Armed Madhouse -- Like Greg Palast Always Said

>Beware all you travelers who might find themselves in Georgia -- unarmed. Thanks to the backward logic of uber-Republican governor Nathan Deal -- and his merry band of morons in the State Legislature -- it is now legal to carry guns in places you'd never dream. Like churches and preschools. Yup. Because you never know when a parishioner or pre-schooler might go bonkers, and you'd have to do your civic duty and make them dead. Oh, and of course, you can take them into bars. Hey, what could go wrong in that scenario?

You can now carry a loaded weapon into unsecured areas of Heartsfield-Jackson International airport, the busiest airport in the world. This would include the lobby bars and restaurants, newsstands and gift shops, rental car agencies, the ticket counter, and baggage claim. So if you found out your spouse was cheating on you while away on "business," you could just take care of that as he was reaching for his Samsonite. The new law also allows hunters to use silencers when shooting deer. Because, you know, you might scare off other animals you wanted to slaughter when they heard the BANG!

The new law, nicknamed the "Guns Everywhere" bill, is bad news for pretty much every normal citizen of the Peach State, but is particularly disturbing to law enforcement officials who are much more likely to be forced into shoot-outs than before, as the Atlanta journal-Constitution  reports:

"House Bill 60 has prompted a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort by some prominent sheriffs who urged Deal to veto the bill. In records obtained through Georgia's sunshine laws, they express fears that the new rules will herald a flood of lawsuits and hinder police work. At worst, they say, it could lead to more injuries and deaths of peace officers."

As if there weren't enough bloodshed on the streets of Atlanta, for law enforcement, innocent bystanders, and the shooters. But nothing will come between Georgia Neocons and their long, hard instruments of death. The new law is a victory for the pro-gun lobby group "GeorgiaCarry," which actually is a little disappointed with the new legislation because it doesn't go far enough. No, seriously. This is from today's New York Times:

"'Was HB60 all we wanted?' GeorgiaCarry.Org, a nonprofit group, posted on its website in March, referring to the bill. 'Of course not! But we feel that we got a great bill and this will clear the way for some great improvements in the future. And those of you who have been with us for any length of time know, we ask for everything we want and accept what we can get without giving up any of the gains we have made in the past. We keep marching down the field, and one day, we will get all our rights back.'"

Get your rights back?  What rights would that be? Governor Deal seems to feel this new law has fulfilled the vision our founding fathers had in mind:

"'Our nation's founders put the right to bear arms on par with freedom of speech and freedom of religion,' Mr. Deal, a Republican, said in a statement. 'Georgians cherish their Second Amendment rights, and this law embodies those values.'"

Of course, Deal (and the NRA) forgets that the framers of our Constitution were referring to state militias having weapons -- not individuals. Shay's Rebellion and all that. And they also allowed slaves to be counted as 3/5 of a human being. And women had no rights whatsoever. Ah, the halcyon days. ...

Guns in church. That's a puzzlement. What kind of twisted religion do these gun nuts follow that they must carry a loaded weapon into a house of worship?

Greg Palast said it best -- we are living in an armed madhouse.