HB3: HB3 Brady Law Regulations; require universal background checks in all manner of firearm transfers

Under current Georgia law, background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) are generally required only when a licensed firearms dealer sells a gun. Private, unlicensed sellers and individuals giving or trading firearms to each other are not required to run a background check. House Bill 3 would change that by requiring that almost all firearm transfers between unlicensed people go through a licensed dealer, who would run the same NICS background check and recordkeeping process used for a normal store sale. The dealer could charge a reasonable fee for this service. The bill lists several exceptions, including antique firearms, transfers to law enforcement or the military, transfers between close family members, temporary transfers to prevent imminent harm, and transfers at shooting ranges or for hunting, trapping, or fishing, as long as the person handing over the gun has no reason to believe the receiver is barred from having one. Violating the law would be a misdemeanor for a first offense and a felony carrying one to three years in prison for later offenses. The requirement would apply only to transfers completed on or after July 1, 2025.

• Requires that firearm transfers between unlicensed people be facilitated by a licensed dealer, who must run an NICS background check as if selling from their own inventory.
• Bars a dealer from completing a transfer if the background check shows the intended recipient is legally prohibited from having a firearm, and requires the gun be returned to the sender unless the sender is also prohibited.
• Allows dealers to charge a reasonable fee for facilitating these background-check transfers.
• Creates specific exceptions for antique and curio firearms, law enforcement and military transfers, close family transfers, emergency transfers, and range, hunting, trapping, or fishing transfers.
• Makes a first violation a misdemeanor and a second or later violation a felony punishable by one to three years in prison.
• Applies only to firearm transfers completed on or after July 1, 2025.

The bill affects private individuals who buy, sell, or give firearms to each other outside of licensed dealers, licensed firearms dealers who would facilitate these transfers and run background checks, and law enforcement, military members, and family members who fall under the bill's listed exceptions.

Georgians who currently give, sell, or trade firearms privately without a background check would generally have to route that transfer through a licensed dealer and pay a fee, while people who violate the requirement could face jail time on a repeat offense. Certain family, hunting, and emergency transfers would remain unaffected.

• Section 1 rewrites the definitions section (O.C.G.A. § 16-11-171) to add terms like transferor, transferee, and unlicensed person, laying groundwork for the new universal background check requirement.
• Section 2 creates new Code Section 16-11-174, requiring that any transfer of a firearm by an unlicensed person be facilitated by a dealer who performs an NICS background check and follows the same procedures used for dealer inventory sales.
• Section 2(b) directs the dealer to deliver the firearm if the check clears, or to withhold and return it to the transferor if the check flags the transferee, unless the transferor is also prohibited from having a firearm.
• Section 2(c) allows the dealer to charge a reasonable fee for facilitating the transfer.
• Section 2(d) lists eight categories of exempt transfers, including antiques, law enforcement and military transfers, close family transfers, estate transfers, emergency transfers, repair transfers, and range or hunting-related transfers.
• Section 2(e) sets penalties: a misdemeanor for a first knowing violation and a felony with one to three years imprisonment for later violations.
• Section 2(f) makes the new requirement effective for transfers completed on or after July 1, 2025.

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
• Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)
• Samuel Park (D, HD-107)
• Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
• Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)

• gun laws
• background checks
• firearm transfers
• criminal penalties
• Brady Law