Georgia firearm committee turns attention to Barrow County school shooting

(The Center Square) — A committee exploring how to entice Georgians to properly and safely store firearms turned its attention to a Barrow County school shooting, but lawmakers assured that no matter what course of action they take, they wouldn't seek to take people's firearms.

"This is not about trying to take away someone's gun," state Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, said during the second meeting of the Senate Study Committee on Safe Firearm Storage. "...This is about protecting the lives of our children. And [the Barrow County shooting] gave us a reminder again why it's so important for the work that we're doing on this study committee."

Authorities have charged a 14-year-old with killing four people and injuring nine more at Apalachee High School on Wednesday. Police have also charged his 54-year-old father in connection with the shooting.

In the wake of the shooting, Georgia Democrats have renewed their call for stricter gun laws.

"While we sit here and mourn the families and the kids, what are we doing about it?" state Sen. David Lucas, D-Macon, said during the meeting. "Are we talking, or are we doing something to try to make sure that legislation is passed in order to give us some kind of relief when it comes to guns?"

Lucas said he owns about 40 guns, and he's not alone. Gun ownership is high in Georgia, and there were 304,124 registered guns in the state in 2021, according to Statista ; five other states — Texas, Florida, Virginia, California and Pennsylvania — have more registered guns.

The Peach State is also home to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which usually leads the way as the airport where Transportation Security Administration officers find the most guns in travelers' carry-on bags. At least one city in the state, Kennesaw, has a local law stipulating that "every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain a firearm;" officials have said it's not necessarily enforced.

Heather Hallett, who organized the Georgia Majority for Gun Safety, told lawmakers that most Georgians are in the middle.

"We're a state of gun owners," Hallett said. "Most gun owners, Republicans and Democrats, agree that there are common sense solutions and regulations that can save lives and also protect our Second Amendment rights. This is not an either-or situation, and for the sake of those families in Winder, I beg that all of us take a step away from whatever forces pull us [politically] and instead look at the problem of gun violence from a public health perspective.

"Nobody is taking anybody's gun, but we can and should create a framework that makes gun ownership safer, not just for the owner, but for the common good," Hallett added. "This is a win-win situation: Second Amendment rights and gun safety. ...This is an approach that polling shows that the majority of Georgians, again on both sides of the aisle — gun owners, non-gun owners — they agree. We can do it."

While the committee is focused on the safe storage of firearms, in light of the Barrow County shooting, state Sen. Frank Ginn, R-Danielsville, said there is a particular need to focus on mental health.

"For me, as a lifelong shooter, competitive shooter in high school and college, firearms are not the enemy," Ginn said. "The enemy is the mentally deranged, and that's where I want to try to make sure that we do all we can to get those people help that need it long before they pull a gun."