Yea the parking lot bill was popular with no one, and yet again we see the fruits of two gun lobbies not cooperating.I'm sure that info from GCO will come out about what truely happened this session. GCO was behind the scenes putting together a awesome Bill (HB 981) that would have been a game changer.(School carry, Church carry, Government Building Carry, among many other things) Then we had the hearing in the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee where certain gun rights activist pretty much demanded a vote on the constitutional carry bill (HB 679) and called the committee chairlady a lier. Then Georgia Gun Owners leaders send out an email to their email list telling people to call and send emails demanding a vote and to give Ann Purcell a piece of their mind. So they do this in a not so polite fashion and some even become "Death Threats". Now how do you think a legislator and the Committee she heads is going to react to Death Threats?
So it takes weeks to beat out all the brush fires and try to distance themselves (GCO) from the not so polite Ga. Gun Owners. So GCO succesfully gets most of it's HB 981 language attached to HB 98(that survived from last years legislative session) and cames out of committee with a 8 to 3 vote. We lose Church Carry just because House Speaker Ralston doesn't like it and personal to him, and he has that language stricken from HB 98. Now the NRA wants to try and attach it's "Parking Lots Language" to HB 98 on the House floor or on the Senate floor when HB 98 will have to go back there for approval. The House leaders know that the NRA will try and attach the Parking Lots Language so they stall HB 98 in the Rules Committee to keep it from coming to the House Floor for a vote.
The House Republicans didn't want that to happen (Parking Lots Language attaching to HB 98) because the Parking Lots Language goes against Private Property Rights. The House is very adamant about Private Property Rights, and those rights will always trump Gun Rights to them. They didn't want to have to vote against a NRA sponsored gun rights bill, which they would of had to do if the Parking Lots Language got attached to HB 98.
I'm an outsider looking in. I was not at the Capitol, but knew and text with people that were there. I have been a member of GCO since 2007, and I can definately tell you that they worked their asses off to get HB 98 passed this year.
ETA: I'm sure I have missed somethings or possibly misrepresented actual events, so don't take my word for it.