HB711: HB711 Georgia Firearms and Weapons Act; enact

Georgia law already bans possessing certain dangerous weapons, including machine guns, sawed-off shotguns and rifles, and silencers, under the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) Chapter 11 of Title 16. This bill renames that section of law the 'Georgia Firearms and Weapons Act' and expands the definition of 'dangerous weapon' to specifically include a new category called a 'rapid-fire attachment,' defined as any device that lets a gun fire more than six shots per trigger pull, whether by replacing a stock or grip, bumping the trigger, modifying the trigger's motion, or pushing the trigger back into firing position. Possessing such a device would become a felony punishable by five years in prison, the same penalty that already applies to possessing a machine gun or sawed-off weapon. The bill keeps existing exceptions for police, military members, federal firearms registrants, and licensed nuclear facility security officers. It also updates the enhanced-penalty law for using weapons during certain crimes and a related definition in Georgia's juvenile code to match the new terminology.

• Creates a new legal category, 'rapid-fire attachment' (a device like a bump stock that lets a gun fire faster than normal), and adds it to the definition of 'dangerous weapon.'
• Makes possessing a rapid-fire attachment a felony, punishable by five years in prison, the same as possessing a machine gun or sawed-off shotgun.
• Renames the existing weapons law as the 'Georgia Firearms and Weapons Act' and renumbers several definitions in O.C.G.A. § 16-11-121.
• Updates O.C.G.A. § 16-11-160, the enhanced-penalty law for using certain weapons during a crime, to reference the broader 'dangerous weapon' definition instead of listing weapon types individually.
• Updates a definition in Georgia's juvenile code (O.C.G.A. § 15-11-2) so it matches the revised 'dangerous weapon' definition.
• Keeps existing exceptions for police officers, military members, federal firearms registrants, and licensed nuclear facility security officers, though the nuclear facility exception still excludes silencers.

Gun owners in Georgia who might possess bump stocks or similar rapid-fire attachments, law enforcement and prosecutors who enforce weapons laws, juvenile courts that rely on the weapons definition, and the groups already exempted from the law, including police, military members, federal firearms registrants, and nuclear facility security officers.

If enacted, owning a device that lets a firearm fire faster, such as a bump stock, would become a felony in Georgia carrying a five-year prison sentence, a significant new risk for anyone who currently owns or is considering buying such a device, even though existing bans on machine guns and sawed-off weapons remain unchanged.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 16-11-121 to define 'rapid-fire attachment' as a device that replaces a stock or grip, is affixed to bump the trigger, modifies trigger motion, or pushes the trigger into firing position to increase firing speed.
• Section 1 adds rapid-fire attachments to the list of items covered by the ban on dangerous weapons in O.C.G.A. § 16-11-122 and the criminal penalty in O.C.G.A. § 16-11-123, set at five years' imprisonment upon conviction.
• Section 1 keeps unchanged exceptions in O.C.G.A. § 16-11-124 for peace officers, National Guard and armed forces members, inoperative weapons, National Firearms Act registrants, and licensed nuclear facility security officers.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 16-11-160 so the enhanced penalty for using certain weapons during specified crimes applies based on the broader 'dangerous weapon' definition rather than listing machine guns, sawed-off weapons, and silencer-equipped firearms separately.
• Section 3 updates the juvenile code definition in O.C.G.A. § 15-11-2 to reference the revised 'dangerous weapon or machine gun' definition.
• Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-03-06House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-04House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-03House Hopper (House)

• Sandra Scott (D, HD-076)Primary sponsor
• Viola Davis (D, HD-087)
• Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)

• gun control
• bump stocks
• weapons law
• criminal penalties
• firearms regulation