Austell lawmaker talks gun, gang bills

By Liz Jaros

Marietta Daily Journal Contributor

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At a town hall meeting Saturday in the South Cobb Regional Library, State Rep. David Wilkerson, D-Austell, addressed some of Georgia’s most controversial legislative initiatives and their potential implications for his constituents.

Topping the list was House Bill 859, the Campus Safety Act, which would permit concealed-carry license-holders to possess firearms on public university grounds in the state. The bill, which easily passed through the House last week and now moves on to the Senate, is a mistake, according to Wilkerson.

“I am 100 percent against giving a stressed-out college kid a gun,” he said, adding when you combine alcohol and mental health issues to the mix, outcomes can be disastrous. Plus, Wilkerson said, “If they can carry a gun on campus but can’t legally take it into their dorms or fraternity and sorority houses, where do they store it? In their cars?

The Board of Regents, which regulates Georgia’s 29 public colleges and universities, thinks this bill is a bad idea, Wilkerson said. And when the first wave of campus carry legislation did not force universities to comply but allowed them to opt in, not one of the 180 school boards did.

“Also, my job is to ask, ‘Does this bill make sense to the law? Have we looked at all the different sides? Will it be equally applied?’” Wilkerson said. And he doesn’t think that’s very likely with this legislation.

“Let’s face it. If everyone at Morehouse started packing, this bill would get repealed,” Wilkerson said. “It’s true.”

Wilkerson said he thinks it’s almost inconceivable that all firearm carriers would be treated equally under this law.

State Rep. Don Parsons, R-north Cobb, who voted for the bill, takes a different view.

“Things have changed so much over the years, this bill would not have been something a lot of us thought was necessary a few years ago, but obviously with campus shootings, more and more crime on campuses, especially urban campuses, I think these students who are qualified to conceal carry and get a permit should be able to do so,” Parsons told the MDJ. “It goes to the rights given to us under the Second Amendment.”

Parsons pointed out the bill has restrictions on who is eligible to carry – those who are 21 years old and can obtain a concealed permit.

“And I think it’s good that we have people who have the permits on these campuses who can not only defend themselves but defend their fellow students,” Parsons said.

Gangs

Another issue of importance to the 20-plus attendees from Wilkerson’s district, which includes portions of Powder Springs, Austell, Smyrna and Mableton, was House Bill 874 – a revision to existing legislation known informally as “The Gang Bill.”

“As a state, we’ve moved away from mandatory minimum sentencing…” Wilkerson said. “We’ve made great, bipartisan strides in criminal justice reform here in Georgia.”

But this bill, which assigns a five-year minimum sentence for gang-related cellphone usage in prison (two years for a complicit guard), takes us in the opposite direction, he said.

“We’d basically be telling the judges, ‘Hey, we don’t trust you to assign sentences,’” Wilkerson said, calling the idea ridiculous.

He said he believes the bill was initiated so that Republicans can go to their districts and say they’re cracking down on gangs while the Democrats, who largely oppose the bill, can be labeled soft on crime. He added it does nothing to address the serious issue of cellphones in prison.

The bill was introduced by state Rep. Bert Reeves, R-Marietta, who told the MDJ last week after the bill’s passage in the House that he decided to keep the mandatory sentencing requirements because they are a strong deterrent.

“I firmly believe that a meaningful change with this level of gang activity in prisons can best be achieved with the sentencing requirements as I proposed,” Reeves said.

Attorney and Cobb County resident Nathan Wade, who serves as an associate municipal court judge for the City of Marietta and is running for a seat on the Cobb Superior Court, was in attendance Saturday. Wade said he has concerns for certain components of Georgia’s existing Criminal Street Gang and Terrorism Prevention Act, particularly the gang registry.

The rules for being added to the Georgia Criminal Street Gang Database are broad, which leads to guilt by association, Wade said.

“Plus, if you go out and steal a piece of bubble gum from Walmart, that’s a misdemeanor,” Wade said. “But if your name is on that gang registry and you do the same thing, now that’s a felony.”

Wade said he would like to see some legislative action taken toward addressing some of the law’s broad strokes and unfair implications for nonviolent criminals.

Powder Springs resident Susan Payne, who is retired from the State Attorney general’s Office, came to Saturday’s event to find out more about the laws the Legislature is considering and show her support and appreciation for Wilkerson.

“Any time I’ve ever emailed David about something, he gets right back to me,” Payne said. “I think he’s just wonderful.”