[March 20, 2023] | In the last few weeks after the legislative session ends, I'm always surprised how busy we are. Besides trying to catch up on emails and calls we may have missed during the busy last two to three weeks of session, we have bill signings with the Governor that go on across Georgia. Also, people want to you come speak to their groups about what we did or didn't do during the legislative session. So that is why I laugh when folks say, "Are you getting some rest after the session?"!
One of the bill signings I went to was when Governor Kemp signed the Constitutional Carry bill SB 319 in Douglasville. This is an issue Governor Kemp ran on during the election a few years ago. The Constitutional Carry issue myself and Representative Mandi Ballinger from Canton have worked on for years, also.
It's important for us to be able to protect ourselves. This is another tool in the toolbox for you to be able to do that. We maintain that good Georgians are not lawbreakers and will follow the rules that are set forth in the law. We are always worried about those who want do you harm. Those criminals don't follow the rules nor do they care and will do whatever they want to get what they want. We know that all the laws in the world do not stop the law-breaker who wants to harm you. So that's why we worked hard on this bill to get it passed and signed by Governor Kemp.
What this does simply is allow a Georgian who is qualified to get a Georgia Weapons License to carry without one, if they choose to. The requirements for eligibility are in the GA Code and are pretty common sense. Felons, those who have been involuntarily committed for mental health issues, those who the court has determined to be ineligible to carry and a few others cannot carry, still. It changes nothing about any of that. You just don't have to go to the Probate Judge's office and purchase a license unless you choose to.
Now you may want to get a Georgia Weapons License for two reasons. One, since your background has been checked, you can buy a weapon in one of our gun stores and take it with you that very day. Without the license you may have to wait 2 to 3 days. Also, carrying in other states, what we call reciprocity: Having a license allows you to follow the laws in other states to carry according to their laws. You need to check the rules in each state where you travel. This is very important to those who travel extensively and choose to carry their weapon with them. We also passed an NRA-backed bill this year that works toward national reciprocity.
This was a brief description of what we did, and if you have questions about this or any other work we did, please reach out to me. Sometimes it's easier to answer your specific question by phone or email; whichever you choose is fine with me; my priority is to help my constituents.
Over the next month I will go over other bills we passed to keep you up to date on what we did.
You can reach my Capitol office at 404-656-7153, or you can email me directly at rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov, or in the grocery store when you see me.
As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your State Representative and legislative voice here at the Capitol.