Judge upholds ban on guns in places of worship (Atlanta-Journal Constitution)

EXCERPT: A federal judge has upheldThe appellate court agrees with the lower court decision and allows it to stand. the Georgia law banning weapons in churches, mosques and synagogues, saying gun rights advocates had not shown that carrying a firearm is necessary to practicing any religion.

U.S. District Judge Ashley Royal late Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the gun rights organization GeorgiaCarry.org and the minister at the Baptist Tabernacle of Thomaston. Royal wrote that Georgia law did not violate the First AmendmentThis Amendment prohibits the government from making laws that establish religion or prohibit free exercise of religion, infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to assemble peaceably, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. right to freedom of religion or the Second Amendment guarantee of a right to bear arms.

Also on Monday, a north Georgia legislator filed a bill to remove the restriction on guns in places of worship. House Bill 54, filed by Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta, eliminates places of worship from the list of prohibited places.

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