[sanjuro]

Airport’s Ban on Guns Is Disputed in Atlanta
By JOHN SULLIVAN

A decision by Georgia legislators to relax the state’s gun laws has led to a dispute over whether people can legally carry concealed firearms in the nation’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International.

A Georgia gun rights group filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Atlanta on Tuesday after airport officials said they would continue to enforce a ban on concealed weapons in the terminal despite the changes to the state law. The changes, which were approved by the Georgia legislature in the spring and took effect on Tuesday, relax the state’s prohibition on carrying weapons on public transportation and in some other areas, including restaurants serving alcohol.

Benjamin R. DeCosta, the airport director, said the changes applied only to public transportation like buses and the city subway and were not intended to allow people to carry guns at the airport. He said allowing civilians to carry concealed weapons in the terminal, which serves millions of travelers each year, would pose severe problems for the police and airport security workers.

“We want to make sure the airport is safe and secure,” Mr. DeCosta said. He added that airports had previously been the targets of terrorists and that “there should be no ambiguity to law enforcement as to whether people should be carrying weapons here.”

Mr. DeCosta said lawyers for the city of Atlanta, which owns the airport, had determined that the changes to the law did not change the airport’s ban on guns.

“Our view is that the law yesterday was the same as it is today,” Mr. DeCosta said Tuesday. “If somebody comes through here tomorrow or the next day with guns, they will be handled in the appropriate manner.”

The argument concerns only whether people with gun permits can carry concealed firearms in the public areas of the terminal. Restricted areas, including spaces beyond security checkpoints, are governed by federal law, which forbids unauthorized firearms in those areas.

The dispute in Atlanta comes at a time when the regulation of firearms across the country is changing. In a decision last month, the United States Supreme Court supported the individual right to own a gun for personal use. In a 5-to-4 decision striking down the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns, the court rejected the view that the Second Amendment protected the right to keep arms only as part of a “well regulated militia.”

The airport’s position was challenged by GeorgiaCarry.Org, a gun rights group that has previously challenged the city over its ban on concealed firearms in Atlanta parks. Bill Weeks, the group’s spokesman, said the legislature clearly meant to relax a longstanding ban on carrying firearms on all public transportation, including at the airport.

Mr. Weeks said the old version of the law specifically forbade carrying weapons in airport terminals, but the new version struck down that provision. He said the law continued to restrict guns in other areas, but not at the airport terminal.

“That was done so intentionally,” Mr. Weeks said. He said Ken Beardon, a state legislator who drafted the change to the state law, was one of the plaintiffs in the group’s lawsuit against Atlanta over the airport ruling.

Mr. DeCosta said the city would defend the airport’s policy by arguing that concealed firearms continued to be banned by state law in areas of public gathering, and that the terminal should not be considered public transportation.

“My belief is if the legislature believed this would allow people to bring guns to the busiest airport in the world, they never would have passed it,” he said.

Just want to put this one up for record keeping...

 

[MikeD]

Since the 2nd Amendment doesn't currently apply to the states (along with several others), any one of the lawsuits against state/local jurisdictions could eventually become the case which decides whether the amendment does become incorporated or not. But since the court doesn't seem to want that, they'll probably just refuse to hear the case and it'll be another 20-50 years before the test even goes before SCOTUS.

Although I'm firmly for the incorporation of the entire Bill of Rights, I do find it hysterical to watch much of the "state's rights" crowd go running to the federal government to secure their rights.

 

[valve bouncer]

Cool, I hope this means I can smoke in the airport too, after all smoking is legal.

 

[Westy]

Cool, I hope this means I can smoke in the airport too, after all smoking is legal.

You can smoke in the airport. You just have to do it in a room with yellow stained windows with a bunch of other smokers. It is the funniest thing I have ever seen.

 

[valve bouncer]

You can smoke in the airport. You just have to do it in a room with yellow stained windows with a bunch of other smokers. It is the funniest thing I have ever seen.

Smoking rooms. The saddest places on earth. Although at Changi Airport I did get a good view of the A380 while gasping one down.