While I would have loved to have seen attorneys for the city of Savannah try to defend charging Deacon Morris with violating a local ordinance that is itself in violation of state law, it’s far better for Morris to not have to deal with those charges at all. And thanks to the Firearms Policy Coalition and Georgia Second Amendment attorney John Monroe, Mr. Morris no longer has that misdemeanor hanging over his head after the city dismissed the charges.

“Governments often rely on steamrolling criminal defendants and coercive plea bargains, but Deacon Morris had excellent counsel, a strong defense, and FPC in his corner. We are delighted that Mr. Morris can finally walk away from this outrageous prosecution and we can now turn attention to our Belt v. Savannah lawsuit, which we hope will end enforcement of Savannah’s unlawful ordinance once and for all,” said FPC President Brandon Combs.

Mr. Morris was represented by attorney John Monroe of Dawsonville, Georgia.  These cases are part of FPC’s high-impact strategic litigation program, FPC Law, aimed at eliminating immoral laws and creating a world of maximal liberty. FPC thanks FPC Action Foundation for its strategic support of this FPC Law case.

Savannah’s City Council passed a gun storage ordinance in April that requires residents and visitors to lock up their vehicles when a firearm is stored or face a $1,000 fine and up to 30 days in jail. 

The following month, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr issued an advisory opinion warning Savannah officials that their new ordinance conflicted with the state’s firearm preemption law, but Mayor Van Johnson declared that the local law would continue to be enforced. 

The Firearms Policy Coalition is also involved in a civil challenge to Savannah’s ordinance. During a hearing in September, attorneys for Savannah disputed the AG’s contention that the ordinance runs afoul of the state’s preemption law. 

Bates Lovett, Savannah’s city government attorney, noted in court Wednesday that the state law cited by Belt’s lawyer and Carr doesn’t expressly say local governments can’t regulate gun storage.

Lovett also argued that Savannah’s ordinance isn’t primarily about guns.

“We’re regulating the vehicle, not the firearm,” Lovett told the judge, adding that it’s perfectly legal in Savannah to store a gun in a car. “But once you leave the vehicle, you must lock that vehicle.”

Georgia’s firearm preemption law forbids political subdivisions from regulating, in any way, the “possession, ownership, transport, carrying, transfer, sale, purchase, licensing, or registration of firearms or other weapons or components of firearms or other weapons”. While storage isn’t mentioned specifically, I’d say that falls under both possession and ownership of a firearm. And since we’re talking about guns in cars, the transporting of a firearm also comes into play. 

What about Lovett’s contention that the city is regulating the vehicle and not the car? If that was truly the case, why doesn’t the city of Savannah impose an ordinance requiring all residents and visitors to lock their vehicles, instead of just gun owners? Savannah’s ordinance isn’t about cars, it’s about firearms left behind in cars… and that means that the state’s firearm preemption law comes into play. 

We can debate whether or not such an ordinance is a good idea (and personally, I think it makes more sense to go after thieves than turn lawful gun owners into criminals because they failed to hit the “lock” button on their vehicle), but the real question is whether Savannah has the authority to adopt and enforce this ordinance to begin with. The fact that Savannah dropped the charges against Deacon Morris instead of proceeding to trial may be a sign that city officials aren’t as certain the law can withstand legal scrutiny as the mayor has claimed, but even if that isn’t the case this is still a solid win for FPC, John Monroe, and Deacon Morris.