Latest news with #ApalacheeHighSchool
2 days ago
- Politics
Georgia Supreme Court upholds ban on those under 21 from carrying handguns in public
ATLANTA -- The Georgia Supreme Court upheld a state law Wednesday that bans most people under 21 from carrying a handgun in public. Under Georgia law, anyone ages 18 to 20 years old can possess handguns on their own property, in their car, at their business or for hunting, fishing and sport shooting. Those in the age group who have been trained by the military are exempt. Thomas Stephens, a 20-year-old man from Lumpkin County, sued Georgia after a probate court denied him a weapons carry license in 2023, when he was 18. Stephens asked the state to stop enforcing that law, which he said violated his constitutional rights. A trial court granted the state's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The Georgia Supreme Court denied his appeal, noting Georgia's Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms but lets the General Assembly regulate how they are carried. Georgia has some of the loosest gun laws in the country. The decision comes in the aftermath of heated debates about gun control in the state after a mass shooting at Apalachee High School, northeast of Atlanta, where a 14-year-old boy stands accused of killing two teachers and two students and wounding several others last Sept. 4. Stephens asked the state Supreme Court to pick one of two federal legal tests used for Second Amendment challenges, 'strict scrutiny" or 'history and tradition,' to evaluate whether Georgia's law is constitutional. The decision, written by Justice Andrew Pinson, says those standards are 'not viable substitutes' for determining what the text of the state Constitution originally meant. Unlike Georgia, the U.S. Constitution doesn't explicitly let legislatures regulate how people carry guns. Pinson wrote in the decision that construing the meaning of a constitutional provision 'requires careful attention to not only the language of the clause in question, but also its broader legal and historical context.' Stephens' attorney John Monroe argued the law infringed on his client's rights. He also called it an arbitrary law because military training focuses on weapons other than handguns. But he knew unraveling the law would be an uphill battle. 'It's not unexpected because there's over a century of precedent that was against us,' Monroe said of Wednesday's decision. He said they are 'disappointed with the decision' but 'it is what it is.' Stephens' lawsuit came less than a year after Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill in 2022 allowing Georgians to carry a handgun without a permit from the state. A bill that would let people sue local governments for enacting gun safety measures died on the final day of Georgia's legislative session in April, and several gun safety proposals did not make it out of committee. ___
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
State Supreme Court upholds law requiring Georgians to be 21 to carry handguns
The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a state policy barring those between 18 and 21 from carrying a handgun in Georgia Supreme Court upheld a state law that bars most people between the ages 18 and 21 from carrying handguns in public without military training Wednesday. The court unanimously backed a lower court in rejecting the challenge from Thomas Stephens, a 20-year-old Georgian seeking to end enforcement of the prohibition. Georgians between 18 and 21 can carry long guns in public, and they can carry handguns at home, in their car or in their place of business and use them for hunting, fishing or sport shooting with the associated license. But only 18- to 20-year-olds who have received weapons training as part of military service are generally able to carry a handgun in public. Stephens' attorney John Monroe argued that the exception is arbitrary and other young adults may be as capable of safely carrying handguns as members of the military. 'When you look at the nature of the training that a young person in the military gets, which is, as we said in our briefs, geared toward rifles and using other small arms like hand grenades, that's not very well-suited or significant when it comes to carrying handguns in public, as opposed to training that people might get outside of the military that's geared exactly towards carrying handguns,' he said. The state, represented by the Office of Attorney General Chris Carr, argued that the prohibition on handguns for young adults is authorized by the Georgia Constitution as a permissible exercise of police power. The unanimous opinion authored by Justice Andrew A. Pinson rejects Stephens' call to overturn state precedent in favor of tests created by federal courts, describing it as a request 'to uncritically import federal standards to guide the application of a provision unique to Georgia's Constitution—a practice we have regularly criticized and disapproved.' The state Legislature has been at the center of a debate over firearm access in recent years, especially since last September's shooting at Apalachee High School, in which four people died. Proposals designed to encourage safe firearm storage stalled during the 2025 legislative session. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘Bitter sweet:' Apalachee High School seniors graduate months after tragedy
Seniors who survived the mass shooting inside Apalachee High School last fall passed a significant milestone this month. They officially graduated Thursday evening. 'Feels good! I feel very prideful right now,' said Jovany Hernandez. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Hernandez and his classmate Gustavo Padilla spoke to Channel 2's Courtney Francisco as they headed into the ceremony on campus. They said the celebration is complex. 'Bitter sweet, you know?' said Padilla. They said enduring unspeakable loss of their Math teachers Cristina Irimie and Coach Ricky Aspinwall and classmates Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo has amplified their thankfulness for the opportunity to graduate. On stage during the ceremony, valedictorian Kaleigh Spencer described persevering in the face of adversity. 'Simply walking across the stage after such an event deserves recognition,' said Spencer. TRENDING STORIES: 'It changed me': Undocumented GA college student talks about being in ICE custody for 15 days Mercedes-Benz to move North American corporate headquarters to Sandy Springs Hundreds of homes could soon be built near Gwinnett river, but neighbors worry it could flood Speakers did not forget the accomplishments and accolades that came before the tragedy. Most of the ceremony focused on the entire four years students spent at Apalachee High School, lessons learned and getting their hands on their diplomas. After sharing words of inspiration, students turned their tassels with hard-earned wisdom they said will follow them to college, work and the military. 'Blessed to see another day,' said Hernandez. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Miami Herald
20-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Public schools must step up their safety plans. Georgia Tech provides a model
ATLANTA - Georgia Tech Police Chief Robert Connolly prepares for the worst thing imaginable every single day:a school shooting. In April, a student at Florida State University was charged with killing two people and injuring five others on said he immediately began reviewing the case. "We watch every event that happens in the country," he said. "Obviously, the biggest question is, what did they miss?" After mass killings, schools often install weapon-detection cameras and other tools to help physically protect the campus. But "the meat is prevention," he said. "Putting all those cameras up … that's great," Connolly said. The larger challenge is for schools to identify students who are struggling and provide them assistance. That's something the state is hoping to figure out. After September's deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia legislators led by House Speaker Jon Burns met with educators, students and parents around the state to come up with a plan to prevent future tragedies. What resulted is House Bill 268, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law last month. The legislation requires public schools to identify, assess and mitigate potential threats made by students and to create plans to help students in need to get behavioral health support. But it stops short of implementing restrictions on firearm access as Democrats had hoped. During hearings, several parents said they supported the intention but were concerned about how such a system would operate. Georgia Tech's program could provide a blueprint for K-12 schools. Determining a credible threat Inside the command room of Georgia Tech's police department in Midtown, large screens display a snapshot of the community, with 5,000 cameras ready to zoom in on any given location. One monitor shows updates from LiveSafe, which connects to an app students have on their phone. Through the app, they can snap a photo or report a tip and in moments, a 24/7 team will review the submission. The state's new law requires schools to utilize an app or other digital platform so students and families can anonymously report dangerous and potentially harmful activity impacting students or school staff. But during debate, several parents and lawmakers worried that the platform, by nature of its anonymity, could be abused by studentsmaking false reports about each other. State Rep. Phil Olaleye, D-Atlanta, had requested to change the language in the bill from anonymous reporting to private reporting. "I do see value in transparency on who is bringing (claims) forward," he said in March. "My concern is around false reporting and not creating an incentive to falsely report claims." In those cases, Connolly said there would be some accountability for people who put others' reputation at risk for personal vendettas. But, he said, it's unlikely for a false report to make it that far in the first place because his digital intelligence team has a rigorous process to determine the credibility of threats based on national standards. For example, there are protocols to follow if a student says, "I'm going to kill my teacher if she doesn't give me an extension on this assignment," or "Finals are killing me. I'm at the end of my rope, and I can't do this anymore." According to a violence risk assessment sheet that Georgia Tech uses, there are escalating and mitigating factors that could increase or minimize the perceived risk. If the student has shared specific details about the type of weapon they would use or a plan to carry it out, that would heighten the risk. However, if the threat is the context of political speech during class or if authors are non-native English speakers who may not realize what they are saying, that would lower the risk. Flynn Nauta, a digital intelligence analyst on the team, ticked off a list of questions she would review. "Are they saying a specific classroom or a specific building, or are they just saying, I'm gonna blow up the school? Have they had any past instances where they've had indicators that they were going to do something like this, or any mental health issues?" she said. "Are they targeting a specific individual or a specific building? Are they saying, I'm going to do it at this specific time, on this specific day, or is it just kind of up in the air?" The checklist can "take down those really high emotions and bring us back to whatever the reality of the situation is, or on the opposite side of that, bring it up to the level that it needs to be on," said Megan Kopf, another analyst on the team. Getting on - and off - a list During debate on the legislation, many parents and lawmakers also worried about the long-term impacts of a child ending up on some kind of list or database. They feared it may affect their child's chances of getting into college or be used for nefarious purposes. Georgia Tech does maintain a list of individuals they are concerned about, but viewership is extremely restrictive. "They have to meet a certain threshold to make it to that point. We don't just add anyone; we're very selective about who goes into that software. And that is a collective decision," Nauta said. As part of negotiations on the legislation, parents and students will have the ability to petition for their removal from the system. At Georgia Tech,Connolly saidthere is a five-year retention period that may be shorter based on the student's conduct and behavior. He said it's necessary for public safety. "It goes back to that privacy issue. People feel entitled to expunge everything but unfortunately, how would we ever protect others if you can just erase yourself?" he said. Building trust To make this kind of a program work, the community has to trust the police department. Connolly admits that has been hard since at least 2014, when a police officer fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking debates and protests about the role of law enforcement and race. Members of the Georgia Tech's digital intelligence team said they are not sworn police officers, and their focus is not on punishment but rather getting students help. "It is mainly to figure out intervention strategies for the individual," Nauta said. "How can we best help this student? Is it contacting their parents? Is it connecting them with the mental health resources on campus? Is it bringing them in to talk to them?" Connolly said he doesn't see arresting students as a primary response to be particularly useful anyway. "You're in a compassionate world in higher education. What we're going to do is get them help to try to alleviate the problem because giving them more pressure, giving them sanctions, that's not going to help the issue. It's only going to activate the whole thing," he said. Connolly applauded the state for implementing similar systems in K-12 schools, but cautioned to give it space to work. "It's going to take time. This legislation is really just going to start something that's going to take a long time to build," he said. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
When is trial date for father of accused shooter at Apalachee High School?
Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm this week signed an order setting Sept. 8 as the trial date for Colin Gray, the father of the 14-year-old youth charged with killing two students, two teachers and wounding nine others at Apalachee High School. The mass shooting occurred Sept. 4 at the high school in Winder, where the suspect Colt Gray was a ninth-grade student. Colin Gray, 54, gave his young son the AR-15 style rifle as a Christmas gift, according to court records. He faces a 29-count indictment that include charges of second-degree murder and reckless conduct. A trial date for Colt Gray on numerous murder and aggravated assault charges has not been set, as pretrial motions are still underway. The elder Gray remains in jail, although Primm gave him a $500,000 bond in February, but the judge stipulated that 10% of the amount must be a cash bond. Colin Gray has been granted a change of venue for the trial, a motion that was supported by the defense team led by attorney Brian Hobbs and and the prosecutors Piedmont Circuit District Attorney Brad Smith and chief assistant Patricia Brooks. In Tuesday's order, the judge told the lawyers he wanted their pre-trial motions filed by July 15. The judge also said he wanted to see a complete witness list and the jury selection questions that each side proposes for potential jurors by Aug. 15. If he has a problem with any question, he would discuss those with the lawyers. The judge has not set a date for deciding on locations for the change of venue, but has told lawyers he will make a decision, which includes moving the trial to another county or bringing jurors from another county to Barrow County. The jury would be sequestered during the trial. Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith testified earlier that there are 75 deputies on the witness list from his office and that will have an impact on his office if they must leave the county for the trial. Primm has noted that the trial for Colin Gray is expected to take about three weeks, so he has to find a courthouse that will accommodate that timeframe as well as finding a courthouse with the needed technology to present evidence. This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Trial date set for father of teen accused in Apalachee High shootings
