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The Official Legal Organ of DeKafb County, GA. Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Ctiamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doravi lie, Dun woody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.
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SECTION A: VOL 25 NO. 30
JANUARY 21-27,2016
500
From left, Commissioner Larry Johnson, Rev. Marlin Harris and interim county CEO Lee
May participate in the county’s annual King Day program.
DeKalb remembers King
by Andrew Cauthen
Andrew@dekalbchamp.com
DeKalb County celebrated the
life and legacy of Martin Luther
King Jr. for the 32nd consecutive
time Jan. 15.
“We have to remember what he
preached and what he taught us,”
said interim DeKalb County CEO
Lee May. “We’ve got to live it out.
“We have to remember the
struggles and fights [and] that we
still have so far to go. The fight is
still real,” he said.
DeKalb’s annual MLK Day
See MLK DAY on Page 15A
Hundreds gathered for the county’s 32nd annual King Day celebration. Photos by Andrew Cau
then
DeKalb representative sponsors anti-gun bill
From left, Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver has introduced a bill that would ban assault weapons in Georgia. Patrick Parsons of
Georgia Gun Owners spoke out against the proposal while Bishop Robert Wright supported it.
Supporters of a proposed assault weapon ban gathered in at the Capitol Jan. 14. Photos by Andrew Cauthen
by Andrew Cauthen
Andrew@dekalbchamp.com
S ix months after Georgias so-called “guns every
where” law went into effect, a group of legislators,
led by Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver of DeKalb
County, want to ban assault weapons.
If passed in its current form, House Bill 731 would
ban the “sale, distribution, transport, possession and
use of defined assault weapons, large capacity maga
zines and armor-piercing bullets,” according to a sum
mary of the proposed legislation.
The bill would not prohibit law enforcement and
military personnel from possessing or transporting the
weapons.
Olivers bill would require anyone with an assault
weapon on July 1, 2016, to turn it in to the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation for destruction, or render it
inoperable.
“I’m very aware this is a controversial subject but
it is my purpose and my intent to have an open and
intellectually honest discussion with the state of Geor
gia about gun violence,” said Oliver, the bill’s sponsor,
during a Jan. 14 news conference in the state Capitol.
“Gun violence kills 30,000 people a year.”
Oliver recalled the August 2013 incident in which
Michael Brandon Hill, armed with approximately
500 rounds, a couple of magazines and an AK-47 type
rifle entered McNair Discovery Learning Academy in
Decatur.
A school bookkeeper was able to convince Hill to
See Bill on Page 15A
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