GA is no longer a shall-issue state

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DJAteOhAte

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If you follow the chain of events here: http://www.georgiacarry.org/cms/category/action-items/60-days/

You will see that the GA Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that Probate Judges issuing Georgia Firearms Licenses (GFLs) may wait as long as it takes to get complete background checks to issue licenses, regardless of the statutory 60-day time limit.

Since an applicant with no disqualifying information does not even require a report to be submitted back to the judge (by the local law enforcement agency running the checks), they may now legally wait indefinitely to issue a GFL by waiting on a report that will never come.

GA is now effectively a may-issue state.
 
That's not good, I agree, but 'shall issue' still means someone is accountable for the delay, and a BS explanation can be further challenged. If the GA statute does not actually say "shall issue", relying only on a default time limit, then I suggest there be a move to get the law amended.
 
1. Georgia Supreme Court did no such thing. They declined to hear the appeal from your Court of Appeals.

2. The question hinges on when the Court of Appeals construed the start time for the 60 days.

3. The solution is simple, legislatively have the starting point by statute as the filing of the application for the license to carry.

Don't panic, your problem can be solved.:)

Good luck.
 
El Tejon said:
3. The solution is simple, legislatively have the starting point by statute as the filing of the application for the license to carry.
Click to expand...



The existing law seems pretty clear to me, somehow, the court doesn’t think it means what it says.

OCGA 16-11-129

(4) The law enforcement agency shall notify the judge of the probate court within 50 days, by telephone and in writing, of any findings relating to the applicant which may bear on his or her eligibility for a license or renewal license under the terms of this Code section. When no derogatory information is found on the applicant bearing on his or her eligibility to obtain a license or renewal license, a report shall not be required. The law enforcement agency shall return the application and the blank license form with the fingerprint thereon directly to the judge of the probate court within such time period. Not later than 60 days after the date of the application the judge of the probate court shall issue the applicant a license or renewal license to carry any pistol or revolver if no facts establishing ineligibility have been reported and if the judge determines the applicant has met all the qualifications, is of good moral character, and has complied with all the requirements contained in this Code section.
Click to expand...

Please read all the info (briefs, rulings, cites, etc…) at the link in my first post.
 
You will see that the GA Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that Probate Judges issuing Georgia Firearms Licenses (GFLs) may wait as long as it takes to get complete background checks to issue licenses, regardless of the statutory 60-day time limit.
Click to expand...

Do you have to do this before a certain judge? If a judge is known to hold stuff up, apply in a different county.
 
After Virginia became shall issue the legislature had to ammend the law a few times to tweak it because of the stinking judges. Permits are issued through the circuit courts where you live. Judges in the Peoples Republic of Northern Virginia were requiring psycological exams. Legislature had to ammend to define requirements. Then again to set fees spanking the judges again when they did so. Originally the permit was good for a year. At least one judge in the PRNV increased the fee from $15 to $250 per year. Legislature not only made the permit good for 5 years it set a limit at $50 and broke that down to mean $10 for the court, $35 for the local Police and $5 for State police. The court only gets a total of $15 for the 5 years instead of the $75 they could have got with yearly renewals. The permit was supposed to be issued within 45 days. They had to define that the 45 days had to begin when the applicant had provided everything he was required to (fill out the application, pay the money and get finger printed) because judges were saying that the process was not complete until everything else came back to the court. Another words however long it took plus an additional 45 days. Then they had to make provisions for a temporary permit because judges bit#$ed that some background checks took more than 45 days. After more than 11 years of shall issue some judges are still having to be straightened out on issuing the permits because they keep imposing things outside of what state law allows.:cuss::fire::banghead:
 
I think the main trouble with getting permits has been the probate judges of the counties around Atlanta. The counties around Atlanta have a more socially diverse population than the rest of Georgia, and various groups up there tend to be more liberal than the average Georgian living outside the Atlanta metro area.
 
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What are the prospects of having the process turned over to a statewide authority, such as the State Police? That's who issues CCW permits here in AR. No judges involved.
 
Hi,

The folks living in MOST the vast geographic area of Georgia have no problem at all with our local Probate Judges expediting our CCW license process within the mandated period. As a matter of fact, in my county it is VERY, VERY fast!

Probate judges in most of Geogia grew up in the country, or in the towns of rural counties where people almost always use guns responsibly. Heck, I suspect that most of 'em are sportsmen and women like us and could actually LOAD a shotgun and clean a pistol!;). I see ours all over the community and she's a great judge and a great citizen.

However, my son living in the more "enlightened" "city" of Athens faces the same type of typical liberal stumbling blocks as those faced by citizens of the metro Atlanta area. It took him the legal maximum time to get his new CCW this year.

He got it though . . . and is now officially a card-carrying member of the "I Am Not A Felon" card issued in Georgia to all the "good guys."

T.
 
Mine took about 120 days to get and I had to involve my state representative (he made a phone call...I had it by the end of the week).

I just don't understand how the courts can take longer than 60 days to issue when the statue VERY CLEARLY says they shall issue within 60 days.

Every gun owner in Georgia needs to be a member of Georgia Carry - http://georgiacarry.org/ - they're starting to pick up momentum and are getting some things changed for the better...
 
I have heard some counties really drag their feet on permit issue. Two are Fulton and Dekalb. There are several others. Gwinnett seems fairly organized. I got mine in 6 weeks. That of course may change. One of my tenants just received his 2 weeks ago,took 6 weeks.
 
What happened is that the Court of Appeals held that the police had to notify the judge that all of the necessary background checks had been performed prior to the probate judge issuing the license. The statute does not say this. It says the police have 50 days to notify the probate judge of any findings bearing on the applicants eligibility but that if no derogatory information is discovered then no report shall be required and the police simply return the license form to the probate judge who shall issue not later than 60 days after the date of application.

Well, the Court of Appeals looked at that and said, hmmmm . . . :scrutiny:, let's see.

We notice that the first part says "notify" while the second part says "report," so we are going to claim those mean two entirely different things. The Court of Appeals then set about defining what they meant in a way that NOBODY in Georgia has understood it in the 30 years that language has been around. Then the court simply declared that the 60 days, which it held was "mandatory," was implicitly extended for any delays reasonably attributable to the investigative process.

www.georgiacarry.org
 
El Tejon wrote:
3. The solution is simple, legislatively have the starting point by statute as the filing of the application for the license to carry.
Click to expand...

El Tejon, unfortunately, that is the starting point already. I agree with your sentiment, however, that a legislative fix is desireable, or, indeed, the only option for Georgia at this point.

GCO is pushing hard for passage of HB 850 in 2008. This bill will require the issuance of a temporary license on day 45, which will remain good for one year or until the full 5 year license issues. The applicant is also eligible to get all of the fees he paid returned to him on that day.

www.georgiacarry.org
 
Wow, what a mess. Several years ago, my wife and I got emergency permits from the sheriff's department. We had some problems with a stalker. I still had my Florida permit (which wasn't recognized here at the time) and my wife had her Criminal Justice degree. We already owned firearms and were proficient. We hit the Sheriff's department (not a small town department) and filled out some paperwork, met the Sheriff for all of 30 seconds and he signed the paperwork. The emergency permits were good for 90 days, which was the amount of time it takes (maximum) to get a regular permit here.

We immediately found a safety/deadly force class and then went back downtown to apply for the regular licenses. They arrived before our temporary licenses expired.

It was a pretty painless process.

Steve
 
Reading all these horror stories from other states makes me so happy I up and moved to AZ from the PRK a few months ago. I've got so many CA AW's now it's almost ridiculous. One of the first things I did was schedule my CCW class and within 3 weeks of moving here, I had my CCW. No NICS in state so I bought most of the guns I wanted in CA that were not on the "safe list". AZ, one of the last bastions of freedom in the USofA and I still feel like a criminal when I buy a gun in the parking lot of Costco or Starbuck's, but I still buy the gun LOL.

Have a great gun carryin' Kenpo day

Clyde
 
Ga is such a funny state to receive a firearm permit. I work for a North Ga sheriff's Dept. and we tell applicants that the state of Ga is taking up to 8 months for approval. Ga is trying to DIScourage citizens from being armed. Tn. you can get a permit after an 8 hr class so Ive heard.. But you know? Things are much more complex than that... The government doesnt want us to be armed for then we will be slaves. Right? I could get in a deeper and more spiritual conversation but I will save it for a later date....
 
i had a florida non-resident license for 2 years before i read that it MAY not be accepted in georgia if i'm a georgia resident. in fact, the clerk in the probate court office didn't know for sure,nor did the cop that did my prints. but a couple posters here on THR convinced me i should quickly get my georgia license, so i did. believe it or not, i had my license in my mailbox EXACTLY 48 hours after i paid my $49 bucks !!
 
I live in south Georgia and my CCW permit just came in last weekend. It took one month and two days from my fingerprinting to receiving my permit in the mail. Not too bad, but I imagine Atlanta is much worse.
 
§ 16-11-126. Carrying a concealed weapon
Click to expand...

(e) On and after October 1, 1996, a person licensed to carry a handgun in any state whose laws recognize and give effect within such state to a license issued pursuant to this part shall be authorized to carry a handgun in this state, but only while the licensee is not a resident of this state; provided, however, that such license holder shall carry the handgun in compliance with the laws of this state.
Click to expand...
 
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