ATLANTA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is supporting a new lawsuit brought by a gun-rights organization challenging a Savannah ordinance restricting the storage of firearms inside the city.
The ordinance, approved by the Savannah City Council in April of last year, prohibits storing guns in unlocked vehicles, with violators subject to a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail. Passage of the ordinance followed an outbreak of stolen firearms in Savannah, most taken from unlocked vehicles.
In a brief filed last week, Carr wrote that the ordinance is superseded by a state law prohibiting local governments from regulating the possession, transport, or carrying of firearms.
“This misguided attempt to punish law-abiding Georgians does absolutely nothing to address crime, and it won’t hold up in court,” Carr said. “No matter how much the mayor disagrees with our laws, he cannot openly infringe on the Second Amendment rights of our citizens. Progressive politics aren’t a defense for government overreach.”
Carr sent a letter to Savannah officials last year shortly after the ordinance was adopted recommending that the city rescind its action and warning of potential civil liability.
Mayor Van Johnson answered defiantly a short time later that he was sticking by the ordinance.
“We say, ‘Sue us,’ ” he said. “We’ll go to the (U.S.) Supreme Court. … We have some of the best lawyers.”
The new lawsuit was filed in Chatham County Superior Court by Firearms Policy Coalition, a gun rights nonprofit based in Sacramento, Calif.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat, an initiative of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
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