CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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ARTICLE VII. [Ratification and Establishment]

[Amendment II] [Right to Keep and Bear Arms]

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Cross references.

- Right to bear arms, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. VIII.

Firearms industry nondiscrimination, T. 10, C. 1, A. 15, P. 7.

Prohibition on seizure of firearms during declared state of emergency, § 38-3-37.

Law reviews.

- For article on the judicial development of the due process clause of U.S. Const., amend. 14 and the selective incorporation of the Bill of Rights, see 22 Mercer L. Rev. 533 (1971). For article discussing the basis of this amendment, see 13 Ga. L. Rev. 1447 (1979). For article, "The Past and Future of the Individual's Right to Bear Arms," see 31 Ga. L. Rev. 1 (1996). For article, "Why Annie Gets to Keep Her Gun: An Analysis of Firearm Exemptions in Bankruptcy Proceedings," 21 Emory Bankr. Dev. J. 553 (2005). For article, "Partisans, Pirates, and Pancho Villa: How International and National Law Handled Non-State Fighters in the 'Good Old Days' Before 1949 and that Approach's Applicability to the 'War on Terror'," see 24 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 549 (2010). For article, "Sale, Use, and Possession of Firearms: Offenses Against Public Order and Safety," see 30 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 231 (2013). For comment discussing limits on the military's jurisdiction and the constitutional rights of servicemen in light of O'Callahan v. Parker, 395 U.S. 258, 89 S. Ct. 1683, 23 L. Ed. 2d 291 (1969), see 21 Mercer L. Rev. 311 (1969). For comment on Burger v. State, 118 Ga. App. 328, 163 S.E.2d 333 (1968), see 5 Ga. St. B.J. 384 (1969).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Amendment applies to federal, not state, legislative efforts.

- Second amendment's right to keep and bear arms imposes a limitation on only federal, not state, legislative efforts. Brewer v. State of Ga., 281 Ga. 283, 637 S.E.2d 677 (2006).

When plaintiffs, a gun advocacy group and one of the group's members, and a church and the pastor, sought a declaratory judgment that O.C.G.A. § 16-11-127(b)(4), regulating possession of weapons in a place of worship, violated their Second Amendment right to bear arms, the court noted that the United States Supreme Court, in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S. Ct. 2783 (2008), held that the Second Amendment protected a right to possess and carry weapons for self defense but did not elaborate on what all the "sensitive" places were to which a regulation could prohibit carrying a weapon, and absent clearer guidance, the safer approach was to assume that possession at a place of worship was within the Second Amendment guarantee and apply intermediate scrutiny, and since prohibiting firearms in a place of worship bore a substantial relationship to the important goal of protecting religious freedom by protecting attendees from the fear or threat of intimidation or armed attack; thus, § 16-11-127(b)(4) passed intermediate scrutiny and the claim against defendants, the State of Georgia, the Governor, a county, and a county manager failed. GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc. v. Georgia, 764 F. Supp. 2d 1306 (M.D. Ga. 2011), aff'd, 687 F.3d 1244 (11th Cir. Ga. 2012).

Statute regulating public carrying not unconstitutional.

- O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129, which regulated the ability of citizens to carry a weapon in public, was justified by the goal to protect the safety of individuals who are in public places, which was a legitimate and compelling government interest. The statute was not unconstitutional as applied to an applicant who pled nolo contendre to violent felonies in Florida more than 20 years earlier, under either U.S. Const., amend. II or Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. VIII. Hertz v. Bennett, 294 Ga. 62, 751 S.E.2d 90 (2013).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Constitutionality of statutes restricting right of aliens to bear arms, 34 A.L.R. 63.

Validity of state statutes restricting the right of aliens to bear arms, 28 A.L.R.4th 1096.

Validity of state statute proscribing possession or carrying of knife, 47 A.L.R.4th 651.

Validity, construction, and application of state or local law prohibiting manufacture, possession, or transfer of "assault weapon,", 29 A.L.R.5th 664.

Validity, construction, and application of provisions of National Firearms Act (26 USCS § 5845(f)) and Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (18 USCS § 921(A)(4)) defining "destructive device,", 126 A.L.R. Fed. 597.

Construction and application of United States Supreme Court holdings in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S. Ct. 2783, 171 L. Ed. 2d 637 (2008) and McDonald v. City of Chicago, Ill., 130 S. Ct. 3020, 177 L. Ed. 2d 894 (2010) respecting Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, to state or local laws regulating firearms or other weapons, 64 A.L.R. 6th 131.

Validity of state gun control legislation under state constitutional provisions securing right to bear arms - convicted felons, 85 A.L.R.6th 641.