Requests for handgun carry permits increase in Albany

ALBANY — Demand for handgun carry permits has recently increased to where Dougherty County Probate Judge Nancy Stephenson, who issues the permits, spends most of her time checking backgrounds of the applicants and related license duties.

As guest speaker at a meeting of the Albany Rotary Club on Thursday, Stephenson provided members with requirements, costs and other information related to the right of Georgia citizens to carry handguns, either openly or concealed, in most public venues in the state.

“When I first took office in 1993, there were a total of 590 handgun applications the previous year,” Stephenson said. “In 2006, there were only 465. But in 2008, that figure had doubled. It tripled in 2009, and in just the first two months of this year there are more than 300 applications. Most of my time is spent on gun licenses and in checking people’s backgrounds.”

Probate judges are monitored by a Georgia Bureau of Investigation team to make sure licenses are issued correctly and in a timely manner, Stephenson said.

“The ATF (Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) also watches over me, and twice they’ve gone to people’s houses and taken back the permits because I overlooked or misinterpreted a criminal charge,” Stephenson said.

According to Stephenson, citizens should be aware that laws regarding permit eligibility aren’t static, but change from time to time.

“You may have qualified five years ago, but now you’re no longer eligible,” Stephenson said. “Although the law has gotten friendlier toward pot smoking, now its downright hostile to domestic violence. So if you’ve ever had (even) a misdemeanor domestic violence incident in your past, that’s a permanent federal bar.”

Stephenson said that because of mass school and work place shootings, state and federal agencies use great care in screening individuals with emotional or mental issues from receiving handgun permits.

“I’ve always thought that those people who sought help and are being successfully treated for their illness are ones you don’t have to worry about,” Stephenson said. “It’s the people who never thought they had a problem you have to watch out for.”

But according to Stephenson, anyone who within five years has received treatment for drug use or mental illness is automatically disqualified from possession of a gun permit — unless a qualified physician provides a statement that the individual is okay to carry a gun.

“I believe this will really affect many of the veterans coming home with PTSD (post-traumatic stress sisorder),”Stephenson said. “I hate that for them, but I understand there’s a delicate balance between placing a stigma on the mentally ill and yet keeping everyone safe.”

According to the gun rights website georgiacarry.org, with certain restrictions licensed gun owners may legally carry their weapons — visibly or concealed — in most public locations, including state, county or city parks; restaurants, government buildings not employing metal detectors, and even schools and churches. Unlicensed individuals may keep their weapons, open or concealed, in their homes or cars. Outside those areas, handguns must be unloaded and enclosed within a box or case.

While those who choose to carry handguns are required to keep their permits on their person, a controversial provision of current Georgia law (HB 60) prohibits law enforcement officers from checking those permits — even if the weapon is openly apparent — unless the holder of the weapon demonstrates some other cause for suspicion. The law states: “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.”

Stephenson said there’s currently an interesting case awaiting decision by the Georgia Supreme Court concerning the definition of public vs. private property, as it pertain to weapons carry law. The case involves an individual, Phillip Evans, who with his family visited the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in 2014 and was asked to leave or take his handgun from the premises.

Evans at first refused, Stephenson said, maintaining that he had the right to carry on public property. Management countered that the Gardens were not public but private property and not subject to the law. In fact, while the business was privately owned, it operated on land leased from the city of Atlanta. Georgiacarry.org later sued on behalf of Evans, a member of that organization.

Stephenson said she often checks with Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards for practical information on where citizens may carry weapons, because “it doesn’t really matter what I think. What matters is what you can be prosecuted for.”

According to Stephenson, Dougherty County residents who qualify for weapons carry permits may purchase them through the probate court for $72.50 first issuance and $30 for a five-year renewal.

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