A Thomaston minister who wants his pistol at the pulpit was among the plaintiffs appealing a lost federal case Wednesday.

The plaintiffs, led by the group GeorgiaCarry.org, filed the notice of appeal in the U.S. District Court in Macon, where the original case was dismissed Tuesday. John R. Monroe, the Roswell attorney for plaintiffs suing the state, said he expects the first briefings to come in March.

Monroe said the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals may send the case to mediation, but mediation rarely works in cases involving constitutional law. Monroe’s case is centered on the First and Second amendments.

Monroe’s clients say state law shouldn’t prevent people from carrying firearms in church.

Among those suing are the Rev. Jonathan Wilkins and his church, The Baptist Tabernacle of Thomaston. Wilkins said he should be able to protect his flock.

Former GeorgiaCarry.org president Edward Stone, another plaintiff, is a former police officer who said the Bible requires him to “obtain, keep and carry a firearm wherever I happen to be,” including during church services.

A state law bans weapons from places of worship as well as government buildings and some other locations.

Monroe’s clients say they have First Amendment rights to practice their religion freely and Second Amendment rights to carry weapons.

Those arguments were rejected Monday by Judge C. Ashley Royal, who wrote that the Georgia law doesn’t interfere with anyone’s ability to freely worship. It also appears to fit with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows gun bans in “sensitive places such as schools and government buildings,” Royal wrote, and churches may fit into that category.

Royal also ruled that bans on guns in church can protect churchgoers “from the fear or threat of intimidation or armed attack.”

Monroe said he expected a panel of three federal appeals judges to decide the case this summer.

To contact writer Mike Stucka, call 744-4251.