JURIST - Paper Chase: Federal judge refuses to enjoin enforcement of airport gun ban

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia [official website] on Monday refused to grant a temporary injunction allowing concealed firearms in non-secure areas of the Atlanta International Airport. Gun ownership advocacy group GeorgiaCarry.org (GCO) [advocacy website] and state Representative Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica) [official profile] had sought to temporarily prevent the airport from enforcing a total gun ban [press release, PDF] while the court considers a lawsuit [complaint, PDF; case materials] challenging the ban's constitutionality. GCO and Bearden argue that the ban also violates a state law [PDF text; statute materials] allowing the carrying of concealed weapons in state parks, public transit and other areas. The airport has issued a request to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) [official website], asking the federal agency to sign off on the ban in order to preempt the state law. AP has more. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has local coverage.

Challenges to firearm restrictions [JURIST report] have become increasingly common since the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller [Duke Law backgrounder; JURIST report], in which the Court affirmed a decision invalidating the District of Columbia's handgun ban [JURIST report]. Heller marked the first occasion that the Supreme Court directly addressed the Second Amendment since 1939's US v. Miller [case materials].

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