Should Guns be allowed in Church? Georgia Appeals Court Weighs in on the Debate

Follow us

According to court filings, only Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, and North Dakota specifically prohibit firearms in churches, mosques, and synagogues.

The ruling in Georgia came in 2010 when the "Common Sense" gun bill was passed in the General Assembly and signed into law on June 6 by Governor Sonny Perdue. The law prohibits guns in government buildings, courthouses, jails and prisons, state mental health facilities, bars (without permission of the owner), nuclear power facilities, within 150 feet of polling places, and places of worship.

The group's challenge, based on the First Amendment, is a novel approach in challenging gun law in that they are using the freedom of religion as a defense for something that would otherwise solely depend on the protections of the Second Amendment.

"It's about whether or not the government should be making laws dealing with churches," Kelley Kinnett, a regular church goer and president of GeorgiaCarry.org, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "This is more of a First Amendment case than a Second Amendment case."

The group cites several articles on their Web site arguing that the roots of gun control are inherently racist and that the practice needs to end.

"The historical record provides compelling evidence that racism underlies gun control laws - and not in any subtle way. Throughout much of American history, gun control was openly stated as a method for keeping blacks and Hispanics 'in their place,' and to quiet the racial fears of whites," an article entitled "The Racist Roots of Gun Control" states.

They also allude to a rising problem of gun violence in churches across America.

In Florida last month, a former deacon shot and wounded the pastor and associate pastor of his church before parishioners apprehended him.

Other incidents include two teenage boys who were wounded when three gunmen stormed a California church in 2010 and a lone gunman who killed two and wounded six at a Tennessee church in 2008 because he believed the church members were "too liberal."