By: José Niño
Almost four dozen mayors across Georgia are calling for Governor Brian Kemp and elected officials at the state level to pass gun control.
“We currently live with the reality that gun violence has become the No. 1 killer of children,” the concerned elected officials wrote in a letter. “Georgia has become a top exporter of illegal weapons. We come to you with this request because our residents rely upon us to be the front line of efforts to enhance their quality of life.”
In this letter, the mayors called for policymakers to take action on several mental health and gun control measures.
“We’re asking for continued enhancement of behavioral health supports,” stated Kelly Girtz, the mayor of Athens-Clarke County. Girtz is one of the 46 individuals who signed the letter. “Those people who’ve been demonstrated to have a propensity for violence or self-harm can be prevented from accessing weapons,” Girtz added.
Furthermore, the letter pushed for “a level playing field for background checks that includes all purchases and transfers.”
Girtz declared the background checks should encompass firearms sold at “places like gun shows and online sales that are often escape routes for people who want to purchase weapons illegally.”
The Athens-Clarke County mayor also noted that the concerned mayors want to halt the sales of “high-capacity clips [with which] you can kill a lot of people quickly.”
The letter’s final request called for the passage of safe gun storage.
Girtz called attention to how the Georgia mayors will continue pressing lawmakers to pass gun control when the Georgia General Assembly reconvenes in January.
Dudley Brown, the president of the National Association for Gun Rights, commented on the Georgia mayors’ calls for the passage of additional gun control measures:
“These mayors should focus on locking up the bad guys instead of constantly looking for new ways to disarm the good guys. Making it harder for good people to protect themselves only makes criminals safer.”
Mayors of blue cities nationwide are trying to use every means possible in undermining red states’ pro-gun policies. This is one of the new strategies that Gun Control Inc. is pursuing to create anti-gun safe spaces nationwide.
The anti-gun Left understands the importance of establishing power bases at the local level. That’s how they can turn otherwise safe red states into more competitive purple jurisdictions in a few decades.
It cannot be overstated the importance of getting our political backyards in order. The small victories that the Left can obtain at the local level can snowball into massive victories further down the line. Therein lies the danger of becoming complacent with local politics.
It would behoove gun owners to keep tabs at all levels of government if they’re serious about preserving their God-given right to self-defense.
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.