HB601: HB601 Georgia Gun Safe Act of 2025; enact

Georgia law currently limits some gun sales to minors and has looser storage and carry rules than this bill proposes. House Bill 601 would raise the age at which a minor may possess a handgun or long gun from 18 to 16 in the base rule while adding detailed exceptions, and it would ban anyone under 21 from buying a firearm from a licensed dealer or gun show vendor. It creates a five-day waiting period for buyers under 27, requires background checks (NICS) for all gun show sales, and bans large capacity magazines (over 16 rounds) and 3D-printed firearms outright. It also creates a new Georgia Firearms Registry run by the Secretary of State that would track private sales, gifts, and transfers starting July 1, 2025, sets safe-storage rules for guns left in vehicles or homes accessible to children, extends school safety zones to 500 yards, shortens weapons carry licenses to one year while lowering the fee to $20, and temporarily bans sale of certain semiautomatic 'assault weapons' through January 1, 2036. Separately, it bars hiring or certifying as a peace officer anyone fired from a prior policing job for misconduct.

• Raises the base age for possessing a handgun or long gun from under 18 to under 16 years old, while keeping listed exceptions such as hunting, target shooting, and parental supervision on private property.
• Bans purchase or transfer of firearms to anyone under 21 by licensed dealers, importers, manufacturers, or gun show vendors, and adds a five-day waiting period for buyers under 27.
• Creates the Georgia Firearms Registry, requiring anyone who buys, inherits, or receives a firearm in Georgia after July 1, 2025 to register it with the Secretary of State within 30 days.
• Bans possession of large capacity magazines (over 16 rounds) and 3D-printed firearms, and temporarily bans dealer sales of defined 'assault weapons' from July 1, 2025 through January 1, 2036.
• Sets new safe-storage requirements for firearms left in vehicles or in homes where a child could access them, and requires ammunition be stored separately from the firearm.
• Shortens weapons carry licenses from five years to one year, lowers the application fee from $30 to $20, and bars hiring or certifying peace officers who were fired for misconduct in a prior policing job.

Gun owners and buyers of all ages, especially those under 27 and under 21, firearm dealers and gun show vendors, probate court judges who issue carry licenses, parents and legal guardians of minors, school districts near expanded safety zones, and law enforcement agencies that hire or certify peace officers.

Georgians who buy, sell, store, or carry firearms would face new age limits, waiting periods, registration deadlines, and storage rules, while some gun models and high-capacity magazines would become illegal to possess. Police departments would also be barred from hiring officers previously fired for misconduct elsewhere.

• Section 2 raises penalties for adults who sell or furnish handguns or long guns to minors and revises when parents may legally allow a minor to possess one.
• Section 3 makes it a five-year felony to print or produce a 3D-printed firearm in Georgia.
• Section 4 bans possession of large capacity magazines (over 16 rounds), defining exceptions for permanently altered devices and tubular lever-action magazines.
• Section 7 expands school safety zones to within 500 yards of school property, up from the prior boundary.
• Section 8 shortens weapons carry licenses to one year (from five) and lowers the fee to $20, with special renewal rules for active-duty service members.
• Section 12 establishes the Georgia Firearms Registry and requires registration of firearm purchases or transfers within 30 days after July 1, 2025, with escalating misdemeanor and felony penalties for noncompliance.
• Section 15 bars dealers from selling or transferring firearms to anyone under 21 and imposes a five-business-day waiting period for buyers under 27.
• Section 16 defines 'assault weapon' in detail and bans dealer sales of such weapons from July 1, 2025 through January 1, 2036.

1. 2025-02-27House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-26House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Derrick Jackson (D, HD-068)Primary sponsor
• Michelle Au (D, HD-050)
• Billy Mitchell (D, HD-088)
• Saira Draper (D, HD-090)
• Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-042)

• gun control
• firearm sales
• school safety zones
• weapons carry license
• police hiring standards