As states are considering raising the age to purchase a long gun to 21, Georgia gubernatorial candidate Hunter Hill is trying something a little different. Being a Republican in pro-gun Georgia, he released a video on Facebook that is bound to make some anti-gun heads explode.
For one thing, he voiced his support for constitutional carry, which has gained momentum throughout the nation despite anti-gun efforts of late. However, that’s not what will really pop the gun grabbers’ gray matter. No, that was his proposal to not only refuse to raise the age to buy a long gun, but to actually lower the age to buy a handgun.
https://www.facebook.com/VoteHunterHill/videos/1811606895550809/
Hill faces a crowded field of Republican candidates in an upcoming primary next month including current Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp. He formerly served in the Georgia Senate representing the Smyrna area, home to Glock’s U.S. operations. The overall winner of the election in November would take the place of term-limited Republican Gov. Nathan Deal.
State Sen. Michael Williams, who is also running for governor and was connected with a variety of pro-gun legislation in the past, argues that Hill is weak when it comes to the Second Amendment and is trying to play voters.
https://www.facebook.com/williamsforga/videos/1665121103582964/
Williams may well have a point. Hill’s earlier comments seem to at least give tepid support to the “21 to buy” kind of legislation.
On the other hand, however, in both clips, it talks about having parity with our gun laws, that if you can be trusted with one, you should be able to be trusted with the other. It’s not difficult to see the two positions as not being that far apart. Williams is trailing Hill by six points in the only poll I could find on the governor’s race in Georgia this far out, which means he needs to make up ground by taking out the guy closest to him.
It isn’t surprising that he’d be less than charitable with his interpretation of Hill’s two different comments.
However, Hill’s earlier comments which seem to support raising the age limit on purchasing a long gun will likely come back to bite him on the posterior. Even if Williams never catches up, Hill’s other opponents aren’t likely to let that one slide.
Of course, for Georgia residents, it’s good news that the earlier comments are what’s eliciting outrage and not the idea of constitutional carry or even lowering the age to buy a handgun to 18. After all, Hill makes a valid point. If we trust 18-year-olds with actual select fire M-4s (which, contrary to what Hill might have claimed, was not what he was shooting), why not trust them with a pistol for self-defense?
It looks like guns may be a key early issue in the GOP race in the Peach State. That’s hardly surprising considering the national debate, of course, but it also seems that Georgia Republicans aren’t taking any cues from the supposedly Republican governor to their immediate south and bending to pressure from gun control groups.
As a Georgia resident, I’m damn glad to see that.
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