Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Georgia state House votes to allow guns on public college campuses

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Georgia state House votes to allow guns on public college campuses

By David Beasley

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Concealed handguns would be allowed on Georgia's public college campuses under a measure that cleared the state's House of Representatives on Monday and now heads to the Senate over the objections of university leaders.
The bill would let anyone 21 or over with a concealed weapons permit take their handguns on public college campuses but not into dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses or sporting events.
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"The House took a very clear position that the Second Amendment does not stop at the edge of a college campus," Speaker David Ralston, a Republican, said following passage of the bill, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

A Democratic opponent of the bill, State Representative Robert Trammell, said in a phone interview on Tuesday that he believed the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment allowed handguns to be barred from "sensitive" places such as college campuses.
"In addition to the question of public safety, a weapon in a classroom environment is antithetical to the idea and mission of post-secondary education," Trammell said.
Supporters of the measure have cited several recent armed robberies of students in the library at Georgia State University in downtown Atlanta as evidence that students should be allowed to arm themselves.
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But Trammell said there is no data showing that campuses would be safer if students were allowed to carry weapons.

The Georgia Board of Regents, which governs the state's colleges and universities, opposes the bill, spokesman Charles Sutlive said. The Georgia legislature defeated a similar bill in 2014.
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Last week, the president of the University of Texas reluctantly approved plans that would allow licensed concealed handgun holders to bring pistols into classrooms, after the Texas legislature last year approved a "campus carry" law similar to the one proposed in Georgia.
Georgia's bill covers only public colleges. Texas allows private colleges to opt out of campus carry, and most of the best-known private schools have.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis)

This World Hot Topics Blog is Originally from here :

http://news.yahoo.com/georgia-state-house-votes-allow-guns-public-college-165628262.html

Monday, February 22, 2016

Should Obama Change His Approach to the Islamic State Group After Paris?

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Should Obama Change His Approach to the Islamic State Group After Paris?
The world is still reeling from deadly terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday, and with fears of a similar assault in the U.S., some have criticized President Barack Obama for dismissing calls to scale up U.S. military efforts against the Islamic State group and for doubling down on his approach thus far.  World Hot Topics Blog
"We have always understood that this will be a long-term campaign," the president said, speaking at the G-20 summit in Turkey on Monday. "There will be setbacks and there will be successes. The terrible events in Paris were obviously a terrible and sickening setback." Obama also rejected calls to put ground troops in Syria, saying, "It's best that we don't shoot first and aim later." The president's deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes underscored Obama's approach, saying, "We don't believe U.S. troops are the answer to the problem." Other Obama advisers, The New York Times reports, say the administration is considering several response options, which include aiding allies in the region, more airstrikes and raids by special operations forces. World Hot Topics Blog
But Republicans are slamming the president's game plan against the Islamic State group and response to the Paris attacks. 2016 GOP hopeful and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush admonished Obama, saying he "doesn't understand we're at war." South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, also a Republican presidential candidate, advocated for U.S. ground troops in the region, telling CNN that "without American boots on the ground in Syria and Iraq, we're going to get hit here at home. And if you don't understand that, you're not ready to be commander-in-chief, in my view."
Even Hillary Clinton, the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, has insisted the U.S. amp up its efforts to defeat the Islamic State group. While she agreed that boots on the ground are not the answer, she refuted Obama's assertion that the group had been "contained" and called for increased airstrikes and a no-fly zone in northern Syria. She also noted the 50 special operations soldiers Obama ordered to Syria last month have not left yet and must be "immediately" deployed.
The president, for his part, announced new counterterrorism efforts on Monday to prevent another tragedy like Paris. "We're streamlining the process by which we share intelligence and operational military information with France," he said at the G-20 summit, adding that "we need to be doing everything we can to protect against more attacks and protect our citizens." World Hot Topics Blog
So should Obama change his approach to the Islamic State group after the Paris attacks? Here's the Debate Club's take:
This World Hot Topics Blog is Originally from here :

http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-obama-change-his-approach-to-the-islamic-state-group-after-paris