ATLANTA -- In the battle for votes among Georgia's gun owners and Second Amendment supporters, Hunter Hill received a dubious distinction this week. .
GeorgiaCarry.org, a pro-Second Amendment organization, took the unusual step this week of publicly opposing the former state senator's gubernatorial campaign, the first time the organization has refused to endorse a GOP senator.
"In many of Hunter Hill’s ads, he is presenting himself as a true Second Amendment supporter," the organization said. "However, his credentials on the Second Amendment certainly do not support his advertised position."
GeorgiaCarry.org said Hill and another senator gutted a bill in 2014 that would have allowed guns to be carried in churches.
Earlier this year, Hill posted an ad in which he advocated parity in state laws to lower the age to purchase any firearm to 18.
"On February 23 of this year, he stated that he felt there should be parity when purchasing a firearm and if the legal age to purchase a pistol is 21, then the legal age of purchasing a semiautomatic rifle should also be 21," GeorgiaCarry.org said. "He was called out on that and then stated that he made a mistake, that there should be parity in the ages but the age for purchasing a pistol should be lowered to 18.
"True Second Amendment supporters do not make those types of mistakes."
“Sen. Hill has never 'gutted' a pro-gun piece of legislation," a spokesman for Hill's campaign said. "In fact, Hunter has voted in favor of every pro-2nd Amendment bill that crossed his desk during five years in the state senate, including HB 60, which was the largest expansion of gun rights in recent Georgia history. This is why he has an 'A' rating with the NRA.
"In balancing private property rights and 2nd Amendment rights, Hill sought to give churches the opt-in ability on allowing firearms on their premises.”
Hill, Michael Williams, Clay Tippins and Brian Kemp have all made strong efforts to court the gun-rights voting bloc, while Democrat Stacey Abrams rarely misses an opportunity to tout her "F" rating from the NRA.
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