GeorgiaCarry.org sues Stone Mountain State Park

F

FireMax

New member
Just got this in an email today...

Yesterday, GCO filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Dekalb County (Georgia) against the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, seeking to have SMMA’s ban on possession or carrying a firearm in Stone Mountain Park declared invalid. A copy of the complaint can be viewed here:

http://www.georgiacarry.com/smma/complaint.pdf .

To Attorney General Baker …… The men and women of GeorgiaCarry.Org will see you in court.
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A little background....

GCO (Georgia Carry Organization) is a non-profit membership based organization that fights for the rights of Georgia citizens to keep and bear arms and to lawfully conceal carry. They have been responsible for several lawsuits over the past year against various Georgia cities and counties which unlawfully banned conceal carry of firearms within their districts. So far, GCO has won every case in that regard, even recently winning a lawsuit against the city of Atlanta (Liberal Atlanta).

Before these lawsuits, individual counties and cities had a myriad of local gun control laws which prevented a legal Georgia Firearms License holder from carrying in various locations, even though Georgia State Law clearly states that GA State Law is the final authority on gun law and no other local laws can supercede it.

The last hold out has been Stone Mountain State Park. They are being defended by the Georgia Attorney General himself, Mr. Thurburt Baker. I expect a strong fight. After reading the complaint, it does sound like the law is on the side of the GCO and not Stone Mountain State Park.

I am very excited to see this "home grown" organization fighting so diligently for our rights here in Georgia. The membership dues we Georgians pay to the GCO have been well spent.
 
Given the verbiage in H.B. 89 about carrying in state parks, I'd think that the Stone Mountain Park Authority would quietly acquiesce. Baker is generally supportive of 2nd Amendment issues.
 
Alleykat is correct. The law is not on the side of Stone Mt park. And Baker has been pretty good on 2A issues.
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Evidently, Baker is defending Stone Mountain so that in itself does not make him seem very good on this 2nd amendment issue. On other issues though, yes, he has not stood in the way of the rights of the people of Georgia in regard to the 2nd amend.
 
This is the strategy that should be copied in other states.

Pro 2nd Amendment lawyers in states such as NJ, NY, MD, CA, etc.. should step up and form such groups in their state and start suing the gov'ts and challenge these unconstitutional gun control laws.
 
Could be that Baker is required to defend a lawsuit against a state entity. Maybe he won't defend it too vigorously. :)
 
I have done NO research on the legal points that might be raised in this law suit; however Stone Mountain Park isn't run like most state parks. Last time I checked, which was some time ago, Stone Mountain Park was privatized, and has not been a part of the GA State Parks system since the Stone Mountain Authority was created.
 
Those are good points. I don't think this is going to be necessarily "open and shut", so to speak. I will be watching it closely.

On the other hand, the fact that GCO has filed the suit tells me that they are confident in its merits and, so far, they have won every case I have been watching.
 
If it is a private amusement park then wouldn't it be ok for the owners to ban firearms on the property if they desired?
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Possibly. Even so, in Georgia, isn't such a law without teeth? For example, if you conceal carry in a private establishment such as a movie theater with a no-guns sign, doesn't the law state that there is no legal penalty for ignoring the sign unless you refuse to leave (if caught)? In other words, the sign is merely a suggestion and the owners can ask you to leave if they find you are carrying a concealed weapon. There is no penalty for ignoring the sign even if you get caught. The only penalty would be for refusing to leave once requested to do so.

Is the gun ban at Stone Mountain similar to that, or is there a completely different statute for Stone Mountain in regard to their gun ban? Since the GCO has filed suit, I suspect the latter.
 
There is no penalty for ignoring the sign even if you get caught. The only penalty would be for refusing to leave once requested to do
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Yes that is the way I understand the law. They can ask you to leave. If you leave, no problem. If you don't leave when they ask, you are trespassing.
 
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