Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed legislation making “constitutional carry” the law, and at the same time, he inked another bill granting universal recognition of other states’ permits and licenses for carry in the state as well.
The event occurred at a sporting goods store in Douglasville. This makes the Peach State No. 25 in a movement pushing for permitless carry across the country, same as it was when the nation was created more than 230 years ago.
As noted by AmmoLand News, constitutional carry “goes into effect immediately.” The National Rifle Association, which backed the legislation, thanked several politicians including Kemp, House Speaker David Ralston and State Reps. Mandi Ballinger, Alan Powell, Rick Jasperse, and J. Collins, plus Senate President Pro Tem Butch Miller and Sens. Jason Anavitarte and Brian Strickland, who co-sponsored legislation in their respective chambers. Also recognized was GA2A, the group formerly known as Georgia Carry, an affiliate of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
With fully half of the states now having adopted “constitutional carry,” it adds a new wrinkle to a case now before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging New York’s gun permit law requiring “good cause” to obtain a carry permit.
This year saw Indiana, Ohio and Alabama also adopt permitless carry laws, so 2022 has been a busy and successful year so far. An effort to pass the law in Florida fell short, but gun owners there will keep trying.
The licensing/permit system is not being scrapped, because many states have reciprocity agreements with other states that recognize one another’s carry licenses. Some states have blanked recognition of all out-of-state carry licenses.
It is an interesting dilemma for the gun prohibition lobby, because each state that adopts permitless carry amounts to one more loss politically, despite frantic efforts to prevent such laws. Historically, the same situation seemed to follow states’ adoption of concealed carry a generation ago, and now more than 40 states have “shall issue” permit laws, and more than half have passed the permitless carry upgrade.
