Suit Challenges Georgia Ban On Concealed Carry of Guns In Churches

Yesterday's Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that a gun rights group, its president, a Thomsaston (GA) Baptist church and its minister have filed suit in state court challenging Georgia's ban on carrying concealed weapons in churches. The complaint (full text) in Georgiacarry.org, Inc. v. State of Georgia, (GA Super. Ct., filed 7/7/2010), alleges that the ban interferes with the free exercise of religion by barring in places of worship activities generally permitted throughout the state. It also alleges that the ban infringes rights under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The suit follows the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in McDonald v. Chicago, holding that the Second Amendment's individual right to keep and bear arms for self defense (subject to reasonable regulation) applies to the states as well as the federal government.