Georgia Becomes 25th Constitutional Carry State

On April 12th Governor Kemp of Georgia signed two pro-freedom bills. The most notable, Senate Bill 319 removes the license requirement for a law-abiding adult to carry a concealed handgun.

Georgia Constitutional Carry, House Bill 319 —

By Signing SB 319, Georgia becomes the 25th state overall and the 4th state in the first 4 months of 2022 to pass a constitutional carry law.

Georgia’s SB319 has similar language as other constitutional carry bills. The state permitting program will remain active for folks who want to get a permit for reciprocity reasons. Georgia’s law simply states that any adult who is otherwise allowed to carry a handgun legally may do so without a license.

Georgia House Bill 218 —

I mentioned Governor Kemp signed a second pro-freedom bill, House Bill 218. This law states that Georgia will accept a valid concealed carry license from any state. But the bill even goes further and directs the Georgia Attorney General to enter into formal reciprocity agreements with any state that requires a formal agreement to recognize a Georgia Weapons Carry License.

The gainsayers were outspoken as usual. However, as KPVI News 6 reported, Governor Kemp addressed their claims at the bill signing ceremony, saying:

There is no doubt that we are living in challenging times. Across the country, we’re witnessing liberal states and cities demonize law enforcement, defund police departments, undermine public safety, and threaten the security of countless American families. But we are not going to have that here in our state.

…SB 319 makes sure that law-abiding Georgians … can protect themselves without having to have permission from your state government. The Constitution of the United States gives us that right, not the government.

Congratulations to Georgia gun owners.

The laws take effect immediately.

Firearm training is still essential —

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16 Comments

  1. Douglas Green on April 13, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    Watch how fast Georgia crime rate go down now that everyone can carry a gun to protect themselves and their family members. Now the criminals won’t know who to rob without getting themselves killed if they run up on the wrong person who might be carrying.

    • Charles Lang on April 13, 2022 at 4:23 pm

      That comment is funny to me. The crime rate will go up before it goes down and more people will be shot and got to the hospital. Will the rate go down, yes it will but seeing how everyone over 21 can carry crime and shootings will go up first

      • Dennis Weiler on April 13, 2022 at 6:43 pm

        They said the same things when the Idaho laws changed, in two stages, over the past 30+ years. Wrong both times.

      • Jeff on August 11, 2022 at 5:00 pm

        Really? Ask the city of Kennesaw Georgia.

    • Charles Lang on April 13, 2022 at 4:27 pm

      “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the rights of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” This is a one sentence amendment. You MUST read all 27 words not just the last 14.

      • Lance D on April 13, 2022 at 6:53 pm

        After significant review of terminology at the time 2A was written, documentation of those who wrote it indicating their intent of the Amendment, and minutes of meetings, SCOTUS concluded that “that it protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.” The Second Amendment, although only one sentence is grammatically divided into two parts: the prefatory clause and the operative clause. The predatory clause does not limit the operative, or second part of the sentence, from a grammatical perspective but instead announces the purpose of it. To keep things easier to remember back then (as they had no iPhones), wording was kept short. 2A could be more accurately stated closer to its original writing as, “Because a well regulated Militia is necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”

  2. Larry A Gallegos on April 13, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    Thank you Governor Kemp for signing SB 319 !HOPEFULLY ONE condition is that they have a registered pistol nd a required FBI check so NO felons can have or carry 😉👌

    • Clarence Henherder on April 15, 2022 at 9:38 pm

      Georgia does not register guns

  3. Joe Legault on April 13, 2022 at 4:50 pm

    Excellent news!

  4. Karl Benson on April 13, 2022 at 4:50 pm

    Studies have proved the OPPOSITE

    But [with more] people carrying around guns—they’re going to be losing them, they’re going to be stolen, there are going to be more criminals with guns, and the criminals are more likely to carry guns because they know there are guns out there. For a whole array of reasons, more concealed-gun-carrying outside the home pushes up violent crime

    “Ten years after the adoption of RTC laws Right To Carry), violent crime is estimated to be 13 [percent to] 15 percent higher than it would have been without the RTC law,” the authors concluded. Just five years after, it’s about 7 percent higher. “There is not even the slightest hint in the data that [these] laws reduce violent crime,”

    • Lance D on April 13, 2022 at 6:49 pm

      That’s incorrect, Karl. Here are some statistics from a different, also reliable, source:

      https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/resources/gun-facts-and-fiction/concealed-carry/

    • lanozaknows on April 20, 2022 at 2:05 pm

      Karl, can you link to those studies please?

    • Robert Alexander on July 30, 2022 at 12:12 am

      That’s not what happens with every other state. Crime goes DOWN right away. Criminals are generally cowards and they aren’t going to be taking chances of getting shot themselves. Whomever believes that constitutional rights can be regulated for use by lawful people isn’t getting the point of constitutional RIGHTS. Asking permission from the people who are regulating our RIGHTS to suppress our ability to fight back is insanity. The same people we’re asking permission from are those of whom we are protected against in our constitution. It makes NO sense whatsoever. EXCEPT from their point of view…unarmed people are easily controlled.

  5. Richard Patterson on April 13, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    25 done 25 to go!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸👍

  6. John on April 14, 2022 at 12:22 am

    Why don’t we let President Thomas Jefferson get in a word or two:

    “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”
    ― Thomas Jefferson

    “The laws that forbid the carrying of arms… disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.”
    ― Thomas Jefferson

    “Peace, that glorious moment in time when everyone stops and reloads.”
    ― Thomas Jefferson

    Well said Mr. President

    By the way, Karl is way off with his statistics.

  7. John Brady on April 29, 2022 at 12:35 pm

    Under the new law, is a holster required? Any restrictions on how the gun may be carried – i.e., waistband, ankle holster, pocket, purse, etc. in full view in car or locked glove box or console? I tried reading the law but couldn’t find these answers.

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