ATLANTA– Weeks after four people were killed and nine people were injured in a school shooting Northeast of Atlanta, a group of elementary school students carrying signs walked into the Georgia Capitol on Thursday as lawmakers debated legislation that would promote safe gun storage.
About 20 students between the ages of five and 12, accompanied by some parents and teachers from an Atlanta private school, gathered at a Senate committee meeting to demand legislative action on gun violence.
“This is our future generation,” 11-year-old Autumn Humphries told Senate Democrats in the chamber and Republicans watching from a distance. “We are the next generation. You act like you don’t care.”
As the students filed out, committee chairman Emanuel Jones, a Decatur Democrat, led the students in a chant: “No more violence! Stop gun violence!”
Colt Gray’s father allegedly gave the 14-year-old a semi-automatic assault rifle that he used in the Apalachee High School Shooting in Winder, Georgia. Federal law prohibits persons under the age of 18 from purchasing rifles or other long guns from licensed gun dealers. Gray is accused of four murders and his father stands for related costs.
In addition to encouraging safe storage of firearms, Jones said he wants the committee to come up with better plans safety protocols in schools, mental health programs, and gun safety awareness campaigns to prevent children from having access to guns.
“We need to have processes and procedures in place, not just for intentional shootings, but also for those that are unintentional,” Jones said.
Two of the people killed at Apalachee High School were students. Dr. Kiesha Fraser Doh, a pediatric emergency medicine physician representing Georgia Clinicians for Gun Safety, told committee members that the number of children 17 and under in Georgia who died from gun violence increased from 78 in 2018 to 154 in 2022. Doh called for stronger measures to prevent guns from reaching children.
Jones noted that states like Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey and Texas punish those who make guns accessible to children. Democratic state Rep. Michelle Au introduced similar legislation in 2023, but it never came to a vote. She has pledged to the bill until 2025.
Jorryn Butler, 18, said many of his friends buy guns from people old enough to buy them legally. “It’s not hard” to get a gun, he said. “It’s literally right in your face.”
Last week, Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican from Newington, said legislators will consider policies to expand mental health services for students, detect weapons before someone enters the school with them, and secure weapon storage.
Lawmakers in both chambers considered legislation earlier this year to encourage safe gun storage, which has been shown to reduce gun deaths and injuries among youth. The Georgia Senate passed legislation that would exempt gun safety equipment from the state sales tax. The Georgia House of Representatives passed legislation that would offer gun owners a $300 tax credit to purchase gun safety equipment, including gun safes and locks, and would cover firearm safety classes. Neither bill made it out of the other chamber.
Since the shooting, Democrats have pushed for safe storage laws, universal background checks and red flag laws. Sen. David Lucas of Macon joined his fellow Democrats during the committee hearing in supporting mandatory background checks or pistol permits for those who buy assault weapons.
Before the committee meeting, students gathered in a basement room in the Capitol to meet with several Democratic lawmakers.
“No one should ever give a child a gun!” shouted 11-year-old Maddie La Rose.
A young boy wore a sign around his neck that read, “No Guns! More Football! More Fun! No Guns!” The sign caught the attention of Democratic state Rep. Derrick Jackson.
“We just want you all to grow up and have fun,” Jackson said. “Think about kid stuff, not gun stuff.”
—-
Charlotte Kramon is a staff member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-reported issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon