Carrollton city officials have yet to respond to an ultimatum from gun rights advocate organization Georgiacarry.org who requested the city remove firearms as one of the prohibited items from the new Greenbelt Trail. And-- it appears that the city will not send out a formal response.
 
In a letter sent to the city back in January, Georgiacarry.org officials encouraged the city to comply with their request or possibly face civil action.
 
Carrollton mayor Wayne Garner on Wednesday said that he is willing to have the courts decide what the city should do.
 
“I can’t speak for the council but I can speak for myself, because I’m the one who sets the agenda,” Garner said. “I understand… and am sensitive to people who desire guns and carry guns… and I own guns. When I was in the legislature, I always enjoyed an ‘A’ rating from the NRA. However…with regards to this issue about carrying firearms on the Greenbelt… I’m not going to put that on the agenda. I’ll let a judge tell me that we need to do that.”
 
Garner says that because the Greenbelt runs so close to local schools he does not want to “risk endangering the children of our town.”
 
“I think that when the legislature passed the bill allowing the right to carry weapons in certain places… I don’t think the intent was that you can carry that weapon through a school system… or that you can carry it within 20-feet of a playground… or that you can carry it through the recreation area of a city,” he says. “Our Greenbelt goes right through the middle of the city school system. It goes, probably within 20-feet of the junior high school. It goes within 15-feet of the Castle Playground.”
 
Georgia carry.org member James Camp, who hand-delivered the notice to Carrollton City Manager Casey Coleman last month, responded to the city’s likely move on Wednesday.
 
“I’m disappointed to learn that Carrollton would be willing to risk tax-payer money against the second amendment and to uphold a case and statutory law,” Camp said. “Federal court has already ruled on one of our cases… versus Coweta County, that when the legislature drafted the law in 2008 to include all parks and recreation areas… they meant to carry on down to county and local levels as well.”
 
Camp says Georgiacarry.org will consult with their lead attorney to consider any action.