GeorgiaCarry.Org Inc. v. Code Revision Comm'n

Appellant GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc., GCO filed a complaint against the Code Revision Commission and its members, David Ralston, in his official capacity as Speaker of the House of Representatives of Georgia, Lowell Cagle, in his official capacity as President of the Senate of Georgia, and Governor Nathan Deal, seeking a writ of mandamus to compel the Code Revision Commission to amend the text of OCGA § 16-11-127.1 and a judgment declaring that it is not a crime for a person with a weapons carry license to carry a firearm within a school safety zone.1 After motions to dismiss filed by both the Governor and CRC were granted in separate orders, GCO appealed from the order granting CRC’s motion to dismiss.2 For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

This appeal arises out of the passage of two weapons related bills passed by the Georgia General Assembly during the 2013-2014 legislative session. The first, House Bill 826, was passed by the Georgia House of Representatives on February 25, 2014, passed by the Georgia Senate on March 20, 2014, and signed by the Governor on April 22, 2014. See HB 826, Act 575, Ga. L. 2014, p. 432, § 1-1. Section 1-1 of that bill addressed weapons as they related to juveniles and schools and amended OCGA § 16-11-127.1 to permit a person licensed to carry a firearm3 in accordance with OCGA § 16-11-129 to do so within a school safety zone.4 See Ga. L. 2014, p. 432, 433. The second bill, House Bill 60, was passed by the Georgia Senate on March 18, 2014, passed by the Georgia House of Representatives on March 20, 2014, and signed by the Governor on April 23, 2014. See Ga. L. 2014, p. 599. Section 1-6 of this bill was a more comprehensive bill addressing issues of weapons carry and licensing. Like HB 826, it amended OCGA § 16-11-127.1, but it did so, in relevant part, by expressly prohibiting the carrying of a weapon, which was defined to include a firearm,5 within a school safety zone.6 See Ga. L. 2014, p. 599, 605, § 1-6. This prohibition was subject to certain enumerated exceptions, including an exception allowing persons licensed under OCGA § 16-11-129 to carry or possess a firearm within a school safety zone but only when such person carries or picks up a student within a school safety zone. Id. at 606.