(The Center Square) – Georgians under the age of 21 are still barred from carrying handguns in public after a ruling from the Supreme Court of Georgia rejecting a challenge to the law.
Thomas Stephens, 20, was 18 when he applied for a permit to carry a handgun in public, according to information from the court. He appealed a Lumpkin County trial court decision challenging the constitutionality of the law.
Georgians between the age of 18 to 21 can possess and publicly carry long guns in public, Justice Andrew Pinson wrote in his decision released Wednesday. Only residents under the age of 21 who have received weapons training as part of their military service can carry handguns publicly.
Stephens’ challenge was not based on the Second Amendment, Pinson wrote. The case asked the court to rule the construction of the law as invalid and subject it to two federal tests.
“Most problematic, Stephens does not even say how or why that construction is not consistent with the provision’s original public meaning – at least not with any detail or real authority in support – and he offers no serious alternative construction that would establish, what, in his view, the correct understanding of that original public meaning is,” Pinson said. “Instead, he asks us to uncritically import federal standards to guide the application of a provision unique to Georgia’s constitution – a practice we have regularly criticized and disapproved.”
The Georgia Freedom Caucus questioned the decision.
“Georgia’s highest court just declared that the Second Amendment doesn’t apply to every American,” the caucus said in a statement on social meda. “We hope this gets fast-tracked to the U.S. Supreme Court – because the Founders didn’t carve out exceptions. If a 20-year-old can wear our uniform and die for this country, they certainly should be able to defend themselves and their family.”
Stephens’s attorney, John Monroe, said that is not going to happen.
“There is nowhere to appeal,” Monroe said in an email to The Center Square. “The Georgia Supreme Court is the ultimate authority on the meaning of the Georgia constitution.”
