The attorney general of Georgia claims that when Savannah municipal authorities decided to outlaw leaving guns in unlocked cars, they went over their power.
In April, the mayor and city council of Savannah passed a new rule with the goal of making it more difficult for criminals to steal firearms.
The ordinance was prompted by local police records that revealed over 200 firearms were reported stolen from unlocked vehicles in the previous year. The maximum penalties under the statute are 30 days in prison and a $1,000 fine.
In a letter to Savannah officials on Friday, Republican state attorney general Chris Carr said that the gun policy violates a state statute that forbids local governments from controlling “the possession, ownership, transport, (or) carrying” of weapons.
“Because the General Assembly has expressly designated the regulation of firearms as an issue of general, state-wide concern, no local ordinance can regulate firearms,” Carr said.
Carr’s letter portends a potential legal dispute concerning the authority of local governments, such as Savannah’s, to enforce gun safety regulations that have not garnered much backing from a Republican-dominated state legislature.
A man who is said to visit Savannah frequently filed a case in Chatham Count Superior Court last week, requesting that a court stop the city’s firearms rule from being enforced.
On Monday, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson declared that City Hall is not going to budge. Johnson, a Democrat and former police officer, backed the city’s policy because it forced gun owners to behave properly without limiting their freedom to possess or carry a weapon.
“We certainly encourage our citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” Johnson stated in a statement Monday, “but this ordinance remains in effect and will continue to be enforced.”
The city council of Savannah overwhelmingly decided on April 11 to impose laws requiring citizens to report gun thefts to the police within 24 hours of the incident and requiring parked cars to be locked when guns are kept inside.
During a public comment period at City Hall, where Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America was present, no one spoke against the ordinance.
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Twenty-three of the 244 weapons that were reported stolen from automobiles last year came from unlocked vehicles, according to Savannah police. 56 of the 69 thefts that police have reported so far this year have come from unlocked cars.
Prior to Savannah’s move, proponents of gun control were unable to convince state legislators earlier this year to approve a $300 state income tax credit to cover the cost of safety training, gun safes, and locks.
Carr mentioned in his letter that previous local government gun bans have been overturned by Georgia courts. He highlighted an order from Coweta County that forbade the carrying of weapons at sports fields and other county-run recreational facilities, which was rejected by the Georgia Court of Appeals in 2007.
In his letter, Carr alerted city authorities to the possibility of civil penalties if they enforced it.
Carr stated, “Given this concern alone, it appears that the City should give immediate consideration to rescinding its approval” of the firearms ordinance.
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