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Read. Follow. Verify.Georgia Gun Safe Act of 2025 Enacts Gun Sales Restrictions, Storage Rules, and Registry
Last action · February 27, 2025: House Second ReadersSponsors: Derrick Jackson and 4 others
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What This Bill Proposed
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16, Chapter 8 of Title 35, and Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 38 of the O.C.G.A., relating to dangerous instrumentalities and practices, the employment and training of peace officers, and organization and administration relative to emergency management, respectively, so as to broadly increase the regulation surrounding gun sales and ownership; to provide for definitions; to provide for conforming changes; to provide for related matters; to provide for a short title; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Residents face new mandates regarding how firearms must be stored at home and in vehicles, annual renewals for weapons carry licenses with a reduced fee, expanded s extending 500 yards, and mandatory registration of firearm purchases and transfers beginning July 1, 2025.
- Georgia previously maintained a five-year validity period for weapons carry licenses and did not require a state-level registry of firearm sales and transfers. context
- House Bill 601 was introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives during the 2025-26 legislative session and assigned to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Firearm owners and purchasers
Must register firearms acquired after July 1, 2025, adhere to strict vehicle and home storage rules, renew weapons carry licenses annually, and face age-based purchasing restrictions and waiting periods.
Licensed firearm dealers and gun show vendors
Subject to mandatory NICS background checks at gun shows, prohibited from selling firearms to individuals under 21, required to observe a five-day waiting period for buyers under 27, and barred from selling assault weapons through January 1, 2036.
Peace officers and law enforcement agencies
Prohibited from hiring or certifying any individual previously terminated for peace officer misconduct, and required to inspect dealer and vendor records during criminal investigations.
Minors under 18 years of age
Prohibited from possessing or controlling handguns or long guns under the age of 16, and restricted from possessing them under 18 without parental supervision or specific statutory exceptions.
Key Facts
- Establishes the Georgia Firearms Registry, maintained by the Secretary of State, requiring registration of all firearms purchased, gifted, inherited, or acquired after July 1, 2025, within 30 days of purchase or return to the state.
- Prohibits the sale or transfer of assault weapons by licensed importers, manufacturers, dealers, or gun show vendors in Georgia from July 1, 2025, through January 1, 2036.
- Prohibits the sale or transfer of firearms to any individual under 21 years of age.
- Requires a five-day waiting period for firearm purchases or transfers to individuals under 27 years of age.
Show all 12 facts
- Changes the validity period of weapons carry licenses from five years to one year while reducing the application fee from $30.00 to $20.00.
- Expands school safety zones to include real property or buildings within 500 yards of public or private elementary schools, secondary schools, local boards of education, and postsecondary institutions.
- Requires firearms stored in motor vehicles to be unloaded and enclosed in a fastened case or in the closed trunk.
- Mandates that when a firearm owner is not present or when a child's access is reasonably likely, firearms must be secured with a hardened steel rod/cable through the trigger guard or stored in a locked fireproof safe/vault, with ammunition stored separately.
- Prohibits hiring or certifying any individual as a peace officer who has been terminated for misconduct related to previous employment as a peace officer.
- Bans the production, printing, or possession of 3D printed firearms not licensed by the ATF, punishable by a five-year prison sentence.
- Defines 'large capacity magazine' as any ammunition feeding device holding more than 16 rounds, with specific exceptions.
- Subjects all transfers or purchases of firearms at gun shows (events with 25 or more firearms offered) to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Frequently Asked Questions
When must I register a firearm acquired after July 1, 2025?
Are there age restrictions for purchasing firearms under this bill?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · introduced in the House.
Procedural history
3 actions- Feb 27, 2025HouseHouse Second Readers
- Feb 26, 2025HouseIntroducedHouse First Readers
- Feb 24, 2025HouseIntroducedHouse Hopper
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Major Overhaul of Firearms Regulation in Georgia
The bill shifts Georgia from a five-year weapons carry license model to a one-year renewal while introducing a centralized state firearms registry and comprehensive restrictions on sales to young adults.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.ga.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 90)
- Controversy85Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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