Openly Carrying A Rifle in GA

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

GAgunLAWbooklet would you weigh in on this, Sir?

According to Mossberg and the ATF, the Shockwave is not a shotgun or AOW...
My understanding is that if someone conceal carries a firearm without a permit in GA, they are breaking the law. Is that not correct?

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Under FEDERAL LAW, as ATF interprets it, the Shockwave is sold as a non-NFA firearm that is not further classified as a rifle or shotgun or handgun.
Its characteristics do not allow it to fit into any of those three categories, so it's just a firearm.

It could be and would be an AOW if (if!) it were concealable.
ATF presumes that firearms below 26 inches in overall length are concealable and those at 26" or longer are not concealable.

But ATF says that if you actually do conceal it, then that is evidence that it is concealable and therefore illegal (unless it was previously registered under the NFA and taxed accordingly).

So, if you do not conceal a Shockwave, ATF takes the position that they will presume it is not concealable until evidence shows otherwise.

THIS IS ALL FEDERAL LAW. There is no "AOW" classification in Georgia law. Georgia has categories for machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, destructive devices (bombs, cannon) and silencers. We don't have any such category as the feds do when it comes to AOW's.

See this screenshot of those Georgia code sections that deal with the type of weapons that the feds regulate under the national firearms act (NFA).

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

GAgunLAWbooklet would you weigh in on this, Sir?
...My understanding is that if someone conceal carries a firearm without a permit in GA, they are breaking the law. Is that not correct?

Most (but not all) of GA's laws on carrying firearms with or without a permit, and laws regarding off-limits locations, use a particular legal term called "weapon."
The definition of "weapon" (as applied to most code sections) is found in 16-11-125.1
Remember, there are some other Georgia laws in some other sections of the code where this "weapon" definition doesn't apply, or isn't relevant, but it applies to several important gun laws in Georgia.

The Shockwave is not a "weapon" under GA law.
The barrel is too long for it to be called a handgun, and handguns need to have rifled barrels anyway, not smoothbore barrels. A shockwave is not a cut down shotgun because it never was a shotgun! Shotguns have to be originally made to be fired from the shoulder, or they have to be modified and redesigned to be fired from the shoulder.
That doesn't fit the Shockwave, because it's never intended to be fired from the shoulder. But...

(if you add something that you call an "arm brace," but is clearly and obviously intended as a shoulder stock, you might be breaking Georgia law,
and the Georgia Attorney General's office and your local DAs office might not give any weight to ATF's opinion on the brace-versus-stock distinction).

Since the Shockwave is not a handgun and not a large bladed knife, it cannot be a "weapon" under Georgia law (16-11-125.1), so most laws 16-11-126 through 138) that criminalize the carrying of a "weapon" doesn't apply here. Any law that criminalizes the possession of a rifle or shotgun wouldn't apply because a Shockwave is neither of those things.
It uses shotgun shells, but it's not a shotgun.

It is, technically, unregulated by most of Georgia's gun control laws. The school safety zone law is a notable exception. So are some other laws regarding transportation terminals and infrastructure for mass transit.

Yet, as other posters above have said, you can't expect rank and file law-enforcement officers to know all this. If some cop thinks that it's a short barrel shotgun, or thinks that it's a shotgun caliber "handgun" that requires a GWL because the cop thinks it's a "weapon" you are very likely to be arrested.
You may beat the rap, but you may very well take that ride.

 

[gh1950]

.

But ATF says that if you actually do conceal it, then that is evidence that it is concealable and therefore illegal (unless it was previously registered under the NFA and taxed accordingly).

So, if you do not conceal a Shockwave, ATF takes the position that they will presume it is not concealable until evidence shows otherwise.

.

Unless, it's a rifle with an adjustable/movable stock, perfectly concealable, but because it's a "rifle" totally legal for the feds.

 

[gh1950]

i am waiting for a Georgia court ruling on a Shockwave.

 

[gh1950]

The Shockwave is not a "weapon" under GA law.
The barrel is too long for it to be called a handgun, and handguns need to have rifled barrels anyway, not smoothbore barrels. A shockwave is not a cut down shotgun because it never was a shotgun! Shotguns have to be originally made to be fired from the shoulder, or they have to be modified and redesigned to be fired from the shoulder.
That doesn't fit the Shockwave, because it's never intended to be fired from the shoulder. But...

Since the Shockwave is not a handgun and not a large bladed knife, it cannot be a "weapon" under Georgia law (16-11-125.1), so most laws 16-11-126 through 138) that criminalize the carrying of a "weapon" doesn't apply here. Any law that criminalizes the possession of a rifle or shotgun wouldn't apply because a Shockwave is neither of those things.
It uses shotgun shells, but it's not a shotgun.

It is, technically, unregulated by most of Georgia's gun control laws. The school safety zone law is a notable exception. So are some other laws regarding transportation terminals and infrastructure for mass transit.

And to stir the pot a little more, your local ordinances may cover the Shockwave as a "firearm"

Athens Clarke County prohibits discharge of "firearms" in the city limits (whole county). They include their own definition of "firearm" which in shorthand, is any device that propels a bullet by means of an explosive charge. So if you are firing off your Shockwave, you are violating the ordinance.

 

[Zeake]

%shockwave totally useless and nearly no tactical value....it's just a gimmick.

 

[Ken Ford]

That's a very circular definition, and despite that not complete.

The LEO can secure a gun without any articulable suspicion for his own protection, and in the appropriate circumstances inquire if the person has a permit.

It's really really hard to make those kind of blanket statements that are 100% true in all situations.

That is only if there is another underlying investigation. The law even has verbiage added “mere presence of a fire arm does not constitute a crime” so with out further they cannot even ask per Georgia Law.

 

[Ken Ford]

Since the OP is talking about a long march
along public streets in urban or suburban areas
carrying a rifle, and without any GWL,

I'll bring up two other laws to watch out for,
although most cops wouldn't know about these laws anyway,
and the odds of you getting arrested for something like this are pretty slim.

1-- The 2 laws in OCGA 16-12-XX on the subjects of possessing fire arms or dangerous devices on buses trains airports or any transportation terminal.
You'll notice that they don't use the term "weapon" and the definition of weapon as found in code section 16-11-125.1 wouldn't apply here in 16 -12 anyway.
This law in chapter 12 uses the term "firearm" which is a very broad term and would include any rifle or shotgun or carbine, regardless of caliber, barrel length, or stock configuration.

Note also that the definition of a transportation terminal includes public streets and sidewalks within a reasonable distance from those places, and the parking lots of any bus or train station. So I'm thinking that if you walk with a rifle past a MARTA bus stop in Atlanta, you could come under the coverage of this law.

Then,
2-- we have the federal law passed by Congress in the middle 1990s banning firearms from within 1000 feet of school property.
This law has a blanket exception for GWL holders. In fact so does the earlier law I mentioned above regarding weapons at bus, rail, or other transportation facilities!

But without a GWL, possessing a rifle at or too-near these types of places could theoretically get you in trouble.

P.S. I am a lawyer.
I did write a book specifically on Georgia weapons laws.
You can buy the book on Amazon.com.
But this posting on ODT isn't legal advice.

Would you please cite relevant case law to these assumptions? I am genuinely curious.

And people should know that case law hold as much weight in count as written law.

 

[Ken Ford]

If you conceal a firearm that’s not a pistol, that very act makes it an AOW. If you get arrested while doing so then you will be charged under AOW laws. Does it make sense? No. But that’s the law.

Wow I don’t even know what to say...

 

[gh1950]

That is only if there is another underlying investigation. The law even has verbiage added “mere presence of a fire arm does not constitute a crime” so with out further they cannot even ask per Georgia Law.

It's a pretty poor LEO that can't find something to investigate.

Sort of like my favorite "weaving within a lane".