Georgia's gun law not radical

They've gone and done it. The state of Georgia has made it legal for licensed gun owners to carry their guns almost anywhere. The NRA loves it andgun control advocates hate it.

But what real effect might it have? Only about 5% of Georgians are licensed to carry; it seems a stretch to believe that opening up the laws on where to carry a gun will induce a lot more people to do it. Surely those who do not have the permits to carry haven't been waiting for a move like this. Within reason, those who have permits are the only ones affected by the law. By all indications, they have been responsible gun owners.

We admit that we can't see any particular reason why one would want to carry a gun to church, for example, but we also note that to carry a gun in church or a school still requires the express consent of the place of worship or the school. This is good, as no one has the moral right to carry on someone else's private property anyway, and schools should have greater self regulator powers seeing as they in place of the parents for large potions of the day.

As to other supposedly offensive provisions of the law, firearms dealers no longer need to maintain records of sales and purchases, and the governor loses his authority to suspend or limit the carrying or sale of guns. But why ought these things have been mandatory anyway? The one thing which many of the anti-gun crowd never appear to admit is that registering your weapon in any form actually amounts to a presumption of guilt. Don't we live in a presumed innocent society? Why then assume that gun owners will use their guns for illegal purposes?

The Second Amendment is not the most important part of the Bill of Rights, and gun ownership really isn't a shirt sleeve issue for us. Still, the Amendment is there, and for very valid reasons. Governments however well intentioned and police officers however noble cannot offer the same degree of self protection which a person can for himself. This means that persons who want guns and are willing to learn to use them safely, that is, take on the responsibility of gun ownership and potential use, must be allowed to carry them. Georgia's actions are merely recognizing that fact. There seems little to say after that.