Is it OK to Bring a Loaded Rifle into an Airport? This Guy Did It

Many bystanders were shocked when Jim Cooley walked into the Atlanta airport to drop his daughter off. No, he wasn’t being loud. He wasn’t crying or making a scene while sending his daughter off on her trip. He just casually had a fully loaded (read: bullets – lots of them) AR-15 Semi-automatic rifle slung around his shoulder.

The story of a man who walked into Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Friday carrying a loaded AR-15 semiautomatic rifle has gone viral. And here’s the most amazing part of it: his actions were completely legal, thanks to Georgia’s gun laws. Passed in 2014, the HB 512 Safe Carry Protection Act allows people to openly carry a rifle in an airport, so long as they don’t try to go through security.

The armed Cooley was dropping his daughter off for a flight, when police officers approached Cooley, asking why he was carrying a semiautomatic weapon with an extended capacity 100-round drum.

His response? “Safety.”

Forgot the source

www.yahoo.com...

He's just being an attention whore. Nothing else.

By Georgia state law he is allowed to enter the airport armed, but not allowed to go through any screening or check-in points. So he did not break the law.

FTR I live about fifteen minutes from Hartsfield - and have for over a decade - and have never seen anyone walking around with an AR-15. IE my personal belief is that this person knew the law and pushed a hot button area of it for his 15 minutes of fame.

Been done before with pistols in the last couple years. I can't listen to the video, but guessing it is just someone trying to make a blatant effort to be in your face with gun rights. While I support gun rights, I think this guy carrying a rifle like that around is solely for attention to the subject.

You can carry a loaded gun into the airport as long as you don't try to go through security with it.

I'm against guns on the whole, despite owning a small pellet rifle and having friends who hunt.

That said, this is bad behaviour for those who want guns and would like to keep the current legislation as it is. It takes a few stupid ones to foil it for the rest. He may not have been breaking the law but he isn't completely sensible.

If he was holding a machete things would have been different.

What nut carries a machete into an airport?

As far as 'guns', the media has turned us into alarmists.

"Man with a gun", gun-violence and gun-crime terminology is turning firearms into evil objects and

anyone carrying them other than authority figures into criminals.

a reply to: Telos

His response? “Safety.”

then the guy is an idiot - and just to be clear - so is anyone who thinks that carryng a firearm in that manner makes them " safe "

a reply to: Telos

Is it OK?

That's a matter of personal fortitude. Some people were going to get freaked out about it, so if one happens to care about the ability of others to go about without fear, then probably not.

Is it legal?

In Georgia, so it would seem!

The real issue here is nothing to do with the law. It is to do with making a conscious choice, to do something that will make some people somewhat uncomfortable. Perhaps if people were used to carrying their own weapons everywhere they went as a matter of course, then this would not be so much of a problem, but walking up to an airport, a place where people from all over will be milling about, and having about oneself a firearm will automatically raise some eyebrows.

There will be people from out of state, persons from other nations, people who know nothing of the customs and laws in the area, and you can bet that they will not be used to seeing citizens walking around with rifles and suchlike!

Now, I believe that the right to bear arms, enjoyed by those who live under the constitution of the United States, is a fantastic bit of legislation in its own right, but I think that with the right to do something, one also has the responsibility to do so in a sensible and productive manner. This incident produced nothing of worth, and was not sensible in the least.

originally posted by: Telos
Many bystanders were shocked when Jim Cooley walked into the Atlanta airport to drop his daughter off. No, he wasn’t being loud. He wasn’t crying or making a scene while sending his daughter off on her trip. He just casually had a fully loaded (read: bullets – lots of them) AR-15 Semi-automatic rifle slung around his shoulder.

The story of a man who walked into Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Friday carrying a loaded AR-15 semiautomatic rifle has gone viral. And here’s the most amazing part of it: his actions were completely legal, thanks to Georgia’s gun laws. Passed in 2014, the HB 512 Safe Carry Protection Act allows people to openly carry a rifle in an airport, so long as they don’t try to go through security.

The armed Cooley was dropping his daughter off for a flight, when police officers approached Cooley, asking why he was carrying a semiautomatic weapon with an extended capacity 100-round drum.

His response? “Safety.”

Honestly, these kind of people do a disservice to the guns rights movement. All that this will do is scare the heck out of all kinds of people at the airport, probably even ones who are guns rights people. It's gratuitous, un-necessary, and self-centered.

originally posted by: Telos
Many bystanders were shocked when Jim Cooley walked into the Atlanta airport to drop his daughter off. No, he wasn’t being loud. He wasn’t crying or making a scene while sending his daughter off on her trip. He just casually had a fully loaded (read: bullets – lots of them) AR-15 Semi-automatic rifle slung around his shoulder.

The story of a man who walked into Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Friday carrying a loaded AR-15 semiautomatic rifle has gone viral. And here’s the most amazing part of it: his actions were completely legal, thanks to Georgia’s gun laws. Passed in 2014, the HB 512 Safe Carry Protection Act allows people to openly carry a rifle in an airport, so long as they don’t try to go through security.

The armed Cooley was dropping his daughter off for a flight, when police officers approached Cooley, asking why he was carrying a semiautomatic weapon with an extended capacity 100-round drum.

His response? “Safety.”

It is these kinds of Americans that make many of my international friends laugh at the hillbilly 'Mericans. Please guys, please stop making the rest of us look bad.

Trust me when I say that most people NOT from fly over or the south and who are especially from other countries would this insane.

a reply to: Telos

Well apparently, the TSA needs all the help they can get as they have a 95% failure rate in detecting weapons or explosives.

Makes you wonder if these guys are the reason that the TSA even got a 5% success rate,LOL?

An internal investigation of the Transportation Security Administration revealed security failures at dozens of the nation’s busiest airports, where undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials, ABC News has learned.

abcnews.go.com...

a reply to: ignorant_ape

and just to be clear - so is anyone who thinks that carrying a firearm in that manner makes them " safe "

Just to be clear, what safer way is there to carry a firearm other than slung and on safe?

He wasn't "brandishing" it.

a reply to: TrueBrit

I do live north of the border and over here the law for guns is different from the states. We can still own them but is not as easy to get the permission. I for once do support the gun rights and I always am going to be of the opinion that guns don't kill people, people kill people. But in this case I don't understand the need of such action and why would someone carry a AR-15 in a crowded place. That's behind me.

a reply to: Telos

You see, the problem here is perception

This gentleman knows he has no intention of suddenly killing people with his exercising of his right.

How does he get that same message across to other people who feel threatened by what he is doing? - because the reality is that in less than one second he could kill.

Death is never welcome, nor is his immature actions, which by the way, actually has a negative impact on what he thinks he is promoting and just gives gun-grabbers more of a reason to label him as the "see - this is the mentality of gun-rights advocates"

You see, it's all about perception

a reply to: intrptr

No but the ape is probably referring to the actions of people who see the guy holding the gun - this could create an unsafe situation. Best keeping it hidden.

a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

Honestly, these kind of people do a disservice to the guns rights movement.

I'm on the fence on this and go back and forth:

On one hand , they bring a lot of attention and material for the MSM to manipulate this into a situation to take guns away.

On another hand , it appears that because of legalese, training, MSM tactics, and gazillions of laws in this country that no one really knows their rights including law enforcement. They appear just to go by, what is the everyday common interactions with the public. In some of these stand offs , it looks like the Officer is shocked themselves that they have a right to do this.

Who cares? He didn't do anything wrong. In fact, I find it funny. He walked into a public place legally brandishing a rifle (which I also find funny that the media always has to include every little detail such as, "AR-15 semiautomatic rifle" presumably to make it sound scarier) and people lose their minds. People are way too sensitive these days.

Someone walks into a public area I'm in carrying a rifle, I usually don't pay much attention because that's what they're looking for and I'm 95% sure they're not going to just open fire. Not to say I don't keep a watchful eye just in case, but I'm not worried in the least by this sort of thing.

Some call them patriots, I call them overly patriotic idiots with baby wangs. What they're doing is lawful and a protest of sorts, but really unnecessary.

a reply to: interupt42

I strongly support the Second Amendment and this disturbs me. Also the law here prohibits carrying firearms in places that sell liquor - and the airport has bars... So I would not be surprised if this story ends up with another chapter being tossed onto it.

That being said. If I walked into a theater, or restaurant and somebody carrying a rifled weapon entered. Legal or not, his right or not. I would politely ask for my money back and leave as there is no way for me to know if the person carrying the weapon is just an advocate trying to make a statement or the next James Holmes.

Licensed concealed carry ( a concealed pistol ) is so much less provocative and serves the purpose of personal protection much better than an AR-15 anyway. This is like a person in a one bedroom apartment buying a shotgun for home defense. Totally irrational.

originally posted by: Echo3Foxtrot
Who cares? He didn't do anything wrong. In fact, I find it funny. He walked into a public place legally brandishing a rifle (which I also find funny that the media always has to include every little detail such as, "AR-15 semiautomatic rifle" presumably to make it sound scarier) and people lose their minds. People are way too sensitive these days.

Someone walks into a public area I'm in carrying a rifle, I usually don't pay much attention because that's what they're looking for and I'm 95% sure they're not going to just open fire. Not to say I don't keep a watchful eye just in case, but I'm not worried in the least by this sort of thing.

Some call them patriots, I call them overly patriotic idiots with baby wangs. What they're doing is lawful and a protest of sorts, but really unnecessary.

Nah. An airport is a very sensitive place. Many people already have fear due to travel and former terrorist acts. By jerking off your guns rights in an airport for no reason, it will trigger a lot of negative reactions in people, even terror. You guys need to realize that such a place has people from all over the world and country coming through. This isn't your time to be showing of assault weapons.