GCO has filed a class action in federal court, challenging the state law that prohibits issuing GFLs to nonresidents. The GCO member plaintiff, who is a resident of Wisconsin, sought to obtain a GFL for when he visits Georgia. The Fulton County Probate Court confirmed that he would not be permitted to apply.
The case seeks to have the law ruled unconstitutional as violating the Privileges and Immunities Clause, the Militia Clause, the 2nd Amendment, and the 14th Amendment. The 2nd Amendment claim is bolstered by yesterday’s Supreme Court of the United States decision in Heller.
The case is somewhat unusual in that it seeks to sue all the probate judges in Georgia in a class action, with the class being the defendant judges. Class actions usually have a plaintiff class against a single defendant. Before the case can proceed as a class action, the federal judge to whom the case is assigned will have to certify the class.
The class representative, the Fulton County probate judge, was served on June 27, 2008, the day the complaint was filed.