mr. chairman , 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 . 
my constituents , the residents of the atlanta area , and the law-abiding citizens of this great nation deserve the right to go about their daily lives knowing that our court rooms are secure . 
therefore , i urge the passing of this bill . 
