Gun carry laws

This one happened on Watson Boulevard the other day, and probably happens a lot that I don’t hear about, but I knew about this one due to a Facebook page called ‘I.smell.bacon’. The page is sort of a page that vacillates between warning about police activity (running radar, hiding out in church parking lots, etc.) and helping the police (telling about dope houses, drunk drivers, etc.) A post on there dealt with a person walking errantly down Watson while carrying a rifle. Of course, some posters thought the poor guy should be left alone, or arrested, or hospitalized, or shot, or dogs sicced on him. It was a fairly entertaining discussion with little actual law applied to the situation, but a real life law discussion can be pretty bizarre as well.

The first Georgia gun carry law in my outline is OCGA 16-11-126 in this case subsection (b): “Any person who is not prohibited by law from possessing a handgun or long gun may have or carry on his or her person a long gun without a valid weapons carry license, provided that if the long gun is loaded, it shall only be carried in an open and fully exposed manner.”

So, we’ll pretend we have some facts and try to figure out what was going on that day. One, in today’s heightened sense of concern, a dude walking down the street with a long rifle is going to raise alarm bells. Probably not in Chuck’s Gun & Pawn parking lot, but walking around in the Starbucks parking lot with a rifle might well get a 911 call or 13 such calls. Is the fellow breaking the law? Hard to know without asking some questions. The simple act of carrying a rifle openly is not an illegal act and is not even grounds, of itself, for questioning. However the officer may develop other grounds that gives him authority to ask some questions, so let’s presume that questioning continues.

The  rifle toter is safely on the sidewalk and is strolling toward Robins Air Force Base. The WRPD officer who got the call pulls alongside the rifle toter and disembarks the patrol vehicle. The rifle toter respectfully stops and faces the officer. “Hey buddy, whatcha doing today?” asks the officer, to which the rifle toter responds “trying to get some PT in today before I get deployed next week.” Officer replies that “I used be a SP myself, what unit are you in?” Once the officer is satisfied that the guy is legit, he then suggests that there are better places to get his PT with a rifle than a public highway through the middle of town.

The rifle toter responds:

 1.The Georgia Constitution says the bearing and possession of firearms shall not be infringed, however the bearing of those firearms are prescribed by the Legislature.

2.Under OCGA, there is an absolute right for one lawfully enabled to carry to do so without the need for a Georgia Weapons Carry License, when carrying a loaded long gun (rifle) so long as it is not concealed.

3.As a member of the military, I am generally exempt from most Georgia gun laws.

4.I understand that the public goes into a frenzy over the sight of someone with a rifle, especially a scary gun like this, but the public needs to learn to discern bad guys from the good guys.

5.While I didn’t have to stick around for this questioning, I did so because I wanted the public to see you, sir, doing your job, and me doing mine, so here is where we shake hands and part.

I have no idea how the real incident turned out, nor does it matter. It was simply the vehicle for this story. However, is what I said above true? Does a police officer have to have some other basis other than simple possession of a weapon to ask the gun toter for his/her gun carry license?

Kelly Burke, master attorney, former district attorney and magistrate judge, is engaged in private practice. He writes about the law, rock’n’roll and politics or anything that strikes him. These articles are not designed to give legal advice, but are designed to inform the public about how the law affects their daily lives. Contact Kelly at kelly@burkelasseterllc.com to comment on this article or suggest articles that you’d like to see and visit his website www.kellyrburke.com to view prior columns.