Yesterday on WSB Radio news (95.5 FM in the Atlanta area),
they said that in the several Georgia counties that had been declared disaster zones, this not only opened them up to getting federal aid but ALSO allowed the government to disarm people in those counties that are under this emergency status.
I don't think that's right, and I've already written to the WSB reporter and the station's general manger about it.
See Georgia law, O.C.G.A. title 38, regarding governance during disasters and emergencies. Specifically, see 38-2-301 (the commander of the State militia, when the militia has been called out, does have the power to close gun stores and order that gun dealers stop selling firearms and ammunition. But that's not the same as taking guns away from citizens who already have them, or banning the carrying or transportation of firearms).
See also OCGA 38-3-37 which specifically states that Georgia cannot do what happened in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina. Also note that while 38-3-51 formerly gave the Governor of Georgia power to make new gun restrictions during disasters, the legislature stripped that power from him in 2014, and the new subsection 8 no longer mentions such authority.
As to federal law, the wholesale disarmament of citizens in a natural disaster area was never authorized under any law, but because some state agents responding to the Katrina flooding wrongly assumed they had such power to shoot to kill any armed citizens they saw, and to forcibly search people's homes, over their objections, or weapons, Congress SPECIFICALLY banned any new gun control during federal disasters with a new law called the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act (of 2006), which modifies subsection 706 of the U.S. Code, title 42, section 5207.
In summary, the government DOES NOT have this much power, and they cannot trample on the Second Amendment that way as stated in the news broadcast yesterday.
they said that in the several Georgia counties that had been declared disaster zones, this not only opened them up to getting federal aid but ALSO allowed the government to disarm people in those counties that are under this emergency status.
I don't think that's right, and I've already written to the WSB reporter and the station's general manger about it.
See Georgia law, O.C.G.A. title 38, regarding governance during disasters and emergencies. Specifically, see 38-2-301 (the commander of the State militia, when the militia has been called out, does have the power to close gun stores and order that gun dealers stop selling firearms and ammunition. But that's not the same as taking guns away from citizens who already have them, or banning the carrying or transportation of firearms).
See also OCGA 38-3-37 which specifically states that Georgia cannot do what happened in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina. Also note that while 38-3-51 formerly gave the Governor of Georgia power to make new gun restrictions during disasters, the legislature stripped that power from him in 2014, and the new subsection 8 no longer mentions such authority.
As to federal law, the wholesale disarmament of citizens in a natural disaster area was never authorized under any law, but because some state agents responding to the Katrina flooding wrongly assumed they had such power to shoot to kill any armed citizens they saw, and to forcibly search people's homes, over their objections, or weapons, Congress SPECIFICALLY banned any new gun control during federal disasters with a new law called the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act (of 2006), which modifies subsection 706 of the U.S. Code, title 42, section 5207.
In summary, the government DOES NOT have this much power, and they cannot trample on the Second Amendment that way as stated in the news broadcast yesterday.
