, they would rather your children's caretakers at school to remain helpless to save them from murderous attackers. Therefore, the General Assembly should fix this by decriminalizing the carry of firearms by licensed citizens.

A May 26th, 2022 11 Alive report showed "almost all school boards have declined" to take advantage of a 2014 Georgia law that lets school districts arm teachers and staff.

State Representative Thomas Benton of the 31st District replied to my email referred to above:

"Mr. Evans, 

In 2014 the General Assembly passed legislation allowing local school boards to permit carry by teachers."

I replied back to him:

"I am aware of that, just as you are aware almost no school district would ever do that.

So far, only Laurens and Fannin Counties have taken advantage of that, leaving the other districts virtually helpless. Two tiny rural counties. Really?

Passing the buck like that is not leadership. (emphasis added for this article)

The state needs to remove the axe over my head as a licensed carrier, so that I can legally carry where criminals will carry anyway. 

Licensed carriers legally carry at crowded park festivals full of children, but we can't be trusted to carry in K-12 schools?

Is there no one in the Capitol with the skill to articulate furthering liberty, so that schools can get on the spot protection when evil strikes?

Don't YOU want to be able to legally carry in schools? I trust you to do so, why don't you trust me?"

_________________________________

Georgia's School District elites have practically guaranteed that teachers will not be permitted to shoot back at a murdering, evil lunatic attacking them and the children under their presumed protection and care.

To use the word "immoral" for this, is to be a champion at understatement.

The Solution?

Real state leadership that DECRIMINILIZES the carry of firearms at K-12 schools by those who took the time and paid money to be background checked by the state AND the Federal Government, and obtained a Georgia Weapons Carry License.

So let's understand current Georgia Law:

If I go to my son's school to have lunch with him and am wearing a concealed pistol, I'm at risk of being kidnapped by armed government enforcers, placed behind bars and separated from my family, just for desiring to not be defenseless, the same boat our teachers are in.

Even though:

1. I've been vetted by background checks (you know, the special magic)

2. I've obtained my license to carry

3. It is a Second Amendment Right

4. I follow the law and am willing to defend others when possible

What Can You Do?

Write, email, call, meet with your state lawmakers and bring up these points. Demand a pathway for ANY licensed carrier to be able to carry in K-12 schools, whether it's an extra special background check or reasonable shooting test, something to give those with weak knees under the Gold Dome some political cover. 

But frankly, they should just let freedom ring and add licensed carriers to the OCGA 16-11-130 exemption list.

By the way, Superior Court clerks are on this list and can legally carry in K-12 schools with NO license at all! We little people with a license can just eat cake!

Is it fair for those in government favored professions (and there's a lot of them on that exception list) to get the okay to carry a gun for self-defense, but not you and I?

Heaven forbid a mass shooting happens in a K-12 school in Georgia. We have no further to look than politicians who apparently trust school board disarmament decisions to keep our children safe.

Do you want to see greater self-defense liberty in Georgia? Join GA2A (formerly Georgia Carry). I've been a member since 2010. This article was not written on behalf of GA2A, but is my own personal work.

*** Special thanks to David Codrea for featuring this article on his WarOnGuns.com site.