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CNN Reporting

Mainsail

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CNN is reporting, with some sensationalism, about the new expanded concealed carry law in Georgia. One thing they are reporting is that if one were to take the train onto airport property they would be violating federal law and arrested “on the spot”.

What is the truth to this? If it’s truly a federal law, then it would also apply here in Washington. Are they failing to point out that carry (open or concealed) is only illegal beyond the security checkpoints, or is there some federal law of which I’m unaware?

Here'savideo, not the same as the one they're using on CNN right now but the same reporter. (Look in the second row for the woman in the orange shirt.) She mentions that if the concealed weapon is discovered on public transportation and the person does not have their permit, they will be arrested on the spot. She seems to be very fond of that phrase.
 

sv_libertarian

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Lawsuit filed over Atlanta airport barring gunsBy SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA - The nation's busiest airport dueled with gun rights advocates Tuesday over whether a new Georgia state law allows visitors to carry firearms at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Full story http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080701/ap_on_re_us/airport_guns

Here is an interesting quote from the article...
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said citizens can't bring guns into the terminal and argued that airports remain attractive targets for terrorism.
Allowing citizens to carry firearms "would create an environment that would endanger millions of people," she said.
Franklin said she will lobby Congress to withhold federal funds from facilities that allow firearms on their premises.
 

Mainsail

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SpringerXDacp wrote:

That doesn't really answer the question. The reporter is claiming it's a violation of FEDERAL law to carry in the airport. IOW, a citizen with a permit gets on the train and is legal, but once the train crosses onto airport property they are breaking the (federal) law. After doing some more reading I think the reporter was misled or just wrong.
 

SpringerXDacp

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Mainsail wrote:
SpringerXDacp wrote:

That doesn't really answer the question. The reporter is claiming it's a violation of FEDERAL law to carry in the airport. IOW, a citizen with a permit gets on the train and is legal, but once the train crosses onto airport property they are breaking the (federal) law. After doing some more reading I think the reporter was misled or just wrong.

This is the paragraph from Doug's post I thought answered your question"What is the truth to this?" I apparently misunderstood your question.

Federal law already bans guns past the security checkpoints at U.S. airports. The new state law, however, apparently would permit guns to be carried on the non-secure side of Hartsfield-Jackson by people who have gone through a background check and have been certified to carry a weapon. Licensed gun owners would be permitted to carry weapons on public transportation coming into the airport, its lobby and in restaurants outside the security checkpoints.

Edit for spelling.
 

G27

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I believe she is just talking out of her ass, quite frankly. It is a violation of federal law to carry pass a center point. But areas of egress are not included in this ban. I am sure a state could make airports an off limits area if they decided to, but Washington is not one of those places. Only areas that are restricted, but I am sure are off limits federally too, areillegal in Washington.
 

antispam540

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It's been a wild ride for the past few days for us in Georgia! Basically, the mayor of Atlanta is extremely anti-gun, and I think this is just her pissy-fit over the new law. She's just going to try to hassle as many people as possible, in the hopes that they'll give up and stop trying to carry places. Fortunately, we've got some pretty awesome allies (a senator, and an amazing lawyer) that are dedicating a large portion of their time to instantly slapping lawsuits left and right whenever our rights get violated. They've won suits against most of the counties that are lagging behind on issuing permits or trying to pre-empt carry laws. There's still a lot left to do (we have a particularly nasty "public gathering" law that makes life pretty arbitrary), but a lot more has been accomplished this year than we thought possible.
 

Bear 45/70

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I know for a fact that you can carry a gun in the airport as long as you don't go past the security check points. First off, if you are taking a gun on your flight, how else can you get the gun to be checked with the rest of your luggage? Also according to the guy doing the securitycheck on the firearms, there is no law disallowing guns anywhere in the airport this side of the security check points. He probably ought to know, since he was the guy enforcing the idiot laws.
 

antispam540

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Bear 45/70 wrote:
I know for a fact that you can carry a gun in the airport as long as you don't go past the security check points. First off, if you are taking a gun on your flight, how else can you get the gun to be checked with the rest of your luggage? Also according to the guy doing the securitycheck on the firearms, there is no law disallowing guns anywhere in the airport this side of the security check points. He probably ought to know, since he was the guy enforcing the idiot laws.
I believe the guns in question here are not unloaded and locked in a case...
 

Bear 45/70

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antispam540 wrote:
Bear 45/70 wrote:
I know for a fact that you can carry a gun in the airport as long as you don't go past the security check points. First off, if you are taking a gun on your flight, how else can you get the gun to be checked with the rest of your luggage? Also according to the guy doing the securitycheck on the firearms, there is no law disallowing guns anywhere in the airport this side of the security check points. He probably ought to know, since he was the guy enforcing the idiot laws.
I believe the guns in question here are not unloaded and locked in a case...
If you are just visiting you will be fine, but if you are gonna flight it is a whole different ball of wax.
 

Mainsail

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Georgia has an excellent pro-firearms organization, second probably only to Virginia or Pennsylvania. Sorry for the panic, but I’ve been in SeaTac a few times with the Sig on my hip so when I hear there’s a FEDERAL law that makes such conduct illegal, well, I have to worry I might not know all the laws. In this case it appears the reporter was ill-informed or playing along with the fear mongers.
 

antispam540

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Mainsail wrote:
Georgia has an excellent pro-firearms organization, second probably only to Virginia or Pennsylvania. Sorry for the panic, but I’ve been in SeaTac a few times with the Sig on my hip so when I hear there’s a FEDERAL law that makes such conduct illegal, well, I have to worry I might not know all the laws. In this case it appears the reporter was ill-informed or playing along with the fear mongers.
Now I'm jealous :p
 

joeroket

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Here is another story on this.

Airport gun showdown moves to courts
Lawmaker won't bring weapon today; will rely on court case to challenge ban

By JIM THARPE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/01/08 Guns were the issue. But words and federal lawsuits became the weapons of choice Tuesday as Atlanta officials declared Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport a "gun-free zone," and gun advocates immediately retaliated by suing them.
The fight about a new state law — one that permits licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons in more public places — began at Atlanta's city-run airport, the world's busiest with 89 million passengers a year.
But city officials say they think it could eventually have a nationwide impact.
"This is a matter of national significance," Mayor Shirley Franklin told reporters at a news conference. Permitting guns inside an airport, even weapons carried by permit holders, would create an unsafe environment that "would endanger millions of people," the mayor said.
Franklin vowed Tuesday to lobby Congress and federal officials to mandate that any public facility receiving federal money be declared a "gun-free zone." That would affect airports nationwide.
Franklin's comments followed a vow by city officials to arrest anyone carrying a gun at Hartsfield-Jackson. The city drew a line in the sand on the very same day a new state law easing gun restrictions in public places took effect.
The new law allows licensed gun owners who pass background checks to carry concealed weapons on public transportation, in parks and recreation areas and in restaurants that serve alcohol — all areas that were previously off-limits.
Gun advocates say the new law means people with the proper permits could carry concealed weapons in the non-secure areas in front of the security gates. Federal law prohibits guns beyond the security gates, and both sides agree that guns should be banned there.
"This is about the city of Atlanta once again trying to hold itself above state law," said John Monroe, an attorney for the gun rights group GeorgiaCarry.org. Monroe and about half a dozen members of his group attended the morning news conference, some wearing large orange buttons that read: "Guns Save Lives."
Gun rights advocates see the new law as a victory for the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Opponents say it has the potential to spawn more violence than it prevents.
Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said the city's legal team has studied the new law and determined the airport still falls under a "public gathering" exception in the Georgia Code.
"Therefore, firearms are prohibited on airport property," he said.
Monroe came to Tuesday's news conference in the Hartsfield-Jackson atrium and handed Franklin and DeCosta copies of the 10-page lawsuit he had just filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta on behalf of his organization and state Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica). DeCosta accepted his copy, but the mayor declined and walked away.
Bearden, a former policeman who authored the new law, said Monday he would come to the airport on Tuesday to pick up relatives and would be carrying a permitted concealed weapon. DeCosta vowed to have him arrested if he did. By Tuesday, Bearden had decided to let the courts decide the issue.
"That showdown will take place in the courts instead of an airport parking lot," said Bearden, who still planned to go to the airport, but without a gun.
The lawsuit accuses city officials of violating Bearden's civil rights by threatening him with arrest.
The suit seeks an injunction to stop the city from searching or arresting people for "legally carrying firearms," and it seeks "reasonable" attorney's fees.
Tuesday's lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal actions GeorgiaCarry.org has filed in recent months. The organization has been successful in overturning or getting local governments to rescind several ordinances.
GeorgiaCarry.org successfully sued probate courts in Carroll, Henry, Cherokee and Cobb counties for requiring gun permit applicants to give their Social Security numbers. Litigation by the group pushed Athens, Fulton County and Atlanta and several other cities in Fulton to abandon restrictions on bringing weapons into parks.
— Staff writer Rhonda Cook contributed to this article.
 
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