[GA] Upson guns-in-church case lands in federal court

From Georgia, comes this story of a pastor challenging the state law prohibiting carry in churches:

A minister’s fight to bring a gun to his Upson County church is now a federal case in Macon.

State and Upson County officials had the case moved to the U.S. District Court in Macon on Friday. The case garnered national news coverage when it was first filed a month ago in Upson County Superior Court by the Rev. Jonathan Wilkins of the Baptist Tabernacle of Thomaston, which is partnering with GeorgiaCarry.org Inc. on the lawsuit. Wilkins said he has a constitutional right to be armed in church, which is now prohibited under state law. ...

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[GA] Georgia minister sues to take guns to church

From the Peach State:

A Thomaston minister and a gun rights advocacy group is filing lawsuit challenging Georgia’s prohibition against guns in church, a move that was predicted after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month the Second Amendment's guarantee of an individual right to bear arms applied to state and local gun control laws.

“They had indicated they would do that,” Alice Johnson, executive director of Georgians for Gun Safety, a group that supports more restrictions on weapons, said of the suit which is to be filed in Upson County.

The suit, mailed Friday to the Superior Court in Upson County, is brought by GeorgiaCarry.org; the Baptist Tabernacle of Thomaston; Ed Stone, the president of GeorgiaCarry.org and the Rev. Jonathan Wilkins. The suit lists Upson County and the state as defendants.

Those for less as well as more restrictions on guns had said last month places of worship would be the next battle over where permitted gun owners can take their weapons. Georgia law was changed this year to remove the prohibitions of guns at “public gatherings” but it banned firearms in certain places – places of worship, government buildings, schools, nuclear power plants and bars without the owner’s permission. ...

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