It is unlawful to carry a handgun or concealable firearm, openly or concealed, on or about one’s person without a license to carry.
Exceptions: No license is required:
To carry a firearm, openly or concealed, in one’s home or place of business.
To transport a firearm, unloaded, enclosed in a case and separated from ammunition, provided the possessor is not ineligible to obtain a license to carry.
To transport a loaded firearm in a private motor vehicle, provided it is carried in an open manner fully exposed to view, or is in the vehicle’s glove compartment, console, or similar compartment.
4. To carry a firearm while hunting or fishing or sport shooting, provided the person so carrying has any necessary hunting or fishing license, and has written permission from the owner of the land on which the activity is being conducted, and provided any handgun is carried in an open and exposed manner.A license to carry authorizes a person to carry a handgun on or about his person, openly or in certain enumerated concealed positions limited to: a shoulder holster, waist belt holster, any other holster, hip grip or similar device, in which event the weapon may be concealed by the person’s clothing, or a handbag, purse, attach? case, briefcase, other closed container, or in any location in a motor vehicle. “Carrying on the person in a concealed manner other than as provided herein shall. . . be a violation.”
The license to carry, valid for five years, is obtained by application under oath to the judge of the probate court of the county where the applicant resides. A $15.00 fee is payable upon application. Georgia law specifically provides that the application form “shall not require non-pertinent nor irrelevant data” from the applicant “such as serial numbers or other identification capable of being used as a de facto registration of firearms owned by the applicant.”
As far as Deadly Force is concerned, Ga. just passed the ‘Shoot First’ Law in JUne 2006. It basically says that you do not have a duty to retreat when threatened on public property and authorizes the use of Deadly Force if warranted. Here is the actual Law:
[i]06 SB396/AP
S. B. 396
1 -
Senate Bill 396
By: Senators Goggans of the 7th, Johnson of the 1st, Williams of the 19th, Whitehead, Sr.
of the 24th, Unterman of the 45th and others
AS PASSED
AN ACT
To amend Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to justification and excuse as a defense to certain crimes, so as to provide that a
person who is attacked has no duty to retreat; to provide that such person has a right to meet
force with force, including deadly force; to provide for civil immunity; to amend Article 1
of Chapter 11 of Title 51 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general
provisions relative to defense to tort actions, so as to provide for civil immunity; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
justification and excuse as a defense to certain crimes, is amended by inserting immediately
following Code Section 16-3-23 a new Code section to read as follows:
“16-3-23.1.
A person who uses threats or force in accordance with Code Section 16-3-21, relating to
the use of force in defense of self or others, Code Section 16-3-23, relating to the use of
force in defense of a habitation, or Code Section 16-3-24, relating to the use of force in
defense of property other than a habitation, has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand
his or her ground and use force as provided in said Code sections, including deadly force.”
SECTION 2.
Said article is further amended by striking in its entirety Code Section 16-3-24.2, relating to
immunity from prosecution and exception, and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
"16-3-24.2.
A person who uses threats or force in accordance with Code Section 16-3-21, 16-3-23,
16-3-23.1, or 16-3-24 shall be immune from criminal prosecution therefor unless in the use
06 SB396/AP
S. B. 396
2 -
of deadly force, such person utilizes a weapon the carrying or possession of which is
unlawful by such person under Part 2 or 3 of Article 4 of Chapter 11 of this title."
SECTION 3.
Article 1 of Chapter 11 of Title 51 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
general provisions relative to defense to tort actions, is amended by striking in its entirety
Code Section 51-11-9, relating to immunity from civil liability for threat or use of force in
defense of a habitation, and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
“51-11-9.
A person who is justified in threatening or using force against another under the provisions
of Code Section 16-3-21, relating to the use of force in defense of self or others, Code
Section 16-3-23, relating to the use of force in defense of a habitation, or Code Section
16-3-24, relating to the use of force in defense of property other than a habitation, has no
duty to retreat from the use of such force and shall not be held liable to the person against
whom the use of force was justified or to any person acting as an accomplice or assistant
to such person in any civil action brought as a result of the threat or use of such force.”
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.[/i]
I carry copies of both of these laws in my pocket in case Law Enforcemtn Personnel have any questions.
Yep twice in the last couple years, once by a group of young men on jet skis on purpose and a idiot fisherman who thought because I was in a canoe he had the right to bully me out of his fishing area.
A friend at work told me about his experience riding a bicycle, and it reminded me of this thread.
He used to ride in an area of relatively expensive houses near his home. It got to the point that he would pull off the road or turn a corner, or take some other evasive action when he heard a car approaching from behind him as he was riding. (This was after dark.) It got to the point that he expected trouble almost all of the time.
Guys would throw pop or beer bottles at him. Some would open a car door and try to hit him with it. One kid grabbed the roll cage on the jeep he was riding in, and tried to swing out and kick him. (This was a well to do neighbor hood, and he eventually came to the conclusion that it was mostly well to do high school kids that were the problem.)
The kid that tried to swing out and kick him regretted it, as he got so he carried pepper spray, and he sprayed the kid and the driver (the top was down on the jeep.) The kids swerved back and forth before stopping, and swore wildly at him.
What brought this on was a story he told me about a fellow bike rider, and friend of his. This fellow did a lot of racing and had a very expensive (read several grand) professional grade racing bike. He was riding along a drainage canal when some kids ran him off the road and into the canal (dry at the time) and he wrecked his bike. The high school kids thought it was so funny that they stopped to take a look. (Big mistake.) At any rate this guy carried a large Kabar type knife on the frame of his bike, and was not hurt. He got out of the canal very quickly and up to the brand new car. He promptly drove the knife thru the hood of the car several times.
The kid driver was screeming that it was a brand new car that his father had literally just bought. (I suppose that it was the kids.)
The guy got his bike (with the ruined frame) and left. He told my friend that he considered it even. He said that there was no point in calling the police about the wreck, as there were several kids in the car. I would love to have seen the kid explain the half a dozen or more big holes in the hood, and maybe into some of the stuff on the top of the engine.
This story, and some of the ones above, make me think that some of the time the malicious idiots get what they deserve.
Last year on Williams Lake just outside of Spokane, I was fishing from my jon boat with electric trolling motor. Someone who was water skiing came very close at high speed and then turned sharp to go back and pick up a fallen skier. The resulting wake was rushing at my boat fast and quite frankly scarred me pretty good. I WAS wearing a life preserver, but the fear was still there. I didn’t have time to turn the bow into the oncoming wake but did have time to turn the stern to it by quartering away. The wake came within less than one inch of swamping my boat. That’s when I decided to leave the lake. When I pulled out of the water, I did so along side of the Game Warden’s boat so I told them what had happened and described the boat. They’re response was something like “Some People.” That kind of surprised me. I suppose I have to take some of the blame here; it was the 4th of July weekend. That won’t happen again!
I was fishing out on Okanagan lake a marked navigable waterway. I was fishing close to a sailboat course. As a group of five 21 foot sailboats approached me from behind and parallel to my course. Then suddenly they all turned and crossed behind me less than 10 feet off my stern. Taking out my lines and even one outrigger. One boat avoided this by sailing 100 feet farther past me before turning. I was flying a Delta flag which signifies that my vessel should be given a wide berth. ( fishermen use the delta to signal they have gear in the water ) Sailboats usually have the right of way but not always. In this case the right of way was mine. The boat that snagged the out-rigger actually lurched and he lost way. My boat also lurched till the outrigger was torn off the boat. I was madder than a wet hen. I motored over to the yacht club and looked up the race commitee. At my complaint four of the boats were disqualified. the Yacht club made good on the damage. All boat captains of every class were summoned to a Captains meeting and had the rules of the road explained to them. A race course does not give a sailboat the right to abandon the rules of the road. The only boat in the race to avoid me was declared the winner. The yacht club decided that a boat obviously fishing whether or not it is flying a delta has to be avoided according to good maritine practices . I got an apology from 3 of the 4 but one guy said I had better stay out of his way in the future. I had a 30ft boat at the time with a 225 hp motor at the time . I said " Do you really think you could handle a 30footer heading your way in your little sailboat? He said what could you do run me down. I said no but it might be interesting to see how you put out a 5500 degree magnesium flare in the bottom of your boat. That shut him up.
sometimes daily here on Biscayne Bay…also buzzed from ultralite aircraft doing touch and goes on the flats…some are arrogant boat owners and others just ignorant boat owners…both are just as bad
Reminds me of a mate of mine some years ago, he is an extremely handy caster with a surf rod. We were fishing off a jetty and some hoons in a power boat swooped in close by to try to sever our lines - for a laugh. My mate cast his other (surf rod) at them loaded with huge lead tackle and damned near lobbed this thing bang in the middle of their boat; it just missed by inches. Anyway these guys took off before he got another chance to cast, not to be seen again. In fact, if they had come closer my mate was a scary guy, we would have been safe!
I regulary fish from my Hobie and me and my other tour in our siks . We have been paddling for almost ten years now. It’s been my observation that if the power boat has a deep v hull and is up on plane they don’t throw much of a wake. Same as a jet ski. If the power boat trys to show courtesy and slows down the hull settles in the water and displaces more water and throws a larger and deeper wake. Go figure. In any event I carry a flare pistol for safety.
Remember those red flags for bicycles that were big in the 70’s and 80’s? There’s a variation of them available now for kayaks to help get something a bit higher off the water where maybe the boaters might see it flapping around…
Though the story below about the boat with the Delta flag posted makes me wonder if it’s worth the effort…
I’ve got one of those red flags on a glass pole mounted on the stern of my Hobie. Every little bit helps. We like to paddle on a full moon in the summer. Have to have headlamps and I have reflective tape on my paddle blades. Something moving like the paddle blades is more noticable than something sitting still. A lot of paddles are white or yellow for visability. The best site I have found for kayak fishing is http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/
Great folks, good products, and they will talk to you.
Kayak Fishing Stuff has a great selection…and they have some boat lights designed for kayaks (since you mentioned night paddling). Around here, those lights are required if visibility is below some minimum (I don’t recall the exact details since I don’t go out in that kind of crud).
I don’t have a flag on my Hobie yet but I’ve been thinking about it. Haven’t encountered any stupid boaters yet and normally fish on places that limit boats to electric motors so it’s hard for them to zoom past…
