We’ve reported in the past how the city of Savannah, Georgia, passed an ordinance imposing fines and potential jail time for citizens who leave firearms in unlocked cars. The ordinance directly violates the state’s firearms preemption law, and last December a judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging it.
Interestingly, Chatham County Superior Court Judge Benjamin Karpf tossed the lawsuit, not because he ruled the ordinance didn’t violate the state preemption law, but because he ruled that the plaintiff didn’t have standing to sue the city over the law. In the ruling, the judge found that gun owner Clarence Belt lacked legal standing to sue the city because he isn’t a Savannah resident and hadn’t been cited for violating the city’s gun ordinance.
Now, some state lawmakers have targeted the law. On April 4, the Georgia House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 204 to end the ordinance.
Sponsors and supporters of the measure base their support on the belief that the ordinance violates the state’s firearms preemption law. And, in fact, a quick look at the law indicates that’s likely the case.
The law states: “No county or municipal corporation, by zoning, by ordinance or resolution, or by any other means, nor any agency, board, department, commission, political subdivision, school district, or authority of this state, other than the General Assembly, by rule or regulation or by any other means shall regulate in any manner: (A) Gun shows; (B) The possession, ownership, transport, carrying, transfer, sale, purchase, licensing, or registration of firearms or other weapons or components of firearms or other weapons; (C) Firearms dealers or dealers of other weapons; or (D) Dealers in components of firearms or other weapons.”
According to House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, the Savannah ordinance violates the law and must be ended.
“Municipalities are a creation of this body,” Efstration told savannahnow.com. “If they are circumventing the laws of this state, it needs to be corrected.”
Rep. Alan Powell, who sponsored the measure, said the law, like many gun laws, targets the wrong people.
“Why would a city pass a law to penalize someone who is a victim of a crime?” Powell asked his House colleagues. “That’s not justice.”
Rep. Powell’s statement makes sense. However, some on the other side of the aisle believe the ordinance is good and should be preserved.
Rep. Anne Allen Westbrook, who represents Savannah, is one of them.
“We are a city that is visited by people from all over the world,” Westbrook said. “We want you to have a good time. … We’re just asking that people lock their cars. Is that unreasonable to ask?”
The House ultimately passed the bill along party lines. It now goes back to the Senate.
