What would you do?

MP pretty well summed it up. If you qualify under 130, you have an affirmative defense. Note that 130(d) specifically says that a prosecution of 126-128 need not negative an exemption. That means that, assuming the stars otherwise lined up, an officer would have probable cause to arrest you, a magistrate could find probable cause to issue a warrant against you, you would not be able to defeat the case against you at a probable cause hearing, and, if you were in a county where the DAs don't spend a lot of time talking to defendants/defense attorneys, your first real opportunity to raise your affirmative defense could very well be after the state rested its case against you. At this point, you would be out several thousand dollars in attorney's fees.

Of course, the same at least theoretically is true even after you get your ID, but one would hope that an officer/the officer's supervisor would pause before arresting someone who produced an ID that appears to give an exemption under 130.

 

Yeah. I've wondered what happens when you pull out your medical examiner, clerk of court, or public safety director ID....

 

Are you allowed ( by work place policy ) to possess a weapon while on duty? If so, I would just approach my immediate supervisor and ask him/her for written permission on an official department letterhead to carry and possess a weapon. Make sure that is has the supervisors signiture and a work number to where they can be reached.

Then if you're ever approached about carry outside of the jobsite, just show the LEO your "permission slip" and that should clear any questions to whether or not you can carry until you get your I.D.

 

No, I think it is a good idea to see about getting official departmental "permission" to carry a weapon. An official letterhead with your name on it and your supervisor's name on it with the explicit permission that you're allowed to possess a weapon given your line of work will hold more of its weight in gold than just carrying around a copy of the law.

I don't know the exact line of work you're in, but I'll take your word that you are within the exemptions of 16-11-130. But also remember, just because you're one of the exemptions in 16-11-130, O.C.G.A. 16-11-184 (now O.C.G.A. 16-11-173) specifically says that a local government or municipality MAY regulate the possession of weapons by it's employees, so you might run into a entanglement with that if your department policy doesn't allow you to possess a weapon until you become certified, mandated, and/or issued your "bubba card".

P.S. I don't mean to sound like an arse, and more power to you if you are able to enjoy the benefits 16-11-130, but I have been in a similar situation before at a *cough* government *cough* job where by law I was allowed to carry at public buildings and such, but a particular sargent over me didn't like the idea of me exersicing my privilidge under that law and tried to create a lot of trouble for me. So my friendly advice is C.Y.A. which if you're in a LE type job, you will learn real quick what that means...