Should Guns Be Allowed in Churches, on College Campuses?

Gun owners in Georgia could soon be allowed to have their firearms on them in more public areas if lawmakers pass one of several bills currently within the state House of Representatives.

House Bill 28, dubbed the “Restoring Private Property Rights for Places of Worship Act of 2013,” would take out the state’s restriction against carrying a weapon into a church or place of worship.

House Bill 29, known as the “Georgia Campus Carry Act of 2013,” would lift the restriction against carrying a firearm onto a “campus of any public or private technical school, vocational school, college, university, or institution of postsecondary education.”

Charles Gregory, R-Kennesaw, is the primary sponsor of both bills. Gregory went on the record to say that while both were filed days after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, he began work on them before the mass shooting occurred.

Legislators who have signed on as co-sponsors of Gregory's two bills include Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, and Paulette Braddock, R-Powder Springs.

Another bill that has been dubbed the “Restoring Private Property Rights for Places of Worship Act of 2013,” House Bill 335, contains language similar to HB 29.

Copies of all three bills are attached to this article in PDF form.

Should guns be allowed in churches? What about college campuses? Should they be banned from both?

Share what’s on your mind with us, and then return here to see what your neighbors in Paulding, Douglas and Cobb have said.