Editor:
Editor Jeff Whitten wrote an opinion piece on my successful mission in getting the Chamber of Commerce to follow state law at the Great Ogeechee Festival, and he could have at least mentioned my name.
There was a prohibition on the possession of weapons or firearms on the festival’s website, and the City Manager had sometime in the past encouraged law enforcement to arrest anyone carrying a firearm at the festival.
However, Georgia has state preemption with regard to weapons, and per OCGA 16-11-127 a licensed carrier may carry in all places in the state with a few spelled out exceptions. Public parks, such as J.F. Gregory in Richmond Hill are not among those exceptions.
If my “individual-freedom-loving-knickers were in a twist” because of the potential of an unlawful arrest of a legally armed citizen, it’s because I have a desire for local governments to not violate our rights by way of deliberately disobeying state law.
If the law applies to you and me, it also applies the same to government officials, no?
Mr. Whitten goes on to whine about a licensed carrier wearing a gun in the same park during the next Easter Extravaganza or Gardens Club Pumpkin Patch, or “any other get together involving kids”.
Perhaps he feels like licensed carriers are a danger to the public? Or maybe he feels like children can be better protected by unarmed adults, rather than armed parents and grandparents. Maybe “No Guns” signs make him feel like he is in a safe space.
He then justifies his Moms-Demand- Action-Type-Knickers by proclaiming he is “not some hippie anti-gun nut”. Well that certainly contributes points to bolster his no-gun carry around children viewpoint.
Perhaps he’d rather park goers leave their defensive handguns in their automobiles where they can be stolen and used against innocent children and adults.
He touts his six years of military service in Field Artillery and enjoyment of “blowing and shooting stuff up”, as if that’s good enough to appoint him our nanny to judge where we can and cannot be lawfully armed to protect ourselves and our loved ones.
The most honest statement of how he feels is: “I am on the fence about gun rights.”
He could have been a bit more honest by simply stating he is opposed to us mere citizens being armed in public, because he knows that good guys with guns don’t stop bad guys with guns.
What was he fighting for in the military if not for liberty? But he is a gun owner so that makes him an authority to determine whether we bitterly cling too much to our rights. And of course he has to take the opportunity in his fluff piece to demonize semi-automatic rifles by stating, “I also can’t figure out why anybody needs to be able to squeeze off 30 rounds in less than a minute”.
There have been a good number of news stories where homeowners have used such rifles to defend against multiple armed robbing crews; in one case there were five thugs. I’d say these rifles were put to good use with their 30 round capacity ammo magazines. Apparently Mr. Whitten has no qualms about letting the government dictate to you how often you must reload when facing multiple attackers in your homes, and jail you for being able to fire more than 10 rounds (or whatever magic number he has in mind) before needing to reload.
He closes out his article with three paragraphs on a wild tangent talking about road-rage drivers.
Mr. Whitten loves to shoot and blow things up, but licensed carriers are a problem at public parks. He was in the military and is a gun owner, but he is “on the fence” about our Second Amendment Rights. And then road-ragers. He’s all over the place, isn’t he? Bless his little heart.
Phillip Evans
Gwinnett County