In the Supreme Court of Georgia Decided: December 14, 2021 S21G0459. BELL v. HARGROVE. COLVIN, Justice. Georgia law generally requires a person to apply for and receive a valid weapons carry license from a probate judge before carrying a handgun or other weapon in public. 1 The General Assembly has identified specific categories of people to whom “[n]o weapons carry license shall be issued,” including people with certain 1 “No person shall carry a weapon without a valid weapons carry license unless he or she meets one of the exceptions to having such license as provided in subsections (a) through (g) of this Code section.” OCGA § 16-11-126 (h) (1). See also id. § 16-11-125.1 (5) (defining “weapon” as including handguns). Under the enumerated exceptions, if certain conditions are met, a person need not have a valid weapons carry license to, among other things, carry a handgun on his or her property or in his or her home, motor vehicle, or place of business, openly carry a loaded long gun, carry an unloaded handgun in an enclosed case, or carry a handgun or long gun while hunting, fishing, or engaging in shooting sports. See id. § 16-11-126 (a)-(c), (f). We note that the statutes governing weapons carry licenses have been amended several times since February 2018, when the weapons carry license application at issue in this case was submitted. Unless otherwise indicated, however, the provisions of the statutes cited in this opinion are the same today as they were in February 2018. criminal convictions. OCGA § 16-11-129 (b) (2). To assist probate judges in determining whether an applicant has a disqualifying conviction, the General Assembly has provided a mechanism for a probate judge to obtain a criminal history report for an applicant. See id. § 16-11-129 (d). Once a probate judge has a sworn application and a criminal history report in hand, the probate judge’s discretion to deny a weapons carry license is limited. Under OCGA § 16-11- 129 (d) (4), a probate judge “shall issue” a license “unless” (1) “facts establishing ineligibility have been reported,” or (2) “the judge determines such applicant has not met all the qualifications, is not of good moral character, or has failed to comply with any of the [statutory] requirements.” We granted certiorari to determine whether a probate judge may deny an application for a weapons carry license under OCGA § 16-11-129 based on a determination that the applicant’s criminal history records report fails to show the outcome of an arrest that could have resulted in a disqualifying conviction. Applying the plain language of the statute, we conclude that a probate judge has no such authority. We therefore reverse 2 the Court of Appeals’ decision to the contrary. See Bell v. Hargrove, 357 Ga. App. 802 (849 SE2d 554) (2020). 1. On February 13, 2018, Clinton Bell filed an application for a Georgia weapons carry license with the DeKalb County Probate Court. After running a criminal history records check on Bell, law enforcement returned …
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