Kevin Hall
September 27, 2008 11:11 pm
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MOULTRIE — Writers and Rant-and-Rave callers have staked out extreme positions on gun control in their contributions to The Observer’s opinion pages over the last two weeks, but respondents to an online poll at www.moultrieobserver.com have come down solidly in the middle of the road.
Visitors to The Observer’s website could respond to the multiple-choice poll for a week, from Sept. 20 through Saturday evening. It asked, “What gun control legislation do we need?” Some 111 people responded, and they said:
• None. Everyone should be able to own a firearm. 10.81 percent.
• Some people — like felons or the mentally ill — should be forbidden from owning a gun. 45.95 percent, the largest single response.
• There should be a waiting period while the gun buyer’s background is checked. 10.81 percent.
• There should be some places where guns are forbidden, like schools, churches or public gatherings. 5.41 percent.
• A person should have to prove a reasonable need before being able to purchase a gun. 0.90 percent.
• The government should keep track of who owns what guns so they can be traced back if they’re used in a crime. 0.90 percent.
• Gun buyers should have to attend a safety class before they can buy a firearm, just like hunters must do to get their hunting licenses. 20.72 percent.
• Private gun ownership should be illegal. 4.50 percent.
Some of those provisions are already part of state and federal law.
To purchase a gun in Georgia, a person must undergo a quick, free background check, according to Scotty Cooper of Moultrie Pawn, one of several Colquitt County stores that sell guns.
Cooper said he calls the FBI, which runs the buyer’s information through its computer. If the check comes back clear, the purchase can go right through.
“Most of the time we can have them able to purchase a gun within 10 minutes,” he said.
Sometimes the FBI says no, and the store can’t sell a weapon to that customer. Cooper said the FBI doesn’t tell him why a particular customer is rejected, although possible reasons include a criminal record or a notation of mental incompetence.
Sometimes the check is delayed, and Cooper said if the FBI doesn’t get back to him within three working days he can sell the gun to the customer anyway.
“We only can do what the FBI tells us we can,” he said.
The gun purchaser must be 21 and show a photo ID, usually a driver’s license or state identification card, Cooper said.
There are some limits to what a gun owner can do with his firearm, though, according to Probate Judge Wes Lewis, whose office issues firearms permits.
Without a gun license, a person can have the weapon in his home, his business or his car, Lewis said. The permit allows him to carry it on his person as well and/or to have it concealed, although a concealed handgun must be carried in a holster or otherwise secured.
To get a firearms permit, a person must fill out an application at the Probate Court. The cost is $35.25. The application will ask 16 questions that determine whether the person is legally barred from obtaining a permit. A permit cannot be issued to someone under 21, for instance, or to someone who has been convicted of a felony.
The Probate Court then sends the applicant with his paperwork to the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office, where he is fingerprinted and the office initiates a background check, at a cost of another $5.
Lewis said the CCSO’s use of LiveScan fingerprinting technology has sped the background check immensely. The license is usually mailed to the applicant within two or three weeks, if he passes the background check.
The license is good for five years, Lewis said, and the person must reapply, including the background check, to get it renewed.
Even with a permit, some areas are off-limits to firearms by state or federal law, including schools, churches and public gatherings. Recent law changes have made public parks, public transportation and wildlife management areas accessible to people with guns. The same law allows a person to carry a gun into a restaurant that serves alcohol, but it forbids him from having a drink.
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