Shocker: GeorgiaCarry.Org Makes Stuff Up
Citing studies by researchers in other states whose work is highly controversial at best, GeorgiaCarry.org maintains that concealed-carry permit holders are remarkably law-abiding and that more guns equals less crime.
Of course, Georgia law enforcement says otherwise:
“A blind person can get a permit in Georgia, since all you have to do is pass a background check,” says Bankhead. “And that person can be arrested the very next week for a felony, convicted of that felony the next month and still have that permit for the next five years.”
Before the GOP leadership expands the places in civilized society where guns can be carried secretly, lawmakers ought to find out whether sufficient safeguards are in place to protect the public. The state should be monitoring whether permit holders abide by the law and whether their permits are revoked when they don’t.
One relatively easy way to answer that question would be to compare a list of convicted felons against a list of Georgians licensed to carry a concealed weapon. Unfortunately, the General Assembly made that impossible by sealing the list of permit holders from public view, making it impossible to refute claims that all permit holders are law-abiding.
However, we do have some idea what such a comparison might reveal. In 2007, an analysis by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found more than 1,400 Floridians holding concealed weapon licenses in the first half of 2006 who had previously pleaded guilty or no contest to assaults, burglaries, sexual battery, drug possession, child molestation and murder. Alarmed by that data, Florida legislators quickly made such information off limits to public view.
Unlike most states, Georgia doesn’t require firearms training to obtain a concealed-carry permit, which is issued by the local probate court judge after applicants undergo criminal background checks. The license is valid for five years; however, it’s supposed to be revoked if the carrier is convicted of a felony.
Under state law, however, there’s no way to enforce that provision. When police arrest someone for an offense that makes them ineligible to carry a concealed firearm, officers don’t have to alert the county that issued the permit. That’s because Georgia has no central database where an officer can check easily on whether a permit exists, says Bankhead.
