Temporary Renewal License denials

Has anybody, since July 1, been denied the temporary license?

I am hearing rumors that some probate courts are refusing to issue the temporary license now.

Subsection (i) states that you must request it and pay $1.00, and that the judge shall issue the license "at the time of application" (rather than some later time like after a fingerprint based background check or the next day or any other time).

SO - who has been denied a temporary renewal license at the time of application?






UPDATED LIST, March 6th, 2007 of 46 counties reported so far as issuing or not issuing temporary renewal licenses, to make it easier to find :


NOT ISSUING


Appling
Bacon
Baker
Baldwin
Banks
Bibb
Bleckley
Butts
Chatham
Cherokee
Clarke
Clayton
Coweta
Dawson
DeKalb
Douglas
Fayette
Floyd
Forsyth
Gilmer
Hall
Henry
Houston
Laurens
Lowndes
Macon
Meriwether
Muscogee
Peach
Pulaski
Rockdale
Spalding
Terrell
Toombs
Troup
Whitefield


ISSUING

Barrow*
Cobb *
Dougherty
Emanuel
Fulton*
Gwinnett*
Jackson
Lee
Murray*
Oconee
Seminole (issues new card within 24 hours)
Upson (issues new card within 24 hours)

 

Well, add to that Coweta.

You might ought to call Floyd and politely ask if this is the case there as well. I sense that this is something wider that just one or two recalcitrant probate judges . . .

Anybody else calling - no sense arguing for now, just find out if they are issuing temporary renewals.

 

Hmmmm . . . I am beginning to notice a pattern.

Confirmed that the following counties are no longer issuing temporary licenses:

Coweta
DeKalb
Douglas
Fayette
Fulton

 

I asked polite questions and did not argue with anybody, but some of the people were miffed that I was even asking.

Among other myths I heard:

The state is no longer issuing renewal licenses, so there is no such thing, and since there is no renewal, there is no temporary license tied to the renewal.

Q. Ma'am, are you speaking about HB 1032 and the July 1 law change?

A. Yes, I am.

Q. [Adopt very soft tone] Doesn't the new statute still use the term "renewal license," ma'am?

A. I don't know. They told us to quit issuing them.

Q. Ma'am, please bear with me, but who are "they?"

A. The state. The legislators that passed the law, they met with all the probate judges, and told them not to do renewals anymore.

Once each phone call exhausted the vast amount of knowledge available, I moved on.

 

None of these people knew about the existence of a statute that authorizes the issuance of licenses (O.C.G.A. 16-11-129). Anyway, here is the part about temporaries, which is untouched by the most recent amendment.

(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.

 

But not Lee County!
or Dougherty County.

Anybody else (from outside the above listed counties) call their local probate court and ask whether they are issuing temporary renewal licenses at the time of application pursuant to 16-11-129(i)?

 

Gentlemen (and ladies) please spend two minutes at the phone. 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 another license.

Then post your answer (with the county) here.

I want to know if there is a concerted effort statewide to flout the plain language of O.C.G.A. 16-11-129(i), which states, "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."

This is a rare case of a very simple and easily understandable piece of law. The disregard is intentional, but I would like to know how widespread it is. Even if it takes two minutes, GS1 and I cannot possibly call all 159 probate courts.

Please call your local probate court and let us know.

Especially if this is statewide, something will need to be done about it. The scope of the problem will determine the scope of the means to deal with it.

 

It appears that some in your office do not understand the scope of the changes in the state law made on July 1 by HB 1032. Please note that HB 1032 struck only subsections (a) through (d) (please refer to the highlighted text of the bill I have included for your convenience). HB 1032 intentionally left subsection (i) of O.C.G.A. 16-11-129 intact. OGCA section 16-11-129 (i) is very clear that a temporary license, good for a term of 90 days, shall be issued for the fee of $1.00. Here is the text of the relevant code section, as it now reads (emphasis added):

 

UPDATED LIST of counties issuing temporary renewal licenses:


NOT ISSUING

Cherokee
Clayton
Coweta
DeKalb
Douglas
Fayette
Floyd
Fulton

ISSUING

Lee
Dougherty