This type of bill would pass in Georgia... (Atlanta: sales, crime rate)

[BGS99]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

No need to make up statistics when it's so easy to look them up. If you keep a gun in your home, it's many times more likely to hurt a member of your family than a criminal.

"Of 626 shootings in or around a residence in three U.S. cities revealed that, for every time a gun in the home was used in a self-defense or legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides (Kellermann et al, 1998)." from FIREARMS TUTORIAL

No need to quote statistics related to the actual bill when its so easy to find unrelated statistics to fit your point.
Seems to me we are talking about persons with a concealled weapons permit in public.
Not Joe-Bob buy a shot gun at Walmart and take it home and blow your foot off.
Two different things. Bring me stats about accidental discharges in public by licensed concealled weapons holders.

[kagmypts]

Originally Posted by wxjay

You mean the way that people responsibly drive and don't show off by gunning it (pun unintended) down the road or swerving in and out of traffic?

Yes, like driving, I am sure most gun owners are responsible, but there are those wreckless ones that still have the right to do so and will flaunt it. And like driving, they put others at risk with their antics.

Wreckless driving, unlike responsible driving, is illegal. Same should hold true for guns. This bill specifically addresses carrying a concealed weapon. If a person feels the need to clean his gun on MARTA or take it out for show and tell, then yes, that behavior should be illegal (there could be serious consequences if people just started pulling out guns at random - whether it is an accidental shooting or a problem resulting from the fear of the gun). As I have said before in this thread, guns in and of themselves are not bad - they only become "bad" when they are abused or mishandled.... same as driving. If we are simply talking about the right to carry a concealed weapon, this bill should pass. However, that does not mean that carrying a concealed weapon in these places entitles the owner to engage in certain behaviors (akin to the way we do not outlaw driving because a select few are wreckless).

[kagmypts]

Originally Posted by BGS99

No need to quote statistics related to the actual bill when its so easy to find unrelated statistics to fit your point.
Seems to me we are talking about persons with a concealled weapons permit in public.
Not Joe-Bob buy a shot gun at Walmart and take it home and blow your foot off.
Two different things. Bring me stats about accidental discharges in public by licensed concealled weapons holders.

Thank you. You saved me from making this same point.

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by wxjay

Or they could have shot you instantly as you reached for your gun or saw you with a gun.

I am not trying to diminish that very traumatic incident that you experienced, but please realize that having a gun is not the "be all end all" of being a victim of crime. There are times when having a gun for protection can make the outcome even more tragic. I know that is easier for me to say because I was not (and have never been) in your situation, but I just think issues like carrying a gun into a restaurant need to be thought of more logically and less dichotomously (i.e., no gun = victim, gun = not a victim).

it gives me an option, if not a chance to survive. If they've made their mind up to kill me after they get my loot, then they're going to do it regardless of if I carry a gun or not.

not maybe they weren't planning on it, but then saw my gun, then shot. Well, that's a chance I'm willing to take!

I'd rather assume they're going to commit ANOTHER FELONY rather than say hey, you know what, I want to go to jail for TWO felonies, not kill this guy, be in for 30+ years, rather than go to jail for THREE felonies at 40+ years.

These guys are dumb arses in the first place, you think they care after the first felony, if so you're kidding yourself.

[gt6974a]

I grew up on guns, never carried, this happened then I carried...take it for what it's worth. Ask my fiance, mother, sisters, father, etc how they feel about me carrying now.

BUT THANK GOD I DIDN'T HAVE MY OWN WEAPON, WHAT A JOKE!

If you want your own copy you can stop by Atlanta Police and get a copy, case number in on it:

[south-to-west]

Originally Posted by kagmypts

Dropped - that would imply that the guns were being held! This bill relates to CONCEALED weapons. These guns are not going to be out in the open. How many guns do you know of that just got off when they are not being handled? If the bill passes, I will read the AJC each day to see how many MARTA riders are "accidentally shot" from people mishandling their legally concealed guns. I will come back here and post the first time it happens.... admitting how flawed my thinking is.

You won't find anything because GUNS AREN'T ALLOWED ON MARTA RIGHT NOW! But I DO know that guns have never been good on public transport. Look at the incident on the Long Island Rail Road 10-15 years ago when that crazy guy killed several commuters. Look at the Bernard Goetz case back in the 80s--you know, the scared guy who thought that several black youths were about to assault him on the subway in NYC so he shot them. That's all we need is for some scaredy-cat on the train to start blasting someone because they feel threatened.

Look, we have the MARTA police to patrol the train. We don't need armed vigilanties--that's not how we function in a civilized society.

[Mike Jones 1999]

...what has brought about the need to "pack heat" on MARTA and in places to eat? Has there been an increase in violence in these two places? If there has not, what is the Government's interest?

[kagmypts]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

You won't find anything because GUNS AREN'T ALLOWED ON MARTA RIGHT NOW! But I DO know that guns have never been good on public transport. Look at the incident on the Long Island Rail Road 10-15 years ago when that crazy guy killed several commuters. Look at the Bernard Goetz case back in the 80s--you know, the scared guy who thought that several black youths were about to assault him on the subway in NYC so he shot them. That's all we need is for some scaredy-cat on the train to start blasting someone because they feel threatened.

Look, we have the MARTA police to patrol the train. We don't need armed vigilanties--that's not how we function in a civilized society.

If you took the time to actually read my post, it was quite clear that I was talking about the future. Your post to which I was originally responding, in which you talked about people dropping guns and being "accidentally shot", was written in future tense (when this bill passes). Consequently, my post was written in future tense as well. Please read the post to which you are responding before making such a crazy response!

[kagmypts]

Originally Posted by Mike Jones 1999

...what has brought about the need to "pack heat" on MARTA and in places to eat? Has there been an increase in violence in these two places? If there has not, what is the Government's interest?

As has been said before on this thread, it is not as much about possessing guns in these places as it is about the right to carry guns to and from. Second, this is not about the the government's interest but rather about an individual's right to carry a gun.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by Mike Jones 1999

...what has brought about the need to "pack heat" on MARTA and in places to eat? Has there been an increase in violence in these two places? If there has not, what is the Government's interest?

Maybe the government's interest is the same as that of the road construction lobby.

Scare people away from MARTA, forcing them onto the roads, creating even more traffic congestion, forcing the government to give even more money to their friends in the road construction industry.

It's no secret that the state government is no friend of MARTA. I think this is a dirty trick.