A view from Friday night's poker table, courtesy of Adam Roberts
Guns, gambling, and alcohol were all present when the state right-to-bear-arms group GeorgiaCarry.Org held its first annual convention this weekend at the posh Renaissance Waverly hotel in Cobb County. Politicians and hundreds of armed Georgians showed up for the two day event, including gubernatorial candidates from the Democrat, Libertarian, and Republican parties and the state's Attorney General.
The group hosted a social mixer on Friday night with dinner, followed by a poker tournament (for fun) that lasted several hours. This is probably the first time in more than a century that any location has hosted so many people paying cards while carrying pistols openly.
Saturday was full of workshops on such diverse items as a two hour "grassroots lobbying" seminar taught by two real, professional lobbyists, a women's self defense seminar, and a class on assemblying your own AR-15 semiautomatic rifle from parts. During the day, attendees could browse a vendor forum in which merchants were selling everything from laser grips to .50 BMG rifles. In the afternoon, a panel including four candidates for Governor and several members of Georgia's General Assembly debated gun laws in Georgia and candidly answered specific questions from audience members, who approached the microphone wearing holstered pistols in the open.
In the evening, Atlanta radio personality Moby was the master of ceremonies for a formal dinner and a keynote speech by Libertarian Presidential candidate and former congressman Bob Barr, who spoke about gun control efforts in the United Nations while standing between two 20 foot high resolution screens. There was professional lighting, audio, and video imaging being used throughout the two day event.
GeorgiaCarry.Org's Convention was a fun event for all who attended, and it had a serious note, as the organization closed the event with a reminder to its members to push aggressively for a repeal of Georgia's infamous public gathering law (there are two bills pending right now to do just that). Many members complained two days was not enough time to attend all of the scheduled events and meet so many other members of the organization. For those who missed it, GeorgiaCarry.Org's future events are something you might want to place on your calendar and make plans to attend. There are not many other places where you can meet and talk with seven candidates for Governor or have a pleasant dinner while sitting next to a State Representative, Senator, or the state's Attorney General, all while carrying a pistol openly. As GCO Life Member Tim Parker put it,
This was the most memorable element of the convention. I sat at the same table as Commissioner John Oxendine for dinner Saturday night, armed to the teeth - and he knew it. I shook Bob Barr's hand while openly carrying a 1911 - and he didn't care. I stood around and watched dozens and dozens of members of GeorgiaCarry.org conversing with a gaggle of gubernatorial candidates and none of them cared that we were armed. I'll never forget it.
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
- Atlanta: Federal court rules no probable cause in arrest for openly carried firearm
- Austin: Is the Brady Campaign for the children?
- Boston: Sotomayor: Unfit to serve
- Charlotte: Dangers of gun registration: 'The Belgian Corporal'
- Cleveland: 'Shotgun Robber' is an equal opportunity bandit
- DC: Under Obamacare, where will Canadians go for medical services?
- Denver: What happens to you when you buy a gun?
- Los Angeles: SoCal Churches go concealed carry.
- Minneapolis: It takes a gun to stop a gunman
- National: Are those against nationwide concealed carry for states' rights?
- Seattle: Lautenberg’s legislation cloak’s anti-gun senator’s true intention
- St. Louis: The Brady Campaign to create 'gun crime'
- Wisconsin: Gun rights advocates make progress
Comments
Sounds like it was a resounding success! And Bob Barr? Fancy! Love how you emphasized that fatal mix... without any injuries, let alone fatalities :)
If I see someone boarding my plane at the airport with an AK-47, should I worry? Is he just exerciseing his right to "Bear Arms"?
larry linn i would worry more about boxcutters on a plane if its going to new york
Larry Linn
Maybe he IS exercising his 2A right.
Worry more if he is obviously of middle-eastern descent, has a beard, dressed in man-jammies, got a turban on his head, and wearing a suicide vest. And muttering about "Infidels".
(Or is this profiling?)
Stop Blaming Guns, Morons!
REAL men (and women) are not afraid of guns, nor of the law-abiding citizens who possess them.
I am amazed that no "CHILDREN" were harmed at this event. No guns just jumped out of their holsters and started killing masses of people. Could this be because "LAW ABIDING CITIZENS" who arm themselves are NOT the same as a criminal with a gun? If every person who is eligaeble to own a firearm got one and carried it, maybe the criminals would have second thoughts about robbing someone or maybe there would just be less criminals because they are dead!!!
First, I was very pleased that the event went off as well as it did. it was fun, entertaining and educational. Meeting Bob Barr and the Georgia Governor Candidates was a wonderful opportunity. I was also very happy to see as many women as I did, being armed and supportive at the event.
As for Larry Linn, he obviously has little intelligence. Chainsaw has it right. “Law abiding Citizens”. No one wants or will allow a terrorist or criminal of any type to illegally enter an aircraft. Why would Larry sensationalize this; he again is not thinking rationally. Of course if you actually saw someone entering an aircraft in clear violation of the law, there would be very serious concern, and those of us who could be legally armed (Though I doubt we would be near an aircraft (armed), being law abiding Citizens) would inform the appropriate authorities.
A loaded gun and an open bottle of booze...great.
Ray McBerry is the only genuine constitutional conservative running for governor of Georgia. Read the writings of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, etc., and in their words you will find the likeness of Ray McBerry: a man forged in the tradition of the founding generation. If you want a governor who will stand in-between you and the threats of Washington D.C. in order to preserve your God-given freedoms, then Ray McBerry is the way to go.
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