Grace Jordan, arts & living editor 

On Wednesday, Jan. 5 Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp met with state legislators and National Rifle Association affiliates at a Georgia gun store, according to USNews. At the assembly, Kemp expressed his supportive for the notion to enact less restrictive carry permit laws. The current law states that in Georgia, one must be 21 and have a background check completed to carry a gun on their person in public. The firearm must also be concealed. Kemp is proposing that Georgia forgo a permit for carrying concealed weapons. The lack of permit for a conceal carry weapon has been coined as constitutional carry, according to USNews.

Currently, more than 20 states currently have constitutional carry laws that no longer require residents to have a permit in order to carry concealed weapons

According to The Current, a local news organization, Georgia is one step closer to passing the bill. The bill raises questions on the ethics and morality of firearms. Berry students have their own views when it comes to the topic of guns.

Some Berry students believe guns are useful in numerous ways, one being self defense. Senior Collin Mathis is an accounting major and grew up around guns.

“I’ve grown up with [guns] my whole life,” Mathis said. “I was shooting guns since I was little. As soon as I turned 21 I wanted to get my carry permit. I didn’t care about drinking, I wanted to get my carry permit.” 

Mathis thinks that guns hold multiple benefits. They can be a source of entertainment and also be helpful in certain situations. 

“I just enjoy them,” Mathis said. “They’re fun, not in the sense of something to play around with, but something you can have fun with to an extent, like go out with friends and shoot at stuff. They’re also good tools for self defense. I use them mainly for self defense”

While Mathis believes that guns are helpful in self defense, one should only use them after every other option has failed. 

“I don’t think a gun is the first option in self defense,” Mathis said. “I think it’s an option of last resort. I would much rather deescalate a situation verbally or some other way than I would pull a weapon out.”

Another Berry student who views guns as positive is senior Marshall Lynch. Like Mathis, Lynch has been around guns his whole life. According to Lynch, his father is a hunter. He would sometimes bring Lynch deer hunting starting when Lynch was 10. 

“I didn’t have any real direct exposure to firearms that would be atypical,” Lynch said. “My dad is a hunter, we really only do deer hunting and so he would have a rifle. I started hunting with him when I was around 10. I had shot guns before, but really only had an interest in them personally as more video game related things.”

According to Lynch, guns should be available for sale to most individuals.

“It’s a good thing to allow firearms to be accessible to people that aren’t felons,” Lynch said. Other students disagree with the positive opinion on firearms. Freshman Jordan Sanders was also frequently around guns during her childhood and has a father who has been a police officer since she was young.

“My father owns a lot of guns,” Sanders said. “He’s also a police officer so he carries a gun with him during work, off duty and has one in his car. I think that because he is a police officer he has the right to own a gun, but I think he should only have it at work.”

Sanders believes guns shouldn’t be easily accessible to the general public.

“It shouldn’t be something you can easily access like it is right now,” Sanders said. “There are people who get those guns to do bad things. I don’t feel comfortable seeing them in Walmart. I saw there’s a donut shop selling guns which is insane.”

Senior Isabella Triggs is another student who said that guns are damaging. She has never had guns in her house, but has shot a gun once in her life. According to Triggs, that experience was enough to know she didn’t like firearms.

“I’ve only ever shot a gun once,” Triggs said. “My uncle took me to a shooting range and I didn’t like it very much. I felt like there was too much power. I didn’t like the recoil.” 

Triggs believes more harm than good comes from the existence of guns and said there needs to be stricter gun laws. 

“It seems irresponsible that people can just go buy a gun without ever having to have laid their hands on one before,” Triggs said. “There should be more accountability for people who sell guns to check people’s backgrounds. There should be stricter testing and training.”

According to Triggs, guns create an environment that is dangerous to others and creates a fear that shouldn’t be there, and public places that should be a source of comfort, like schools and churches, have turned perilous.

“Schools are supposed to be a safe place for kids to go to learn,” Triggs said. “Churches are supposed to be a safe place for people to go to worship. You shouldn’t have to worry about going to a barbecue and who’s going to die there.”

Berry alumnus Devin Rhodes (21c) falls in the middle of the debate on the morality of guns. 

“Some people will say they’re responsible for so much wrongdoing and pain in the world,” Rhodes said. “And then you have people who say it’s their sense of security. I don’t see myself falling into either one of those camps.”

Rhodes’s father owned guns and his grandfather hunted Rhodes also worked at a gun store and was exposed to the commercial side of firearms. Due to his extensive background, Rhodes sees guns as a tool or object.

“I look at them more as an inanimate object,” Rhodes said. “I do that out of respect for what they are. There are people who become so attached to physical objects that they lose sight of rationality and that’s a dangerous road to head down.”

Rhodes is more interested in the historical aspect of fire weapons and believes guns should be looked at as historical objects.

“I think that people should maybe take a step back and look at them as objects of cultural or historical significance,” Rhodes said. “They still have a level of functionality as tools.”

According to Rhodes, the most important thing to do is to learn about guns in order to have an educated opinion. 

“If I had to emphasize anything to anybody when it comes to discussing firearms as an issue it’s to be knowledgeable about the issues,” Rhodes said. “Seek the knowledge and read what’s written. Don’t just believe one group’s opinions over the other.”