A GCO member lost his GFL and asked Fulton County to replace the lost license, as provided by state statute.  The Fulton County Probate Court denied the request, stating that it did not issue replacement licenses.  GCO attorneys wrote the court a letter, threatening a mandamus action against the judge if a replacement was not issued.  The court replied with a lengthy explanation of why replacements are not provided (citing a conflict with federal law, and saying the court did not want to jeopardize the GFL’s status as an alternative to the NICS check when purchasing a firearm).

View the letters here: http://www.georgiacarry.com/county/fulton_probate

 In subsequent negotiations with the court, the court agreed to issue the member a replacement GFL and also to begin issuing temporaries for people applying for renewal GFLs.

After Gwinnett County issued a GFL to a GCO member, GCO attorneys followed up with Gwinnett County regarding their policy.  The Probate Court has informed GCO that it now is the Court’s policy to issue temporary GFLs in conformance with OCGA 16-11-129(i).

GCO attorneys wrote a letter to the Gwinnett County Probate Judge on behalf of a GCO member, because the judge refused to issue a temporary license to the member.  Within hours of receiving GCO’s letter via fax and email, the license was issued.  Here’s a link to the letter:

 http://www.georgiacarry.com/county/gwinnett_probate/JudgeClarke2-13-07.pdf

In response to litigation sponsored by GCO, the Cobb County probate court issued the plaintiff and others temporary GFLs.  The mandamus hearing, scheduled for Nov. 13, will not be held. 

A letter from the probate court to plaintiff’s counsel should be available here soon:

http://www.georgiapacking.org/menkus

Cobb County now has been moved from the list of counties not issuing temporaries to the list of counties issuing temporaries:

http://georgiacarry.org/cms/?p=9

The Cobb County Probate Judge has not responded to a GCO attorney request to issue a temporary renewal GFL to a GCO member.  As promised, GCO has commenced an action for mandamus against the probate judge.  A hearing has been set for Nov. 13 for the probate judge to explain why he should not be required to issue a temporary renewal GFL. 

 A copy of the complaint should be available soon at

http://www.georgiapacking.org/menkus

GCO attorneys have responded to a member complaint of the Cobb County probate court’s refusal to issue a temporary renewal license.  Judge David Dodd has been warned that if he does not reverse his practice of refusing to issue temporaries by October 26, a writ of mandamus will be sought against him, ordering him to issue temporaries as required by Georgia law. 

 A copy of the letter may be view at
http://www.georgiapacking.org/menkus

In response to GCO-sponsored litigation, the Henry County Probate Court has agreed not to require SSN and employment information, and to issue a temporary license to the plaintiff.

 The letter agreeing to do so is here:

 http://www.georgiapacking.org/puckett

In another case sponsored by GCO, a lawsuit has been filed in federal court against the Henry County probate judge.  When a member approached GCO about redressing Privacy Act and Georgia Firearms Act violations, GCO stepped in to help.  The action seeks to require the probate judge to issue temporary renewal licenses, not to require SSN and employment information from applicants, and to provide warnings required by the Privacy Act if SSNs are requested on a voluntary basis.

There will be a hearing on Tuesday, October 10 on the plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order, requiring immediate acceptance of the plaintiff’s renewal application without SSN and employment information, and issuance of a temporary renewal license.

The complaint and brief in support of the motion are available here:

http://www.georgiapacking.org/puckett

Many, but not all, probate judges in Georgia are refusing to issue temporary renewal firearms licenses at the time of renewal as required in the licensing statute (see prior “Alert!” on temporary licensing issue). Georgicarry.org needs your help in determining who the culprits are.

So far, we have compiled the following list of counties where the judges are and are not issuing temporary renewal licenses:

NOT ISSUING

Appling
Bacon
Baker
Baldwin
Banks
Cherokee
Clayton
Coweta
Dawson
DeKalb
Douglas
Fayette
Floyd
Forsyth
Fulton
Gwinnett
Hall
Henry
Lowndes
Meriwether
Rockdale
Spalding
Terrell
Toombs
Troup
Whitefield

ISSUING

Cobb *
Dougherty
Lee
Seminole (issues new card within 24 hours)
Upson (issues new card within 24 hours)

But there are 159 counties in Georgia, which means we lack information from 135 counties.

Please assist us. If your county is not listed in either category above, please contact your local probate court. All you have to do is say, “Hi. Are you issuing temporary renewal firearms licenses at the time of application for a five year renewal license?“

They will probably tell you, “There is no such thing as a renewal license anymore,” in which case, you may want to ask, just to clarify, whether they will issue you a temporary license when you apply for a renewal of yor current license.

Then please notify is of the answer and the county from which you obtained the answer.

Contact information for your probate court can be found here. http://www.georgiapacking.org/gfl1.php

Applicants for a renewal firearms license across the state are discovering that the majority of probate courts are refusing to issue temporary renewal licenses.  This began on July 1, 2006, when HB 1032 went into effect, causing mass confusion among the probate judges.  HB 1032 requires fingerprinting and a NICS check for renewal licenses as well as initial licenses.  This has lead probate judges to opine that the General Assembly “abolished” renewal licenses.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

 To read the text of HB 1032 for yourself, please go here.                                     http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/fulltext/hb1032.htm

As you can see, HB 1032 struck through the old subsections (a) through (d) of the licensing statute (O.C.G.A. 16-11-129) and inserted new, similar sections that added “or renewal license” to many of the requirements that, prior to July 1, 2006, applied only to first time applicants.

How one reads a statute that says “renewal license” a dozen times and declares that there is now “no such thing” as a “renewal license” is difficult to fathom.

Anyway, the old subsection (i) is still intact, untouched by the July 1, 2006 amendment.  Subsection (i) declares that an applicant for a renewal license may receive a temporary license, good for 90 days, upon payment of $1.00.  It also declares that the judge is to issue the temporary license “at the time of application,” not later after some background check or fingerprinting.  Here is the text of the subsection:

O.C.G.A. 16-11-129(i) Temporary renewal licenses.

(1) Any person who holds a license under this Code section to carry a pistol or revolver may, at the time he applies for a renewal of the license, also apply for a temporary renewal license if less than 90 days remain before expiration of the license he then holds or if his previous license has expired within the last 30 days.

(2) Unless the judge of the probate court knows or is made aware of any fact which would make the applicant ineligible for a five-year renewal license, the judge shall at the time of application issue a temporary renewal license to the applicant.

(3) Such a temporary renewal license shall be in the form of a paper receipt indicating the date on which the court received the renewal application and shall show the name, address, sex, age, and race of the applicant and that the temporary renewal license expires 90 days from the date of issue.

(4) During its period of validity the temporary renewal permit, if carried on or about the holder?s person together with the holder?s previous license, shall be valid in the same manner and for the same purposes as a five-year license.

(5) A $1.00 fee shall be charged by the probate court for issuance of a temporary renewal license.

(6) A temporary renewal license may be revoked in the same manner as a five-year license.