Ga. Supreme Court Severely Limits Guns on School Campuses

The ruling ends a conflict between two laws created in 2014.

The Georgia Supreme Court issued a decision that allows guns on school property only if someone is picking up or dropping off a student.

The decision settles seemingly conflicting bills that were signed into law in 2014 by Governor Nathan Deal.

House Bill 826, which was signed by Governor Deal April 22, 2014, allowed people with gun licenses to carry weapons anywhere on school property. The following day, however, Deal signed House Bill 60, which forbids guns on school campuses unless someone is picking up or dropping off a student.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that the bill Governor Deal signed last should be upheld, according to myajc.com.

A similar decision was made by the Code Revision Commission, but a lawsuit was filed by GeorgiaCarry.org and two citizens challenged that ruling.

“It wasn’t really unexpected,” says John Monroe, an attorney for GoergieCarry.org, of the Supreme Court’s ruling. Monroe also noted that Deal had vetoed a bill that would have allowed guns on college campuses in May.

The Supreme Court wrote in its decision that HB 826 and HB 60 were in “irreconcilable conflict” and the state’s guns on campus laws had to be clarified.

“Since the two laws cannot reasonably stand together, the later enacted bill controls,” the court’s ruling stated.

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