AJC article about the 1st annual convention

Political Insider
The politics of packing heat in public places
3:00 pm October 17, 2009, by Jim Galloway

This summer, Georgiacarry.org gathered up several Republican candidates for governor, to quiz them on their attitudes toward firearms.

The gun group is a recent entry into the annual confrontations in the Legislature over where and when licensed Georgians can carry firearms.

But its members are among the state’s most ardent believers in the Second Amendment. Many of them think that, when it comes to defending the right to keep and bear arms, the National Rifle Association has been a tad wimpish.

Georgiacarry’s top priority is the abolition of the state’s ban on weaponry at church assemblies, athletic events, political rallies, on college and school campuses, and in public buildings.

One of August’s great ironies was U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey’s defense of those who carried firearms to fiery town hall meetings where health care reform was debated. In the Marietta congressman’s home state, the practice is illegal.

The politics of packing heat in public places is difficult for Georgia Republicans. While the base is often gung-ho, many strategists worry that the idea of hidden pistols at PTA meetings and prayer services is a middle-class turn-off.

Last week, Georgiacarry kindly provided the audio from that summer panel discussion.

One of the participants was state Rep. Sean Jerguson (R-Holly Springs), a Georgiacarry member, who said he believes so strongly in gun ownership that, when his daughter turned 4 years old, he gave her a “pink .22.” His son was about to turn the same age, and would get a blue one, the lawmaker said.

complete article can be found at http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2009/10/17/the-politics-of-packing-heat-in-public-places/