Austin Scott: “the entire country witnessed what happened in my district, in the Fulton County Courthouse, on the morning of March 11…”

“the entire country witnessed what happened in my district, in the Fulton County Courthouse, on the morning of March 11, 2005. On that day, Brian Nichols, was to appear in a retrial for charges of rape and false imprisonment. As he was escorted from his holding cell to change into civilian clothes for the proceeding, he over-powered the female sheriff's deputy overseeing his transfer, stole her gun, and shot her in the face. Mr. Nichols then proceeded to run through the courthouse complex, unimpeded, steal another firearm and shoot 3 more people, including long-time superior court judge Rowland Barnes, a revered judicial figure in the Atlanta area. Mr. Nichols managed to escape the courthouse and evade police for more than two days during which time he used the fire arms that he stole in the courthouse, injuring several more people, stole multiple vehicles and held one woman hostage before he was finally apprehended. Mr. Speaker, this episode highlights the merits of this bill not just because of the security failures that allowed it to happen. This much is self-evident. In the aftermath of the security failures at the Fulton County Courthouse, the entire Atlanta metropolitan area, an area of more than 4 million people, was on edge. Schools were put on lock down in several counties. If we had proper security measures in place on that fateful Friday morning, we could have avoided the hysteria and disruptions of normal life that followed.…”