HB4: HB4 Brady Law Regulations; three-day waiting period for purchase or transfer of certain firearms; require

Under current Georgia law, licensed gun dealers can complete a sale once a background check clears, often within minutes. House Bill 4 would add a new waiting period rule to Georgia's Brady Law Regulations (O.C.G.A. § 16-11-172.1). A licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer could not finish a firearm purchase or transfer until the third day after it began, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or state and federal holidays, even if the required background check clears sooner. The waiting period would not apply to people who already hold a Georgia weapons carry license or to certain other buyers described in existing law. Dealers would have to keep records open for law enforcement inspection during business hours for criminal investigations. Violating the waiting period, or lying to get around it, would be a felony punishable by one to five years in prison. The bill repeals any conflicting laws but does not state a separate effective date.

• Adds a new Georgia Code section requiring licensed dealers, importers, and manufacturers to wait three business days before completing a firearm purchase or transfer.
• Excludes weekends and state or federal holidays from the three-day count, so the actual wait could span longer than three calendar days.
• Allows the required background check (NICS check) to happen during the waiting period but does not let it shorten the wait.
• Exempts sales or transfers to holders of a Georgia weapons carry license and to certain other buyers listed under existing law.
• Requires dealers to make sales records available to law enforcement during business hours for criminal investigations.
• Makes it a felony, punishable by one to five years in prison, for a dealer to violate the waiting period or for a buyer to use fraud to get around it.

Licensed Georgia firearm importers, manufacturers, and dealers who sell or transfer guns; people buying or receiving firearms from them; holders of Georgia weapons carry licenses, who would be exempt; and local law enforcement agencies that would gain inspection access to dealer records.

Gun buyers without a weapons carry license would face a multi-day delay, often longer than three calendar days once weekends and holidays are excluded, before taking possession of a firearm even after passing a background check. Dealers who skip the wait, or buyers who lie to avoid it, would risk felony prosecution.

• Section 1 adds new Code Section 16-11-172.1 to Georgia's Brady Law Regulations (Part 5, Article 4, Chapter 11, Title 16).
• Subsection (a) bars completion of a licensed firearm purchase or transfer until the third business day after it starts, excluding weekends and holidays, and allows the NICS background check to run during that window.
• Subsection (b) requires dealers, importers, and manufacturers to make sales records available to law enforcement during business hours for criminal investigations.
• Subsection (c) exempts sales to holders of a weapons carry license under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129 and to people covered under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-130.
• Subsection (d) makes violations by dealers, or fraud by buyers to evade the waiting period, a felony punishable by one to five years in prison.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting state laws.

1. 2025-01-15House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-01-14House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-01-13House Hopper (House)

• Michelle Au (D, HD-050)Primary sponsor
• Long Tran (D, HD-080)
• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)
• Saira Draper (D, HD-090)
• Ruwa Romman (D, HD-097)
• Samuel Park (D, HD-107)

• gun control
• firearm waiting period
• gun sales regulation
• weapons carry license
• criminal penalties