Stephens v. State of Georgia

Summary

The court affirmed dismissal of a 20-year-old plaintiff’s challenge to Georgia’s restriction on general public handgun carry by persons under 21. The court held that the plaintiff failed to show that the court’s longstanding construction of the Georgia Constitution’s right-to-bear-arms provision was clearly wrong or that the challenged statute clearly and palpably conflicted with that provision. The court declined to replace Georgia precedent with federal constitutional standards because the Georgia provision contains a distinct clause authorizing legislative regulation of the manner in which arms may be borne.