State Senate Democrats weigh in on gun safety

ATLANTA — Georgia Senate Democrats called on their Republican colleagues Tuesday to pass gun safety legislation in the wake of last week’s school shooting in Barrow County.

“We really don’t have to live this way,” Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, said during a news conference at the state Capitol. “We don’t have to accept that Republicans from Washington to the Governor’s Mansion to here under the Gold Dome will sit on their hands and shut their mouths about gun safety.”

The Senate Democrats’ news conference followed a similar public call for action on gun safety state House Democrats made last week, two days after two teachers and two students at Apalachee High School near Winder were shot and killed. A 14-year-old student was arrested at the scene and charged with felony murder.

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats posted a sign informing those who attended the news conference that an average of 1,927 Georgians are being killed by guns every year, while the Republican-controlled General Assembly hasn’t passed any gun safety laws since 2018.

“They offer thoughts and prayers, then turn their backs on the victims when they plead for action,” said Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, who chairs the Senate Democratic Caucus.

Parent, other legislative Democrats, and some Republicans have introduced various gun safety bills in recent years, including measures either encouraging or requiring Georgians to lock their firearms and store them in a secure location, offering tax credits for Georgians who buy firearm storage devices such as trigger locks or gun safes, and a “red flag” law allowing the temporary seizure of firearms from a person deemed a danger to themselves or others. But none has made it through the General Assembly to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.

“We call on all of those in the majority to take meaningful action,” Parent said. “Our children deserve to be safe in their schools and in their community.”

House Democrats called on Kemp last week to call a special legislative session to take up gun safety legislation.

The governor has included money in the state budget for school districts to use in safety efforts and signed legislation requiring schools to conduct “intruder alert drills” and submit school safety plans. But he has not been receptive to calling a special session.

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