"Chocolic"  wrote in message 
news:zn7ok.303324$SV4.23005@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Federal Judge Upholds Gun Ban at Atlanta airport
> Monday, August 11, 2008
>
>
> ATLANTA -  A federal judge on Monday upheld a gun ban at the world's 
> busiest airport, dealing a blow to gun rights groups who argued a new 
> Georgia law authorized them to carry weapons in certain parts of the 
> Atlanta airport.
>
> U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob expressed concern that allowing guns at 
> Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport could cause significant 
> economic damage and could be a "serious threat to public safety and 
> welfare."
>
> His decision rejected a request by GeorgiaCarry.org that would have 
> temporarily allowed gun owners to carry their weapons in the airport until 
> his final ruling on the gun ban - a challenge that could likely last 
> months.
>
> The legal showdown erupted when the state law that allows people with a 
> concealed weapons permit to carry guns into restaurants, state parks and 
> on public transportation took effect on July 1.
>
> City officials quickly declared the airport a "gun-free zone" and warned 
> that anyone carrying a gun there would be arrested.
>
> GeorgiaCarry.org sued the city and the airport, claiming that the airport 
> qualifies as mass transportation under the new state law. Attorney John 
> Monroe told the judge repeatedly that no law makes it a crime for 
> residents with permits to bring their guns into terminals, parking lots 
> and other unsecured areas.
>
>
> A U.S. Supreme Court ruling this year clarified that the Second Amendment 
> guarantees individuals the right to own working guns, and struck down a 
> Washington D.C. metro ban on private gun ownership.
>
> Gov. Sonny Perdue, who signed the bill into law in May, supports the 
> lawsuit. The Republican suggested that his own wife might want to carry a 
> firearm for long walks between the parking lot and the airport's terminal.
>
> City officials have angrily fired back, arguing that allowing some 
> residents to carry guns at the airport could pose a dire threat to the 
> millions of passengers it serves each year. Even an accidental firearm 
> discharge, they say, could cause mayhem.
>
> "First, you're going to have a stampede," said Robert Kennedy, the 
> airport's assistant general manager.
> Meanwhile, airport officials are quietly devising a backup plan.
>
> They have asked the Transportation Security Administration to amend the 
> airport's federal security program so that guns are banned in all areas, 
> including certain parking facilities.
>
> TSA officials said the agency is reviewing the request, the first such 
> appeal it has ever received.
>
> Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House Homeland Security 
> Committee, has also urged the agency to strengthen its restrictions and 
> warned that Congress could intervene if national regulations are not 
> adopted.
> The judge's ruling was a defeat for GeorgiaCarry.org, a two-year-old group 
> that has won a string of victories reversing city and county firearm 
> restrictions around the state.
>
> But state Rep. Tim Bearden, a Republican who co-sponsored the law, said it 
> was only a temporary setback.
> "In the long run, the Constitution always prevails," said Bearden, a 
> former police officer who wore a yellow tie imprinted with the document's 
> words. "At least, it's supposed to."
>
> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,374563,00.html
>
> Chocolic
>