By T.A. DeFeo | The Center Square contributor
(The Center Square) — Proposed legislation in Georgia that purports to crack down on anyone who uses a gun during a violent felony could have serious ramifications for lawful gun owners, an expert told The Center Square.
Senate Bill 7, nicknamed the “Gangs, Guns, Gone” bill, would require judges to hand down mandatory minimum sentences in cases where someone uses a gun during a violent felony, even if they did not discharge a weapon. Under the proposal, anyone convicted under the statute must serve the time before any other sentence, which cannot be shortened by any sentence-reducing measures.
However, Kirk Evans, an attorney and president of U.S. LawShield, told The Center Square that the legislation has potential ramifications for legal gun owners who act in self-defense.
“I think everybody or almost everybody would be in favor of having stricter penalties against people that use a gun to, say, rob a convenience store or commit a more heinous crime like rape or murder,” Evans said. “But what this bill includes — among the crimes that they’re quote-unquote, cracking down on — is aggravated assault.
“We all think aggravated assault sounds terrible, and we’d like to crack down on that too,” Evans added. “But that is the most common crime that lawful gun owners are wrongfully charged with when they use their firearm for self-defense.”
Evans said the quickest fix would be to remove aggravated assault from the list of crimes in the legislation.
“Most people want to crack down and get tougher on crime,” Evans said. “This one just needs a little tweaking before it goes any further.”
SB 7 has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
