Rule 48.INQUIRY REGARDING WEAPONS CARRY LICENSE

Rule 48 requires a judge to ask a specific question — does this person hold a Georgia weapons carry license — at four distinct moments described in OCGA § 16-11-129 (e). The first is sentencing for particular convictions: any felony, carrying a weapon without a license, carrying a weapon or long gun in an unauthorized location, a misdemeanor involving use or possession of a controlled substance, or a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence as defined in federal law. The other three moments involve findings rather than convictions: a defendant adjudicated mentally incompetent to stand trial, a defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity, or a person subject to a restraining order that qualifies under federal law.

When the inquiry is required, the judge asks whether the person holds a weapons carry license, and if so, which probate court issued it — or, if the license has been renewed, which probate court most recently issued the renewal. That answer sets the next step in motion: unless the court orders otherwise, the clerk has ten days to notify the probate judge of that county about the matter that makes holding the license unlawful under OCGA § 16-11-129 (b).

The rule connects a criminal or civil-commitment finding made in superior court to the separate administrative process of licensing carried out at the probate court level, so a disqualifying event doesn’t sit unreported while the person remains a licensed carrier.