ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal signed legislation Thursday allowing people with permits to carry concealed handguns on Georgia’s public college campuses, despite the objections of state university leaders and his own veto of a campus-carry measure last year.
Deal shocked fellow Republicans with the tone of last year’s veto message, which referenced opposition to guns on the University of Virginia campus by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and an opinion by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia that described schools as “sensitive places” under the Second Amendment.
The governor signed this year’s version without a public ceremony, explaining in a written message released Thursday evening that he was swayed by the addition of campus locations where concealed handguns won’t be allowed.
These include on-campus preschools, faculty or administrative offices, disciplinary hearings and areas attended by high school students who take college classes.
“These excluded areas represent the most ‘sensitive places’ on a college campus,” Deal wrote. “It is altogether appropriate that weapons not be allowed in these areas. I appreciate the thoughtful consideration given by the General Assembly in expanding these excluded areas within a college campus in this year’s bill.”
Carrying handguns remains prohibited inside dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses, and buildings used for athletic events.
The law, which was opposed by leaders of the state’s university system, becomes effective on July 1.
