GCO is proud to announce the appointment of Jerry Henry as GCO’s Executive Director. Jerry will be responsible for overall coordination and execution of GCO’s activities, as well as acting as a liaison between each of GCO’s various coordinators, sponsors, and members. GCO now has a telephone number available Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 to 5. You may contact Jerry using the following three methods:

By telephone: M, W, F. 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (770)314-9962

By email: jhenry@georgiacarry.org

By regular mail:

Jerry Henry
Executive Director
7480 Rivertown Road
Fairburn, GA 30213

We are happy to have Jerry on board, and we are confident that he will do an excellent job.

Defendants in GCO’s federal lawsuit against MARTA and some of its officers have filed their final brief on the merits of the case. The matter is now before federal judge Thomas Thrash, who will rule if either party should win on the merits of the case without a trial. A decision is expected within a few weeks. The documents in the case may be viewed here.

GCO has filed its final briefs on the merits in its federal lawsuit against MARTA over whether it is constitutional for police to stop any person seen carrying a firearm.  MARTA’s final brief is due October 23, 2009.  After that, the judge in the case is expected to rule on several outstanding motions, including determining if the police may demand the social security number of anyone they stop, if a government agency (such as MARTA) may ignore an open records request with impunity, and if police may detain, under force of law, anyone carrying a firearm.  While no timeline is imposed on federal judges for ruling on motions, a decision is expected within a few weeks.  The briefs in this case can be viewed here.

MARTA has filed a brief in opposition to GCO’s motion for summary judgment in GCO’s federal lawsuit against MARTA for MARTA’s policy of detaining anyone seen carrying a firearm. While MARTA now concedes that GCO member Christopher Raissi was detained when two officers stopped him, disarmed him, and ran a background check on him, they argue that it was not a 4th amendment violation to do so because MARTA is a terrorist target and high crime area. For MARTA’s explanation of why the 4th amendment does not apply when one steps off the Atlanta sidewalk and into the Five Points train station, see the briefs here.

The Stone Mountain Memorial Association has repealed its ban on carrying firearms in Stone Mountain Park. Carrying with a GFL and car carry (even without a GFL) now are permitted. The former (interim) provision that requires notifying the police when carrying in the park also has been repealed. In recognition of these changes and in exchange for SMMA’s reimbursing GCO for GCO’s costs in its lawsuit in the case against SMMA, GCO has dismissed its case against SMMA. The text of the new ordinance may be viewed here.

NRA targets Wood for defeat. The Roswell Beacon carried a story Sunday about the NRA’s effort to defeat Roswell Mayor Jere Wood, who is a member of the anti-gun organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Of course, that name belies the fact that they are against lawful gun ownership and carrying, too. Mayor Wood, on the defensive, claimed that he supports the right to bear arms. GCO Vice President John Monroe begged to differ. We do not have a link to the story (internet viewing is for subscribers only), but here is the relevant excerpt:

WOOD HAS BATTLED GUN GROUPS BEFORE

John Monroe, a Roswell lawyer and Vice President of Georgia Carry, a statewide Pro-Second Amendment organization, makes no apology for wanting the right to carry a gun just about anywhere, whether it be the mall, church, or local park.

Monroe filed a lawsuit against the City of Roswell last year in response to a city ordinance banning the carrying of firearms in Roswell parks.

“I had a lawsuit against several cities in Fulton County, including Atlanta, and Roswell was one of the defendants. All of these defendant cities had ordinances that banned carrying guns in city parks and, of course, ordinances like that are pre-empted by Georgia state law that says that cities can’t regulate firearms. So we brought suit to force these cities to abide by state law,” Monroe explained.

. . .

Monroe said Wood tipped his hand at the Roswell Council meeting when the issue of repealing their gun ordinance came up for discussion on the agenda.

“Mayor Wood said, ‘Okay, for this next item, I guess we’re all just going to have to hold our noses and vote for it.’ I infer from that he found it repugnant, but saw no choice except to vote for it, probably because the City Attorney had told him he had to. So it’s pretty clear he was overtly hostile to the idea of allowing the citizens of Roswell to carry firearms,” Monroe surmised.

“More than likely, that’s why he joined MAIG, and why he refuses to disavow it even now.”

Carrying for a Cause: Gunowners come to Sumter and Schley. The Americus Times Recorder carried a positive article Saturday on GCO’s service to the local community and meeting for lunch with John Monds, the Libertarian candidate for Governor.

MARTA has filed a motion to have GCO’s federal lawsuit against MARTA dismissed. The case primarily concerns a detention by MARTA Police of GCO member Christopher Raissi, solely because he was carrying a firearm. In its motion, MARTA says that the MARTA system is so dangerous that MARTA police have a duty to stop everyone seen carrying a firearm to make sure they have a GFL. MARTA’s brief does not mention how often a person might reasonably be expected to be stopped while riding the MARTA system all the way from North Springs to the Airport. Perhaps once per train station? MARTA’s brief may be viewed here.

GCO has filed a motion in its federal lawsuit against MARTA, seeking, among other things, an injunction against MARTA’s policy of detaining everyone seen carrying a firearm.  In its motion, GCO quotes MARTA officials who testified that MARTA has a “procedure” to detain anyone seen carrying a firearm to check for ID and GFL.  MARTA police stopped GCO member (and GFL holder) Christopher Raissi who carried a holstered handgun in the Avondale train station.  Police seized Raissi’s handgun and did not return it until the detention ended in a non-public area of the station to which they had moved Raissi.  The officers who stopped Raissi admitted that Raissi was not suspected of any criminal activity other than the possibility that Raissi was carrying without a GFL.  They stopped him for the sole purpose of checking to see if he was licensed to carry.  Comparing the facts of this case to a United States Supreme Court opinion that it is unconstitutional to stop a motorist just to see if he has a driver’s license, GCO argues that stopping someone just to see if he has a GFL violates the Fourth Amendment.

GCO’s motion also asks the court to rule that MARTA officials violated the state Open Records Act multiple times.  Raissi sent the chief of the MARTA police a certified letter asking for records related to his detention.  MARTA admits receiving the request and that it failed to respond.  In another request, GCO lawyer John Monroe made an oral request, followed by multiple email followups, to the assistant police chief, asking for MARTA’s policy pertaining to people carrying firearms on MARTA post-HB 89.  The assistant chief admits he received the emails, but denies that an ORA request can be made via email.  He admits he did not respond to the request, primarily because MARTA has a “procedure” for dealing with people carrying firearms but not a “policy.”

The documents in this case may be viewed here.

Despite Atlanta’s Parks Director filing a sworn affidavit saying the Atlanta web site no longer says that guns are banned in parks, Atlanta’s web site still says guns are banned in parks.

GCO filed two more briefs in its Fulton County Superior Court case against Atlanta over Atlanta’s parks carry ban, including one exposing Atlanta’s false claim that it has changed its web site.  No doubt Atlanta will rush to fix its faux pas, so GCO has preserved it, complete with date/time stamp, for the court to see.  The briefs may be viewed here.