Gun Control Laws in Georgia

Throughout the United States, the way firearms are possessed, transported, and used is hotly conversed topic. Most states create their own laws that either prohibit or allow the use of firearms. Many states have loose laws that allow a person to own firearms, but the firearms must be bought and owned through the guidelines the state creates. An example of a state with lenient gun laws is Georgia. In Georgia a person does not have a waiting period to purchase a firearm, however there is a period person must wait in order to obtain a permit to carry a handgun. Even though permits are offered to the general public, not everyone can obtain one. In the state of Georgia, if a person is a convicted felon, under eighteen, or hospitalized in a mental or drug abuse institution they are unable to acquire a permit. The state of Georgia also has laws that prohibits the use of certain firearms. If a firearm is considered a dangerous weapon, like mortars and rocket launchers, a person may not own it. If a weapon shoots multiple shots with one pull of the trigger, it is considered a machine gun which are illegal in Georgia. Also, a custom gun with a shortened barrel, known as a sawed-off firearm, may not be owned in Georgia due to the large increase in mobility the shortened barrel creates. Due to the lossless of these laws, one may believe the murder rates by guns in Georgia may be high. According to an article done by WSB-TV Atlanta, Georgia is top ten in the amount of gun homicides that happen in the state. It is said that a person in Georgia is “twice as likely as New Yorkers to be killed in a shooting”. These statistics are only getting worse for Georgians. Gun murders in Georgia are only increasing year after year. Most of these murders come from big cities in the state. The statistics on this article claim that Atlanta led the state in homicides with “ninety-one deaths”. Savanah is closely ranked second with “forty-two” gun homicides. Many people believe this unusually high number of gun homicides is due to the moderate control of guns in Georgia. However, these high numbers may be stimmed from the living conditions in large cities and adding more gun control laws will only make these numbers raise. In some area in Atlanta, kids are often raised in a household without a father, and sometimes they are raised without any parental figures. This often creates a child to feel unwanted, which ultimately leads to bad decisions. Also, these kids are independent, so all the decisions they make go without adult supervision. The unemployment rate in Atlanta also has some impact on the amount of homicides. According to a chart done by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Atlanta’s unemployment in 2018 was 4.2 percent. This rate is above the national average and it has only been increasing over the last decade. When a person becomes unemployed, they must do something to survive. Most of their new jobs involve the use of illegal substances, and they must carry a firearm for protection. In these illegal jobs is where majority of the gun homicides come from. Based on these statistics, one can assume that the increase in gun control may cause an increase in gun homicides. In Georgia gun homicides are so high due to the living conditions in big cities, and if guns are prohibited then people will be venerable to these horrible living conditions.