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Probate Court |
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Important Notice
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL FIREARMS LICENSE APPLICANTS CONCERNING CERTAIN FEDERAL LAWS
The laws passed by the Congress of the United States and the authorized Regulations thereunder are, under the Constitution of the United States, superior to the laws of the State of Georgia. The Gun Control Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. §§921, et seq., including amendments thereto made under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, Public Law 103-159, and other related Acts, and the Regulations thereunder apply to and are binding on the several States. Because the Firearm License issued in the State of Georgia is a license which exempts the holder from the requirement that information be obtained through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) at the time of any purchase of a handgun, any person who is prohibited under federal law from shipping, transporting, possessing or receiving firearms is prohibited from receiving a Georgia Firearm License. Therefore, it is possible that an applicant for a firearms license may be qualified under Georgia law to receive such a license but be prohibited under federal law from receiving the license.
As the issuance authority under Georgia law, the Probate Judge is required to recognize and follow the controlling federal law. The Probate Judge may not issue a license to any applicant who is prohibited from receiving such a license under federal law (primarily the "Brady Act") even if the applicant is otherwise qualified to receive the license under applicable Georgia law. At present, the Application for Firearm License approved and published by the Georgia Department of Public Safety, pursuant to the authority and direction contained in O.C.G.A. §16-11-129, may not call for disclosure by an applicant of all information which might indicate that the applicant is prohibited under federal law from receiving the license.
A list of Prohibited Persons containing a brief description of the prohibited categories under federal law, obtained by the Court from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has been displayed to you, and you have been asked to read it in its entirety. If you are a person prohibited under federal law from receiving a firearms license, a license may not be issued to you. If information establishing a prohibition is obtained by the Court after the application is submitted, there will be no refund of the fees collected. If you believe that you might fall within a prohibited category, it is suggested that you not make application until you determine whether the prohibition applies to you or your situation. If you have any questions about your legal rights or whether the list and descriptions apply to you, it is suggested that you consult with an attorney. The Probate Court staff may not advise you on your legal rights, nor may they determine for you whether a particular prohibition applies to you or your circumstances.
The application process will involve a criminal records check, including a NICS check. If a report is received back by the Court from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and/or The Georgia Bureau of Investigation listed you as a Prohibited Person, this Court will not issue a license. It will be your responsibility to seek the removal of the prohibition from your record. Even if you believe that the prohibition does not apply to you or that the circumstances resulting in the prohibition fail to meet the requirements of federal law, this Court cannot accept your position and must not issue a license until the prohibition is removed and a subsequent report, without the prohibition, is obtained.
Therefore, prior to making application for a firearms license you must be able to answer yes to the following questions:
- I have read the preceding page and the 4-page list and descriptions of "Prohibited Persons: Firearms" in its entirety prior to submitting my Application for Firearm License to the Probate Court of DeKalb County.
- I am not presently under indictment in any court for an offense punishable by imprisonment for a term in excess of one year, nor am I the subject of an offense punishable by imprisonment for a term in excess of one year which has been referred to a general court-martial, nor am I a fugitive from justice.
- I am not addicted to, nor have I lost the power of self-control over, any controlled substance. I have never been treated involuntarily in a mental institution for addiction to or abuse of a controlled substance.
- I have never been adjudicated by any court, board, commission or other lawful authority to be, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incompetency, condition or disease, a danger to myself or others or to lack the mental capacity to contract or manage my own affairs.
- I have never been involuntarily committed for treatment to a mental institution by any court, board, commission, or other lawful authority.
- I am a citizen of the Untied States of America.
- I have never been dishonorably discharged from the U. S. Armed Forces, nor have I ever been separated from the U. S. Armed Forces under a dismissal adjudicated by a general court-martial.
- I have never renounced my U. S. citizenship before a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States in a foreign state nor before an officer designated by the Attorney General when the United States is an a state of war, except such renunciation as has been reversed as a result of administrative or judicial appeal.
- I am not presently subject to a court order issued in any court which restrains me from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or the child of an intimate partner, or from engaging in other conduct which would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury and which includes a finding that I represent a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child or which expressly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury.
- I have never been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
- I understand that if the criminal records report received by the Probate Court of DeKalb County shows me to be a Prohibited Person, the license for which I have applied will not be issued until the prohibition is removed and does not appear on a subsequent report. I acknowledge that it will be my responsibility to seek the removal of any prohibition which may appear.
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