Columbus Council asks Georgia legislators to change state’s open carry law
In the wake of last month’s fatal shooting at Shirley B. Winston Park, Columbus Councilor Toyia Tucker of District 4 sponsored a resolution requesting that the Georgia Code be amended to prohibit the carrying of firearms and other dangerous weapons in recreation centers/facilities owned and run by local governments.
The resolution was part of a list of issues the Columbus Council debated during the Sept. 23 council meeting to determine what they want local delegates to push for in the 2026 Legislative Session of the Georgia General Assembly.
Local elected and appointed officials meet annually in the Hometown Connection and Legislative Agenda meeting, which will be held Oct. 15, to present legislation they feel is important to Columbus residents.
“Columbus has suffered incidents stemming from the use of dangerous weapons and firearms in its public recreation centers to include one recent fatality,” says the resolution. “Many of the programs at these public recreation centers are attended by minors who are of school age.”
State law prohibits weapons in school safety zones and government buildings where weapons screening is in place, but this doesn’t allow for a no-weapons policy in recreation centers owned by the Columbus Consolidated Government.
The council unanimously approved Tucker’s resolution with an amendment to make it clear that the weapons ban could apply to only the buildings and not the surrounding grounds and parks.
What Columbus Councilors had to say
Councilor Walker Garrett of District 8 agreed with preventing weapons from being allowed inside recreation centers, but he cautioned that the rule could be expanded to ban them from the surrounding grounds and parks.
He raised concerns that the proposed rule would prevent people from carrying firearms for safety when out for a jog or spending time with their kids at baseball fields or parks.
“I like the idea of the concept,” Garrett said. “But I do have very serious concerns that this is only going to affect people who legally carry their firearms, and it’s not going to do anything to protect us against people who illegally carry them in and do want to cause harm.”
Tucker said she sees the issue differently because recreation center employees have been seeing weapons brought into facilities on a daily basis and don’t feel empowered to ask whether they are being carried legally because of Georgia’s open carry law.
She became emotional when detailing a text message conversation with a staff member, Courtney Mason, who witnessed the Aug. 29 shooting.
“I’m just going through the motions right now, trying to stay busy,” Tucker said, reading Mason’s text messages. “I just talked to (Columbus Parks and Recreation Department direct) Holli (Browder). She texted me not too long ago. I was telling her I really don’t want to go back until something is put in place. Our lives were really put in jeopardy. I don’t like that.”
Changing the Georgia Code is a “heavy lift,” Tucker said, but other organizations, such as the Georgia Parks and Recreation Association and counties, also could push for this change.
Meanwhile, other strategies could make recreation centers safer, officials said during the meeting.
Browder said ID cards could be scanned as people enter the centers. This would help staff identify people who are not old enough to legally carry a weapon, she said.
Councilor Byron Hickey of District 1 spoke about potentially placing more police officers in these facilities to make the patrons safer.
“We need to put them in there and let them work part-time,” said Hickey, a retired police officer. “And we need to pay them because I’m going to say something to everybody in here. Until you’ve been in a gunfight, you don’t even realize what’s going on. Until you’ve been in a gunfight, trying to defend yourself, it’s a whole different situation for you. And I understand how Courtney feels. I understand. I’ve been shot at before.”
Assistant police chief speaks out
Columbus Police Department Assistant Chief Lance Deaton shared with the council his thoughts about the issue.
“I don’t think there’s anybody up there or out here that believes that it should be OK for an 18-year-old kid to walk into a rec center with a firearm, waving it around, and he’s there for no other reason,” Deaton told the council.
“I’ll just say it up front: I’m a Second Amendment guy,” he said. “But at some point, there has to be a little common-sense approach to this thing,” Deaton said.
Deaton said, if he is sending his 12-year-old to the recreation center to play basketball, “I don’t want a bunch of kids in there or adults in there with guns.”
He said police met with Browder, site directors, both deputy city managers and the mayor.
“There are a lot of different things that we should be doing and we can be doing,” Deaton said. “Some of it comes with a price tag.”
Deaton told the council he doesn’t see the negative from a law enforcement perspective to restricting people from being able to carry a firearm inside a park and recreation facility.
“To me, this is just a common-sense approach to this,” he said.
An alternative option would be to provide CPD with 25 additional officers — and the budget for the officers — so law enforcement can be at every facility.
“I think we’ve got to decide, ‘Hey, which direction do we want to go?’” Deaton said. “But there has to be some kind of something put in motion and multiple things put in motion here to try to make these facilities safer.”
Shooting at Shirley Winston
The call for this legislation comes after the Aug. 29 shooting death of 22-year-old Jacarie Charles at Shirley B. Winston Park.
In a news conference Tuesday at the Columbus Public Safety Building, Deaton announced the arrest of two people in connection with the shooting
Deaton said 18-year-old Navaris Johnson and 20-year-old JaMorris Baker were arrested in connection with Charles’ shooting.
A news release from CPD says Johnson is charged with murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Baker is charged with murder and aggravated assault, according to the release.
Deaton said surveillance video showed the shooter approach Charles, attempt to take his belongings and fire at and strike Charles. The suspect fled with some of the victim’s items, according to Deaton.
“We have children in the facilities, and we need to protect them,” Tucker said, “and I don’t think we should have the ability to have weapons in those facilities.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
