Why ‘Stand Your Ground’ Bill Isn’t a Sure Thing in Red State Georgia
What so recently seemed like a conservative slam dunk - a Georgia gun-rights bill to boost a “stand your ground” self-defense law - has been so watered down that, in the waning days of the legislative session, even its supporters have begun to falter. It’s not even clear that the “Safe Carry Protection Act” will come to a final vote.
Just in the last two weeks, Georgia Republicans also quashed a “religious freedom bill” patterned on what many saw as “anti-gay” legislation and killed a “state sovereignty” bill that aimed to distance the state from the national Common Core school standards, now taking effect in most other states.
All three bills were largely written by conservative special interest groups and, directly or implicitly, supported by both chambers and the governor’s mansion. So, why couldn’t they get a solid thumbs-up from a state legislature where Republicans have a supermajority?
What has played out in the past few weeks under the gold dome here in Atlanta is a reckoning of sorts for a divided Republican Party.
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