State Sen. Fran Millar and state Rep. Tom Taylor, Republicans from Dunwoody, reiterated their opposition to the controversial “campus carry” bill at a May 3 town hall meeting held by DeKalb County Commissioner Nancy Jester.
“The general consensus from my constituents is this was not a bill they wanted passed,” Taylor said, explaining his vote against the bill to about a dozen town hall attendees.
Taylor, a strong Second Amendment advocate who readily acknowledges he carries a concealed gun with him much of the time, said he also voted against the bill because university officials, including the chancellor of the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents, opposed it.
“Even the NRA didn’t care about that bill,” added Millar, who was one of four Republicans voting against the bill in the Senate.
“Most parents don’t want it,” Millar said. “I was a frat boy … and whiskey and women were a big enough problem without guns.”
Millar said he believed the bill was brought up again this year as a way for some conservative politicians living outside metro Atlanta to “suck up” to voters.
Taylor and Millar were at Jester’s town hall, held at the Dunwoody Library, to discuss the legislative session. Both voted against the “campus carry” bill this year and also last year.
The “campus carry” bill, passed by the General Assembly this year, is headed to Gov. Nathan Deal’s desk; he has until May 9 to sign the bill to make it law. Last year, the governor vetoed a “campus carry” bill.
UPDATE: Gov. Deal signed the bill into law May 4.