HB89: the Director’s Cut

After a great deal of controversy and a bit of editorial input from our Governor, HB89 has passed in the Senate. Bear in mind, though some sites have reported it as such, it is not state law yet. It still has to be signed, which will likely be in May.

What’s interesting is that, along with a watering-down of the NRA’s proposals, Rep. Bearden managed to get a great deal of stipulations from HB915 inserted into the bill.

What we wanted and what we got are two different things. Here’s what we got:

• Section 2 forbids the “Bloomberg Sting,” making it a felony to purchase a firearm for someone else under false pretenses. This takes some of the burden off dealers, who cannot always be aware that such a thing is taking place.
• Section 3 (c) states that anyone holding a Georgia Firearms License (GFL) “shall be permitted to carry such weapon, subject to the limitations of this part, in all parks, historic sites, or recreational areas as defined by Code Section 12-3-10.”
• Section 3 (d) reads: “This Code section shall not forbid any person who is not among those enumerated as ineligible for a license under Code Section 16-11-129 from transporting a loaded firearm in any private passenger motor vehicle.” It removes the restriction that the weapon must be in the glove box or in plain view on the passenger seat. This is the “car carry” provision that Bearden sought when he (not the NRA) drafted HB89.
• Section 4: “Not later than 45 days after the date of the application the judge of the probate court shall issue the applicant a license or renewal license to carry any pistol or revolver.” There’s no reason Cobb, Fulton and Gwinett should be taking as long as six months to issue permits when the background check takes five minutes. Probate judges have been sitting on applications, which leads us to…
• Section 5, which allows citizens to bring legal action against jurisdictions that fail to abide by the timeframe stated in Section 4.
• Section 6 is a bit confusing and vague. It forbids businesses from searching the locked vehicles of employees and patrons in publicly-accessible parking lots, provided the person has a GFL. Yeah, this one is a mess.

And here’s what we don’t have yet:

• Legalized open-carry for unlicensed individuals. Georgia used to have a provision for this, and Arizona still does. I’m OK with such a law, but I do see it turning into a “what exactly defines ‘open carry?'” debate.
• A repeal of Title 16’s “public gathering” clause, which places all sorts of places off-limits to GFL holders.
• Legalized carry in places that serve alcohol for consumption on the premises. Most states have this, and they haven’t turned into the OK Corral. We’re not talking about roadhouse dives; I’d like to be able to sit down and eat at a restaurant without the worry of prosecution.
• The right to carry a firearm at public schools and universities.
• A “Katrina” law, which prohibits law enforcement from confiscating civilian firearms and prohibits the government from issuing orders to do so.

Obviously, we’ve still got some ground to cover, but by amending HB89, some of the heat is off HB915. HB915 was a sweeping bill with a ton of provisions. Now that some of those have been shifted to HB89, it won’t look so monolithic or imposing.