This excerpt from a newspaper article was submitted by a member of the Wisconsin Concealed Carry Reform Yahoo Newsgroup.

Lawsuit aims to change gun law
Rule criticized: With few exceptions, visitors from outside the state are not allowed to apply for firearms licenses in Georgia.

By Bill Rankin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/03/08

A Wisconsin man and a gun rights group are seeking to overturn a law that prohibits out-of-state residents from applying for a Georgia firearms license.

Regis Goyke, a resident of Wisconsin, and GeorgiaCarry.org Inc. filed the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

The suit was filed against Fulton County Probate Judge Pinkie Toomer, whose office notified Goyke he could not apply for a firearms license. Atlanta lawyer John Monroe, who represents the plaintiffs, said he wants the case to be granted class-action status so all of Georgia's probate judges are defendants.

"This is a pretty clear violation," Monroe said Wednesday. "Georgia is not granting the same privileges to nonresidents that it grants to its own residents to apply for and receive a Georgia firearms license."

Monroe filed suit a day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Washington's handgun ban, ruling that individual citizens have the right to possess firearms.

That ruling should bolster the chances of the lawsuit, Monroe said. But the suit should prevail primarily because Georgia law is at odds with the U.S. Constitution's Privileges and Immunities Clause, the purpose of which is to place citizens of each state on an equal footing with citizens in other states, he said.

Toomer declined to comment about the lawsuit.

State law says a Georgia probate judge may issue a firearms license to any person who is a resident of that county or to someone on active duty with the U.S. armed forces. The only other exception, the suit said, is that licenses can be granted to people attending international shooting competitions in Georgia.

Goyke usually engages in recreational —- and lawful —- shooting of handguns when he visits Georgia. Sometimes, when he comes here, he brings his own handgun with him. On other occasions, he borrows handguns from his Georgia relatives, the lawsuit said. Goyke faces a problem because Wisconsin is one of a few states that does not issue firearms licenses, Monroe said. Also, there are almost 30 other states in the nation that issue firearms licenses that are not recognized in Georgia, the lawyer said.

This week, Monroe also filed suit on behalf of state Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica) and GeorgiaCarry.org seeking the right for licensed gun owners to carry handguns into the nonsecure areas of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The person who sent the above information to the Yahoo newsgroup also posed this question:

"Why is my Minnesota Driver License recognized throughout the nation, but my Minnesota Concealed Carry Permit is not honored in Wisconsin?

With more states now challenging their own courts, perhaps Wisconsin can come up with a lawsuit that does an end run around Jim Doyle. "

I suspect the case against the D.C. handgun ban has started a lot of pro-gun rights people thinking about using the court system to address bad anti-gun laws and restrictions. It would be poetic justice if more such laws are overturned in court, given how the anit-gun organizations such as Handgun Control, Inc., Coaltion to Stop Gun Violence, Cease Fire, and others, love to file suits against defenders of the 2nd Amendment, gun manufacturers, etc.


Kevin