The Constitutional Carry bill, which received the backing of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, was passed after a lengthy debate Monday. It will allow any adult who can legally own a firearm to bypass any additional paperwork in order to carry it in public. However, those who do want to obtain a permit can still do so, and it would still be illegal to carry a firearm in institutions such as schools and government buildings.
Supporters of the bill argued that it would make the path to purchasing a gun easier, as those who are criminals are unlikely to pass through legal measures of obtaining one anyways.
“This bill is about people, not politics. It’s about the good guys,” argued Republican State Senator Jason Anavitarte. “Today, we power good people, law-abiding people. It is about the bad guys, the violent felons, the domestic abusers, the gangsters and the drug dealers. If they are carrying a gun, they already are breaking the law by possessing.”
However, opponents say that it could increase the amount of gun violence in the state.
“We know what we need to do to protect our communities,” said Democratic State Senator Elena Parent, “but we’re doing the opposite.”
Some lawmakers even evoked the ongoing Ukrainian-Russian conflict in their arguments.
“Ask yourselves, ‘What would a Ukrainian citizen say about their right to take up and bear arms?’” Republican State Senator Matt Brass said.
If officially signed into law, the bill would apply to both handguns and knives. According to the official bill filing, the gun or the knife cannot exceed 12 inches in order to be considered legal.
The filing also states that “a person carrying a weapon shall not be subject to detention for the sole purpose of investigating whether such person has a weapons carry license, whether such person is exempt from having a weapons carry license…or whether such person is a lawful weapons carrier.”
This Constitutional Carry bill comes alongside two similar bills, one of which aims to enact stricter punishments against convicted felons who are found to be in possession of firearms. These individuals could be charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon for every firearm obtained by police. The bill is still scheduled to be debated.
Twenty-one states currently have constitutional carry laws in place that allow citizens to bypass permit applications.
Update 02/28/22, 5:00 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.
Update 02/28/22, 4:30 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include more information on the bill.
