SB53: SB53 Department of Public Safety; establishment of a program to educate the public on safe storage of firearms, contingent upon funding; provide

Georgia law currently has no dedicated state program to teach the public about safe firearm storage. This bill would add a new section to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A. § 35-2-17) directing the Department of Public Safety to set one up, but only if the General Assembly provides funding or the department receives money from another source for that purpose. The program could cover laws about how to store a firearm and how to keep people under 18 from accessing one. The department would be allowed to work with the Department of Education to create materials for distribution in schools. The department could also accept federal funds offered by Congress or by executive order, but using those federal funds could not commit state money or require the General Assembly to keep funding the program afterward.

• Creates a new Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 35-2-17) letting the Department of Public Safety run a public education program on safe firearm storage.
• Makes the program contingent on the General Assembly appropriating money or the department receiving other funding for it.
• Allows the program to cover firearm storage laws and ways to prevent people under 18 from accessing firearms.
• Authorizes the department to coordinate with the Department of Education to create storage-safety materials for distribution in schools.
• Permits the department to accept federal funds from Congress or an executive order, while barring that acceptance from committing state funds or obligating future state funding.

The Department of Public Safety, which would run the program if funded; the Department of Education, which could partner on school materials; Georgia schoolchildren and families who might receive storage-safety information; and gun owners who would be the audience for the education campaign.

If funded, Georgians could gain access to state-produced information on storing firearms safely and keeping them away from minors, including materials distributed through schools. Because the program depends entirely on funding being provided, its actual creation and reach remain uncertain under this bill's text.

• Adds new Code section 35-2-17 to Title 35, Chapter 2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, covering the Department of Public Safety's general powers.
• Makes the program 'subject to appropriations by the General Assembly or receipt of other funding,' meaning it need not launch without money.
• Specifies the program may include information on storage laws and preventing access by people under 18, though this list is not exclusive.
• Authorizes coordination with the Department of Education to develop and distribute firearm storage materials in schools.
• Allows acceptance of federal funds granted by Congress or executive order, with a condition that such funds cannot commit state money or bind the General Assembly to continued funding.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-01-29Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-01-28Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Emanuel Jones (D, SD-010)Primary sponsor
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• David Lucas (D, SD-026)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)

• gun safety
• firearm storage
• public safety funding
• school safety
• Department of Public Safety