Gun-rights groups claim new law allows them in terminals

In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision upholding an individual’s right to bear arms, Georgia has a new gun law effective this month that allows citizens to pack pistols on mass transit, in state parks and in restaurants. And Georgia’s Republican governor, Sonny Perdue, said last week the law should also apply to the non-secure parts of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. After the law took effect July 1, according to press reports, the airport declared itself a gun-free zone, but gun-rights supporters filed a lawsuit to force the airport to allow passengers to carry weapons, arguing that the passenger terminals are public transportation venues and they have restaurants. The governor told reporters he supports that effort. The airport has threatened to arrest anyone bringing a weapon into the terminals, and a court hearing is scheduled for mid-August on the gun rights group’s petition for a restraining order.