Republican lawmakers in the Georgia Senate filed legislation recently to enhance prison time for some offenders by allowing authorities to charge ‘by the gun.’
Under Senate Bill 479, the punishment for convicted felons and first offenders found to be in possession of a firearm would increase.
Current law prohibits the ownership or possession of a firearm by convicted felons as well as First Offenders serving time on probation and/or parole. Such an offense results in another felony charge which carries a sentence of one to ten years in prison. Respective parole and probation sentences are also revoked and the individual often finishes the initial sentence behind bars before beginning the sentence for the new felony. This is the case whether the individual is found to be with one firearm or a dozen.
Under SB 479, authorities would charge individuals for each firearm, resulting in a subsequent sentence of one to ten years for each firearm. The location of five firearms in a vehicle could expose a defendant to upwards of fifty years in prison. For comparison, a person convicted of child molestation serves a sentence of one to twenty years.
The language of the bill leaves no discretion for law enforcement or prosecutors, either. It reads, in part, that “each firearm or weapon connected to such violation shall constitute a separate offense.” The use of the word ‘shall’ requires a separate charge for each gun.
The legislation was filed on Tuesday with twelve cosponsors, including:
- Bo Hatchett
- Butch Miller
- Mike Dugan
- Steve Gooch
- Jeff Mullis
- Randy Robertson
- Max Burns
- Frank Ginn
- Clint Dixon – Governor’s Floor Leader
- Marty Harbin
- Chuck Payne
- Russ Goodman – Governor’s Floor Leader
SB 479 has yet to be assigned to a committee.
The data below pertains to cases charged in federal court, not Georgia, and is meant to demonstrate the prevalence of occurrence of such charges.
https://www.thegeorgiavirtue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/USSC-felon-possession-of-firearm.pdf
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