State House leaders are putting the final touches on new proposed gun legislation.
“I prefer calling it a Second Amendment bill because this bill addresses peoples’ Second Amendment rights and being able to carry a weapon in more places in Georgia,” says bill sponsor Rep. Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper).
But college campuses may not be included in the final list.
“I think the feeling right now is that we would rather it be all in or all out,” he tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.
Jasperse says while he still supports extending the right of carry permit holders to bring their guns onto college campuses; he does not support a proposal to leave it up to college presidents to make that determination.
Jasperse believes the decision whether to allow guns on a public college campuses should lie with state lawmakers which has been a point of contention between House and Senate members. It was that provision that stalled the measure in the final hours of last year’s session.
But he says private property rights would prevail in the new legislation when it comes to bars and churches. It would be up to the individual owners or the church elders to make those decisions.
“Those places would come off the prohibited list,” says Jaspers.
He expects the final version of the bill will be introduced on Friday.