Moms group lobbies state lawmakers on gun bills

ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - More than 300 volunteers from the gun safety group Moms Demand Action visited the State Capitol Wednesday to lobby lawmakers about gun legislation.

The group opposes the Constitutional Carry Act of 2019, which would do away with weapons carry licenses in Georgia.  Currently, applicants must go through a background check and pay fees totaling about $75 to obtain a carry permit.

"We just think it's fundamentally wrong that the government would charge citizens on a natural right and that's of self-defense and defending your family and yourself," explained State Rep. Matt Gurtler, R -Tiger, the bill's primary sponsor.  

He added that people must undergo a background check to buy a gun in the first place. 

Members of the advocacy group talked to their lawmakers to express their opposition to House Bill 2, but also to share their support for a handful of bills that would make it illegal for anyone convicted of domestic violence to have a gun.

"By having these laws in place to prevent domestic abusers from having firearms, we see a dramatic decrease in death to domestic abuse victims in addition to a lot more safety for our law enforcement officials who are responding to domestic abuse calls," said Cherokee High School student Rylee Holland.

Currently, the Constitutional Carry Act and the domestic violence bills are stalled in the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee where they have yet to be scheduled for hearings.  Calls to Rep. Bill Hitchens, R-Rincon, the Chairman of that committee, were not returned.