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Georgia’s state legislature passed what is often referred to as a “constitutional carry” or “permitless carry” gun law in 2022. Here’s what that means.
A 14-year-old student opened fire at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, killing four people and injuring at least nine others, authorities said.
The suspected shooter, who is a student at the high school, immediately surrendered and was taken into custody. He is being charged as an adult with murder. Authorities are still looking into how he obtained the gun and got it into the school.
The school shooting prompted multiple claims on social media about gun laws in Georgia. Some people said the state allows people to carry guns without a permit.
“In the state of Georgia, just about anyone can carry a gun without a permit, without a license, and without registration,” one of the posters wrote on X.
THE QUESTION
Does Georgia law allow people to carry guns without a permit?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, Georgia law allows people to carry guns without a permit. However, they must be at least 18 years old.
WHAT WE FOUND
Georgia law does allow people to carry guns without a permit in most public places. This is often called “constitutional carry” or “permitless carry.”
People do not need what’s called a Weapons Carry License (WCL), which is often referred to as a permit, to purchase or carry a firearm in Georgia, according to an official state website.
That’s because Georgia’s state legislature passed Senate Bill 319, or the “Georgia Constitutional Carry Act,” on April 1, 2022. Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law on April 12.
The Georgia Constitutional Carry Act removed the phrase “weapons carry license holder” from state law and replaced it with “lawful weapons carrier.”
In other words, the law did away with the state’s firearms license requirement in order to carry a gun. Instead, the only requirement is being legally allowed to possess a gun.
Before the constitutional carry law was passed in Georgia, state residents had to file an application and pass a criminal background check before the state granted them a WCL, attorney John Mascolo wrote for FindLaw.
There are still restrictions on who can carry or possess guns in Georgia, and where they can carry them.
For example, Georgia state law still prohibits people who have been convicted of a felony or who have been treated for certain mental health issues within the five past five years from carrying a gun. Anyone under the age of 18 cannot possess a handgun in Georgia.
People also cannot bring guns to courthouses, jails, prisons, places of worship that don’t permit people to carry guns and state mental health facilities, among other locations, Mascolo said.
Georgia isn’t the only state with a permitless carry law. A majority of states have removed licensing requirements and allow largely unregulated concealed carry, nonprofit newsroom The Trace reported in 2023.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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