Douglas County To Lift Ban on Guns in Parks
(B27) A handgun is displayed at Colosimo’s Gun Center in Philadelphia, Thursday, June 26, 2008. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a constitutional right to keep guns in their homes for self-defense, the justices’ first major pronouncement on gun control in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Douglas County is planning to change an ordinance to allow firearms in its public parks.
The County says it’s making the change to comply with state law.
Listen to an audio version of this story.
Tom Worthan is Douglas County’s Commission Chairman. He’s a member of the NRA, but disagrees with having guns in parks.
“I support the second amendment. I just think we’re going to extremes on certain issues within the firearms, and I just want to make sure that our children are safe in our parks.”
Despite his own opinion, Worthan says the commission will move forward on August 20 to change the ordinance and allow guns in parks.
“Once the County Attorney said that we have no choice in the matter, we’re going to change our signs.”
In the meantime, parks employees have covered the signs that say you can’t bring guns onto the property.
In 1995, the state of Georgia passed a law preventing counties to regulate firearms. And in 2008, the law was clarified to allow guns in public parks.
Douglas County attorney Ken Bernard says the current ordinance doesn’t comply with the statewide law.
“It sort of ties our hands in some respects because state law is what state law is, and on this subject, it’s seems to be very clear what the law is.”
Jerry Henry is the executive director of GeorgiaCarry.org, a gun-rights organization. The group brought up the issue to counties with similar laws, including Douglas County.
“Well, they need to, it should have been done before. The state of Georgia has a preemption law that says that only the state of Georgia can control guns in any matter with the exception that the city can stop people from discharging a firearm,” Henry says.
GeorgiaCarry sued Coweta County in 2008 over a similar law and won.
The group has also sued Fulton County and other cities in metro Atlanta.
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