GA2A, the Georgia 2nd Amendment watchdog, has come out in favor of a pre-filed bill from Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, that would provide a tax credit of up to $300 for the purchase of eligible gun safes. The credits would be given on a first-come, first-served basis with a total limit of $5 million for the program.
“GA2A supports incentives for law-abiding Georgians to acquire, maintain, and store firearms,” said Jerry Henry, executive director of GA2A. “Incentivizing good firearms practices is an approach that will work. However, GA2A will continue to oppose efforts to mandate unconstitutional storage practices that impose criminal or civil liability on gun owners.”
In response to the statement from GA2A, Au said “Hopeful to see this statement from GA2A, one of Georgia’s leading gun rights groups, in support of #HB855, the Safe Storage Tax Credit Act. Common ground exists. Keep going.”
Au’s statement hints at the trouble of finding places of agreement between gun rights supporters and gun control advocates. Supporters are often wary of getting the proverbial camel’s nose under the ten and sometimes it seems as if neither side can agree on even the premise that legislation is often based on.
Depending on who you ask, Georgia has either very strong or very weak gun laws. Gun control group Everytown Research and Policy ranked Georgia 47th for weakest gun laws. The state report noted the legislature passing campus carry in 2017, requiring colleges and universities to allow guns on campus. The big one for both sides was likely passed in 2022, permitless carry – meaning individuals are allowed to carry concealed, loaded guns in public without a permit or required training.
The announcement from GA2A came just days before another story of a child shot and killed after finding her dad’s unsecured firearm. The four year-old in East Point found the gun and it’s not clear who actually pulled the trigger but the father is now facing a number of charges, including second degree murder. Months ago, two children were also killed following accidental shootings.
According to the National Safety Council, suicide is by far the number one cause of gun-related deaths, comprising 54 percent of deaths for the last year of available data in 2021. Homicide was next at 43 percent. The remaining percent was legal intervention, undetermined, or accidental/preventable. Despite those small accidental/preventable numbers, they are often particularly tragic as demonstrated by the 3 children under the age of seven being killed in this kind of accident in the last few months.
