(The Center Square) — In the wake of a shooting at Barrow County’s Apalachee High School, Georgia’s gun laws are again in focus, and lawmakers are likely to take some level of action when they return to session in January.
Some lawmakers, including members of the Georgia House Democratic Caucus, called on Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special session to tackle gun violence in Georgia. The governor has resisted those calls, saying, “now is the time for investigation and to mourn those we’ve lost, not politics.”
An analysis that Everytown for Gun Safety released in January found that Georgia ranks 46th in the nation for what the group called the state’s “weak gun laws.” Conversely, according to the Cato Institute’s Freedom in the 50 States, Georgia ranks eighth for gun rights in a category measuring the direct costs of laws to gun owners and dealers.
Among the highest-profile measures to emerge from the Legislature in recent years was Senate Bill 319. Kemp signed the “constitutional carry” measure in April 2022, which allows Georgians to carry guns without needing a state-issued license.
In April 2023, the governor signed House Bill 147, which required “Intruder Alert Drills.” The measure established a voluntary school safety and anti-gang endorsement for current teachers and ensured schools submit safety plans to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.
According to an editorial from state Rep. Steven Sainz, R-St Marys, in 2024, state lawmakers allocated $109 million — $45,000 for each public school in the state — for security upgrades. In 2023, lawmakers allocated $115 million for similar spending.
Another measure, SB 7, sometimes called the “Gangs, Guns, Gone” bill, would have required mandatory minimum sentences in cases where someone used a gun during a violent felony, even if they did not discharge a weapon.
However, critics of the state’s gun landscape, including state Rep. Sandra Scott, D-Rex, point to measures state lawmakers did not pass. In an editorial, Scott pointed to House Resolution 56, which would have acknowledged gun violence as a public health crisis and called for data-driven legislation to address it.
Scott also said HB 366 would mandate gun owners to secure their firearms properly when not in use to prevent unauthorized users, particularly children, from accessing them. HB 553 “would implement temporary ex parte risk protection orders to prevent individuals deemed a threat from accessing firearms, ammunition and weapon carry licenses.”
HB 135 would have held firearm owners responsible if someone used their firearm to commit a crime leading to an injury or death or if a minor used it to make a threat. The measure proposed making violations a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of at least $500.
Other proposed measures would have addressed firearms themselves, including HB 554, which would have barred the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons to individuals under 21. HB 555 would have barred devices that enable rapid fire.
By T.A. DeFeo | The Center Square contributor
