Hearing Over Handgun Carry License Suspensions Goes Remote Because of COVID-19

An emergency hearing on whether issuing handgun carry licenses is an essential function of probate judges operating under judicial emergency orders due to COVID-19 will take place via a publicly accessible teleconference Wednesday morning.  

The hearing, sought by pro-gun advocacy group GeorgiaCarry.Org and one of its members, was originally scheduled to take place at the Richard Russell Federal Building in downtown Atlanta.  On Tuesday, the court posted a notice changing the hearing to a teleconference “in the interests of public safety.”

Members of the media and the general public who wish to listen to the hearing are directed to call 1-888-684-8852,  and use the access code 6879805#. (If asked for a security code, it is 2345.) It begins at 10:30 a.m. Recording or broadcasting the judicial proceedings is prohibited. Violations may result in sanctions including the suspension, revocation or restriction of access to court proceedings.

John Monroe, vice president and counsel for GeorgiaCarry, filed a petition for a writ of mandamus last Friday challenging the Fulton County probate court’s decision to treat the issuance of handgun carry permits as a nonessential function.

In Georgia, no license is needed to carry a handgun in a person’s home, vehicle, place of business, while fishing or hunting, or unloaded in a case.  No carry license is required for long-barreled guns. But Monroe said suspending, even temporarily, the ability of gun owners to acquire a license to carry their handguns in public venues violates the Second Amendment.

Monroe also has asked the court for an injunction to stop enforcement of law requiring a license to carry a handgun in public.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Steve Jones.

The statewide judicial emergency suspending nonessential functions was put in place March 14 by Chief Justice Harold Melton of the Supreme Court of Georgia.

In a March 17 memo, the state Council of Probate Judges notified its members it does not consider firearms carry licenses an essential function. The memo also noted that the judicial emergency extended deadlines for license renewals, and that no temporary license was needed to replace an expired license while the emergency remains in force.