Hello,

I may be moving to the Atlanta area for work and I am wondering how the general hobby shooting climate is?  I looked at the above posted laws but as I'm sure is true for most non-lawyer types its all way over my head...  Basically I'd like to know how gun friendly or unfriendly the area is.

Are there lots of places to go shooting?
Are there crazy city/county/state laws regarding guns?

Thanks for any and all responses I really appreciate it.

It really depends on where in the Atlanta area you'll be living.  Actually IN Atlanta, the city and county governments try to put as many impediments to gun ownership up as possible (but we have statewide preemption which limits their options).  An example is that while the law only gives the county government 45 days to issue a carry permit, Fulton County advertises it as taking 60 days.  As for places to go shooting, again, it varies.  Actually in the city, no ranges that I know of, there are several ranges in/near Marietta, Smyrna, and Kennesaw, some new ranges in the Sandy Springs/Roswell area, at least one south of the city near where I-75 crosses I-285, etc...  Those are all for indoor ranges, for outdoor ranges, you're usually looking even further away from downtown Atlanta, anywhere from forty minutes to over an hour to travel (again, from downtown.  From where I live, closer to twenty minutes for Creekside, just wish they were open on Sundays since that's normally when I have the most free time).



For an overview of laws, carry permits are fairly easy to get, we just cleaned up a lot of the worst restrictions on carry in Georgia in the past few years, basically down to government buildings, state mental hospitals, jails/prisons, houses of worship, nuclear power plants, or polling places (with some messiness about bars if the bar owner does not give permission).  The only restrictions on NFA are those imposed by the Feds, although many CLEO's won't sign off locally, but the trust route works, no state AW bans, restrictions on .50 calibers, etc...



 

Thanks guys this is exactly what I'm looking for!  I got offered positions in Atlanta, Ohio, Mass. and NY...

Looks like you guys are gunning for the top of the list  

check our club out, it is about 50 miles north of atl
http://www.rbgc.org/
then click on shooting disciplines to see what all is happening at RBGC.

First of all, a preemptive welcome if you do end up moving. As others have stated, GA is very gun friendly with few exceptions. Almost all of those exist in the Atlanta city limits which is actually pretty small. The traffic here is horrible so living close to where you work is advisable, that may cause some problems for you if your job will be in the city limits. I live in Forsyth county which is about 40 miles almost due North the city which might as well be 500 miles away, it's completely different. A lot of the 'burbs are like this and with doubt, more gun-friendly.

Check out GA packing and read the details but I think you'll be happy what you read.

I don't know a lot about the area and since it will likely be a work from home position any suggestions on good suburbs or parts of town to check out?

More or less you want to stay outside of the green box. The farther out the better, also remember that those lines move farther out each year.





YMMV


 

JT thanks for the advice but might I ask why?

I wouldn't exactly call that square accurate. It's a little over exaggerated.

I think it's too small. I wouldn't necessarily call it a danger area, more like areas to avoid living in.

Then again I like living out in the sticks.

Forecast calls for Cloudy with a chance of bullets...

I don't see much choice there.

Do you know where your company is located in the Atlanta area.

MAN you guys are funny about COA.  I have been here my whole life.  I turned out normal!

That why your avatar has an AK in it's ear?

I definitely would have extended the "box" to include Marietta and Snellville.

You almost sound serious...

Its looking like it will be a primarily work from home position.  I'd have to commute to various different events most likely within the city on a fairly regular basis so I'd rather not wind up too far away...

Who told you that?

The box is a bit excessive...

Lots of places in and around Atlanta are very nice.  There are also lots of places that are crap...

I guarantee that you can find just about any setting here.  You want the sticks?  We have the sticks.  You want downtown?  We have downtown.

I agree, the commonly held exclusion area is pretty much 285 and the Hooch.

I would have extended the box to Jonesboro/Riverdale...you don"t want there if you can help it