Oh look, one of those few moments where I can get attention!!!
Here's the long story, which I'm telling because you want info on Deal. This requires some explanation.
Yes, EJR914, me, and a lot of others in Georgia have been actively pushing for a month or two now to help pass this legislation. Because of the Senate, we actually had to sacrifice (completely) campus carry, and church carry is "opt-in" (meaning it's not legal to enter a church armed
unless you obtain permission from the lease-holder of the private property first!). One of our "compromises" to the Senate was allowing them to add an amendment that "allows" hunters to hunt with suppressors (though anyone can pay the tax and own a suppressor, you just couldn't HUNT with it
). Oh, and the bill called them "silencers."
Anyway, up until a couple of hours before the end of the legislative session for the year, the House and the Senate were
, with the House being more pro-gun and the Senate wanting to allow as little freedom as possible through their fingers. Sad, considering that we have a Republican SUPERMAJORITY and should be able to pass these bills no prob. Anyway, the Senate has torpedoed this same bill for the last two years by some devious maneuvering. However, this is an election year, and many of our House Reps were determined to fight to get the majority of the issues passed. The House did some clever maneuvering of its own (thanks nominally to Chairman Powell, Rep. Rick Jasperse and a few others), and we ended up getting around an intended Senate subcommittee sabotage. Essentially, the House was able to secure HB 60 for passage by Sine Die, which passed by almost 2/3 of the House. Just waiting to see what Deal will do.
Now, there's your backstory. What you don't know is that Governor Deal and Lieut. Gov. Cagle have been behind some of the sabotage during this year and the past two years. This year, a "phone call" (from Deal or someone representing him) killed campus carry in HB 875 in the House subcommittee, before HB 875 could get to the House floor for a vote. In the Senate judiciary subcommittee, one of the senators, Stone, accepted the nomination as a judge ($120,000/yr salary), offered by Gov. Deal, in return for gutting the best parts of HB 875. However, the House learned this before the committee meeting, and while Stone & Co. were busy killing HB 875, the House took a different bill that had already passed the Senate vote, HB 60, and amended it to include all the language of HB 875 (not including campus carry). HB 60 thus became the revitalized pro-gun bill, and only needed its amendments approved by the Senate (thus bypassing the Senate subcommittee and forcing the entire Senate to vote on the record during an election year). So, we got what we did because the House was forced to resort to Senate tactics...smart, but should never have been necessary in a state with a Republican supermajority in the legislature.
Deal is running for reelection partly on a pro-2A stance on his website, which states that he has always approved pro-2A legislation that crosses his desk. So, he either vetoes it and forgoes his promise, ignores it and lets it become law by default, or "endorses" it by signing it for his campaign propaganda.
Governor Nathan Deal does not wish for Georgians to carry in church, in government buildings, on college campuses/on college-owned property, and he has no scruples regarding using unorthodox/illegal methods to get his way. Same goes for Cagle. I didn't vote for Deal the past election - I voted for a more Libertarian-oriented candidate. I sure as hell will not support him this year. By the same token, many of the Republicans in the Senate and the House are RINOs, and only voted pro-gun because it is an election year. Those people who showed resistance to voting pro-Constitution will not be getting my vote.
Deal is a conniving, two-faced politician (poli = many, tic = parasite), Cagle is similar, and many of the other politicians in the capitol share the same traits. We're fortunate that we have such gun organizations as GeorgiaCarry.Org, a local pro-gun rights organization that has been fighting to restore our liberties for over a decade. They play the game, they get to know our representatives by name and in person, and they get the job done. If ANY of you have a similar organization in your home state, I humbly suggest that you get involved with it ASAP, find out what the issues are in your state's House and Senate regarding firearms, and work with them to restore (or defend) your rights. Just getting on FB and sharing info, getting others interested, can help.
Regarding the marijuana bills...I know that the cannabis oil bill passed, and the medical marijuana bill ALMOST passed. I don't know exactly what happened, other than in the final amendment process, someone decided to add a bunch of stipulations that couldn't be agree on. Sounded like someone wanted to kill the bill in the end.
