---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-11-137. Detention for investigation of license to carry prohibited.
collection: code
id: 16-11-137
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-11-137 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-11-137
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-11-137.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-11-137/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t16-ch7-11-(v14a)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=f5e4f5fa_0#page=159
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CRIMES AND OFFENSES / OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND SAFETY / DANGEROUS INSTRUMENTALITIES AND PRACTICES / CARRYING AND POSSESSION OF FIREARMS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-11-137. Detention for investigation of license to carry prohibited.

A person carrying a weapon shall not be subject to detention for the sole purpose of investigating whether such person has a weapons carry license, whether such person is exempt from having a weapons carry license pursuant to Code Section 16-11-130 or subsection (c) of Code Section 16-11-127.1, or whether such person is a lawful weapons carrier as defined in Code Section 16-11-125.1.

## History

Code 1981, § 16-11-137, enacted by Ga. L. 2014, p. 432, § 1-2/HB 826; Code 1981, § 16-11-137, enacted by Ga. L. 2014, p. 599, § 1-10/HB 60; Ga. L. 2022, p. 74, § 11/SB 319.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2022, p. 74, § 1/SB 319, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Chairman John Meadows Act.’”

Ga. L. 2022, p. 74, § 2/SB 319, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “The General Assembly finds and determines that:

“(1) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution recognizes the right of the people to keep and bear arms and that such right shall not be infringed; and

“(2) The people of this state, to perpetuate the principles of free government, insure justice to all, preserve peace, promote the interest and happiness of the citizen and of the family, and transmit to posterity the enjoyment of liberty, provided that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed but that the General Assembly shall have power to prescribe the manner in which arms may be borne.”

## Law Reviews

For article, “SB 319: Chairman John Meadows Act,” see 39 Georgia St. U.L. Rev. 1 (2022).

## Amendments

The 2022 amendment, effective April 12, 2022, rewrote this Code section, which read: “(a) Every license holder shall have his or her valid weapons carry license in his or her immediate possession at all times when carrying a weapon, or if such person is exempt from having a weapons carry license pursuant to Code Section 16-11-130 or subsection (c) of Code Section 16-11-127.1, he or she shall have proof of his or her exemption in his or her immediate possession at all times when carrying a weapon, and his or her failure to do so shall be prima-facie evidence of a violation of the applicable provision of Code Sections 16-11-126 through 16-11-127.2.

“(b) A person carrying a weapon shall not be subject to detention for the sole purpose of investigating whether such person has a weapons carry license.

“(c) A person convicted of a violation of this Code section shall be fined not more than $10.00 if he or she produces in court his or her weapons carry license, provided that it was valid at the time of his or her arrest, or produces proof of his or her exemption.”