Beau Patton, Republican candidate for the Georgia State House District 4 seatDALTON, Ga. - Two of three Georgia state House candidates said Thursday night they do not want to curb gun rights.
"People have a right to defend themselves," said Eddie Caldwell, one of three Republicans running for the District 4 House seat left vacant when Bruce Broadrick retired last month.
"The Constitution is a no-compromise bill. People need to be able to defend their wives, their children," Caldwell said at a candidate forum in Dalton.
A member of the audience brought up the Oct. 1 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 59 dead and nearly 500 injured. Police said the shooter used a bump stock accessory to allow his semi-automatic rifle to fire as fast as an automatic weapon.
"OK," Caldwell said, "after 9/11 we should have really outlawed airplanes, because it's a weapon. Criminals are always going to find a way to kill people. They do it with their car. Insane, crazy, evil people will always find a way."
Candidate Beau Patton also said gun rights should remain strong.
"We don't have a gun problem," he said. "We have a mental health problem. And I think that needs to be addressed more than anything. I would say gun control is not a good pathway to go down."
The lone Democrat in the race, Peter Pociask, fell in line with progressives on the national stage. He said politicians need to think hard about how to prevent potential shooters from stockpiling weapons.
"Ultimately," he said, "you can't stop people. But you can limit their harm. And at this point, I think we're establishing a pattern for what these murders look like. It's all people who over the past several years have started amassing huge arsenals of military-style weapons."
Thursday's forum was sponsored by Dalton's The Daily Citizen-News and the League of Women Voters. Republican Kasey Carpenter did not attend, though he wrote responses to the questions beforehand. The election is Nov. 7.
Tax rates
Patton and Caldwell both said they wanted to lower the state's 6 percent income tax and raise the sales tax.
"Ultimately, I'm for what looks like a fair tax," Patton. "That's going to essentially make us look a little bit more like Tennessee."
"I support reducing the income tax," Caldwell said. "But we've also got to cut some spending. We can't continue to go into debt."
Pociask said he would leave the current tax rates alone.
Audience member Jim Freund stood up to tell the candidates that cutting income taxes would hurt senior citizens. They don't pay income tax, he said, and shifting the burden to the cash registers only puts more pressure on them.
"You're going to have to give them some kind of an exemption," Patton said. "So whenever they go into a store and make a purchase, it's the same kind of an exemption they would have gotten."
"You're going to make the small businesses do the adjustment?" Freund asked.
"Correct," Patton said.
"I think the small businesses will object to that, too," Freund said.
"That's one thing, too, we'll have to look at: how other states have handled that," Patton said.
"It does open a can of worms," Caldwell added.
Global warming
John Lugthart asked what state government should do to address climate change.
"We should follow several other states in our country's lead and join in the Paris Accords," Pociask said. "Even if the federal government's going to pull out, we should be a member. We have quite a bit of coastline. It's very valuable. I'd hate to see it be washed away."
Caldwell said the state needs to end rules that prevent residents from installing solar panels and selling electricity to their neighbors.
"Deregulation would be the thing that would actually help," he said.
Said Patton: "There's so many heavy economic issues weighing in on Georgia right now. We have so many people that are having struggles in starting their businesses, in keeping their businesses running. That would be one of the last issues on my list to be addressed."
Abortion laws
A woman asked the candidates when human life begins and whether the government should protect innocent human lives.
"At conception," Patton said. "And yes."
"At conception," Caldwell said. "And yes. Human life, we all have a right to life, everyone. Especially the unborn."
"When the woman's doctor says it does," Pociask answered, straying from his Republican colleagues.
Debby Peppers, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for state senator last year, then asked Patton and Caldwell a follow-up question: Do you want to ban certain contraceptives, like IUDs?
"Well, I would say conception happens after," Patton said. "I mean, conception obviously happens whenever. I mean, really."
"An IUD is a contraceptive that comes after conception," Peppers said.
"Well then, I would think we would have to look at that," Patton said. "Because I do believe that life begins at conception."
Caldwell asked Peppers to repeat the question.
"I think I'm " Caldwell began after some hesitation.
"Do you want to explain to him how an IUD works?" William Bronson, publisher of The Daily Citizen- News, asked Peppers.
"An IUD prevents an egg from attaching to the uterine wall," she told Caldwell.
"You're using a different definition of conception than I'm using," Caldwell said.
"No," Peppers said. " I assume you're saying life begins at conception. Conception being when the sperm and "
"Fertilization!" Bronson shouted.
"That would be fertilization," Caldwell said, "not conception."
"Yes," Bronson said. "When the egg is fertilized."
"OK," Caldwell said. "So I'm not saying fertilization; I'm saying conception. When the egg attaches to the wall."
"Clearly," Pociask said, "our educational upgrades need to be to our sex education."
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.