Georgia House Bill 292 was passed out of a subcommittee the other day, and now it goes before the full House Public Safety/ Homeland Security Committee soon. If it passes out of the committee, then all the House members in the Georgia General Assembly will get to vote on it.
HB 292 is a good, but mild and restrained, pro-gun law.
It should be supported by all gun owners and carry permit holders.
-- It creates a 90 day extension of reciprocity rights when an out-of-state person moves here and becomes a new GA resident, but hasn't had a chance to get his or her GWL yet.
-- It shortens one of the deadlines in the issuance of a GWL from 30 days down to 10 days. (That's going to be the new time limit on law enforcement agencies sending the criminal history report to the Probate Court judge).
-- It adds regular knives, regardless of blade length, to the kinds of weapons you can carry without a GWL when you're legally hunting or fishing. (This was probably not required, as there is no statewide law against carrying smaller knives, with blades under 5", regardless of having a permit or not, and Georgia's preemption law, 16-11-173 already forbids any level of state, county, or city governments, other than the Georgia General Assembly itself, from creating or enforcing any weapons-control laws).
-- HB 292 beefs up the coverage of 16-11-130, which exempts certain people like cops, prosecutors, judges, Clerks of Court, etc. from the carry permit requirement and most of the off-limits locations laws in Georgia.
-- Retired cops from jurisdictions outside of Georgia are now allowed to carry on just their retirement credentials, or other documentation that they put in at least 10 years of service as a sworn police officer and left that career on good terms, not fired for misconduct or whatever.
-- Probate Courts can give away gun safety literature or flyers from instructors or groups that offer gun safety training and classes to the public.
-- Firearms instructors and other teachers in the use of weapons will get immunity from any liability if a student or former student hurts somebody with the illegal or unsafe use of a weapon.
HB 292 is a good, but mild and restrained, pro-gun law.
It should be supported by all gun owners and carry permit holders.
-- It creates a 90 day extension of reciprocity rights when an out-of-state person moves here and becomes a new GA resident, but hasn't had a chance to get his or her GWL yet.
-- It shortens one of the deadlines in the issuance of a GWL from 30 days down to 10 days. (That's going to be the new time limit on law enforcement agencies sending the criminal history report to the Probate Court judge).
-- It adds regular knives, regardless of blade length, to the kinds of weapons you can carry without a GWL when you're legally hunting or fishing. (This was probably not required, as there is no statewide law against carrying smaller knives, with blades under 5", regardless of having a permit or not, and Georgia's preemption law, 16-11-173 already forbids any level of state, county, or city governments, other than the Georgia General Assembly itself, from creating or enforcing any weapons-control laws).
-- HB 292 beefs up the coverage of 16-11-130, which exempts certain people like cops, prosecutors, judges, Clerks of Court, etc. from the carry permit requirement and most of the off-limits locations laws in Georgia.
-- Retired cops from jurisdictions outside of Georgia are now allowed to carry on just their retirement credentials, or other documentation that they put in at least 10 years of service as a sworn police officer and left that career on good terms, not fired for misconduct or whatever.
-- Probate Courts can give away gun safety literature or flyers from instructors or groups that offer gun safety training and classes to the public.
-- Firearms instructors and other teachers in the use of weapons will get immunity from any liability if a student or former student hurts somebody with the illegal or unsafe use of a weapon.
