Politics & Government

Cobb Legislator: Expand Gun Rights

State Rep.-elect Charles Gregory (R-Kennesaw) on Wednesday filed four bills, including one that would allow firearms on college campuses.

As the nation mourns the 26 lives lost when a gunman opened fire last Friday in a Connecticut elementary school, one incoming representative from Kennesaw is pushing for expanded gun rights in Georgia.

State Rep.-elect Charles Gregory (R-Kennesaw) this week filed four bills, including one that would allow firearms on college campuses and another that would allow them in places of worship.

Gregory told the Marietta Daily Journal that while he filed House Bills 26, 27, 28 and 29 on Wednesday, he began work on them before the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Find out what's happening in East Cobbwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

That shooting has ignited a nationwide conversation on tighter gun restrictions, and President Barack Obama this week gave a special panel until mid-January to come up with concrete proposals that curb gun violence, according to NPR.

A survey this week from the Pew Research Center found only modest change in the public's attitude toward gun control in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook.

Find out what's happening in East Cobbwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Forty-nine percent of Americans believe "it is more important to control gun ownership, while 42 percent say it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns." But nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the 1,219 adults surveyed "think that allowing citizens to own assault weapons makes the country more dangerous."

The gun that 20-year-old Adam Lanza used to kill 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a Bushmaster .223 rifle, a weapon favored by hunters and the military, according to Newtown Patch.

The Georgia General Assembly does not convene until Jan. 14, but Gregory has already gotten support from the National Association for Gun Rights. The group has urged members to "please contact ... Gregory ... and encourage him to lead the fight to advance gun rights in Georgia."

READ THE BILLS


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from East Cobb