Abrams tries to flip script on guns and crime in Georgia

This combination image shows Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Atlanta, left, and Georgia Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams on Dec. 16, 2021, in Decatur, Ga. The governor's race in Georgia between Republican incumbent Kemp and Democratic challenger Abrams promises to be a brutal battle that will further amp up the state's charged political environment. (AP Photo)

As Republicans nationwide gear up to attack Democrats with tough-on-crime platforms this fall, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams is making guns a central focus of her race for governor, seeking to turn crime into a liability for incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s reelection bid.

Abrams made tightening Georgia’s gun laws a big part of a public safety plan she released Thursday, proposing to reverse multiple laws that Georgia Republicans have enacted since 2014 loosening restrictions on who can carry a gun and where.

The Democrat is also trying to exploit divides on how government should fight crime, arguing Kemp and Republicans have reverted to a failed lock-’em-up approach, abandoning a previous bipartisan push to focus on less punitive approaches.