--- title: Ga. Const. Art. I, Sec. I, Para. VIII. Arms, right to keep and bear. collection: code id: ga-const:art-i-sec-i-para-viii cite_as: Ga. Const. Art. I, Sec. I, Para. VIII canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-i-sec-i-para-viii md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-i-sec-i-para-viii.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-i-sec-i-para-viii/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/2ga-const-(v2)-2016-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=f5de823e_0#page=144 date: 2016 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/index.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-i-sec-i-para-vii.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-i-sec-i-para-ix.md 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: CONSTITUTION OF THE / BILL OF RIGHTS / RIGHTS OF PERSONS --- # Ga. Const. Art. I, Sec. I, Para. VIII. Arms, right to keep and bear. A constitution provision shown as in force is in force as printed in the volume. A court decision can make a printed provision unenforceable without changing the volume, and the volume does not record that. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, but the General Assembly shall have power to prescribe the manner in which arms may be borne. ## Cross References Right to bear arms, U.S. Const., amend. 2, and § 1-2-6. Restrictions on the right to bear arms, § 16-11-100 et seq. ## 1976 Constitution. Art. I, Sec. I, Para. V. ## Prohibition of Keeping and Carryin Context of Visitation Order. Trial court’s order that the parties not have any weapons in their possession when exchanging their children did not infringe on a parent’s right under Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. VIII to keep and bear arms as the parent’s possession of a firearm was not restricted except in the context of a narrowly tailored condition of visitation justified by the evidence. Moore v. Moore-McKinney, 297 Ga. App. 703, 678 S.E.2d 152 (2009). ## Marketing of Handguns Not Unreasonably Dangerous or Socially Unacceptable. The enactment of comprehensive licensing provisions for suppliers and purchasers of handguns indicates that the General Assembly is not inclined to ban the use of such weapons and that legislators do not consider the marketing of handguns to be an unreasonably dangerous or socially unacceptable activity. Rhodes v. R.G. Indus., Inc., 173 Ga. App. 51, 325 S.E.2d 465 (1984). O.C.G.A. § 16-11-131 is a reasonable regulation authorized by the police power and thus is not violative of Ga. Const. 1976, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. V (see now O.C.G.A. Art. I, Sec. I, Para. VIII). Landers v. State, 250 Ga. 501, 299 S.E.2d 707 (1983). ## O.c.g.a. § 16-11-129 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). Cited in Melton v. Beard, 15 F. Supp. 980 (M.D. Ga. 1936); Coleman v. State, 215 Ga. 865, 114 S.E.2d 2 (1960); Shouse v. State, 231 Ga. 716, 203 S.E.2d 537 (1974); Wells v. State, 134 Ga. App. 328, 214 S.E.2d 414 (1975); Mahar v. State, 137 Ga. App. 116, 223 S.E.2d 204 (1975); Johnston v. State, 236 Ga. 370, 223 S.E.2d 808 (1976); Anderson v. State, 141 Ga. App. 249, 233 S.E.2d 240 (1977); McClure v. Kemp, 285 Ga. 801, 684 S.E.2d 255 (2009). ## Am. Jur. 2d. 79 Am. Jur. 2d, Weapons and Firearms, § 8 et seq. Am. Jur. Pleading and Practice ## Forms. 25 Am. Jur. Pleading and Practice Forms, Weapons and Firearms, § 2. ## C.j.s. 94 C.J.S., Weapons, § 7 et seq. ## Alr. Validity and construction of gun control laws, 28 ALR3d 845. Application of statute or regulation dealing with registration or carrying of weapons to transient nonresident, 68 ALR3d 1253. Validity of state statutes restricting the right of aliens to bear arms, 28 ALR4th 1096. Validity of state statute proscribing possession or carrying of knife, 47 ALR4th 651. Validity of state gun control legislation under state constitutional provisions securing the right to bear arms, 86 ALR4th 931. Federal constitutional right to bear arms, 37 ALR Fed. 696. Substitution, under Rule 24c of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, of alternate juror for regular juror before jury retires to consider verdict in federal criminal case, 115 ALR Fed. 381. Construction and application of 18 USCS § 922(e), prohibiting delivery of firearms to common carrier, 125 ALR Fed. 613.