---
title: HB 1454. Crimes and offenses; firearms and carrying and possession of firearms and other weapons; revise various laws
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1454
cite_as: HB 1454, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1454
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1454.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1454/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73627
date: 2026-03-03
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1453.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1455.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 199
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1454.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1454
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-25
last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
sponsors:
- Jason Ridley
- John Corbett
- Noel Williams
- Trey Rhodes
- Charles Cannon
- Lauren McDonald
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1454/2025
upstream_id: 2124790
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- gun rights
- firearms databases
- local gun ordinances
- unclaimed property
- gun sales
---
# HB 1454. Crimes and offenses; firearms and carrying and possession of firearms and other weapons; revise various laws
## Text
The House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security offers the following
substitute to HB 1454:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to crimes and
offenses, so as to revise various laws pertaining to firearms and the carrying and possession
of firearms and other weapons; to revise the database prohibition; to provide for relief; to
provide for a preemption for the discharge of firearms under certain circumstances; to amend
Title 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to criminal procedure, so as to
revise requirements for the disposition of firearms in custody of law enforcement agencies;
to provide for causes of action; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and
for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to crimes and offenses, is
amended in Code Section 16-11-129, relating to weapons carry license, gun safety
information, temporary renewal permit, mandamus, and verification of license, by revising
subsection (k) as follows:
"(k) Database Data base prohibition.
(1) As used in this subsection, the term:
(A) 'Government entity' means an office, agency, authority, department, commission,
board, body, division, instrumentality, or institution of the state or of any county,
municipal corporation, or consolidated government within this state.
(B) 'Multijurisdictional data base database' means a data base database of information
shared between or among more than one government entity or between or among a
government entity and any office, agency, authority, department, commission, board,
body, division, instrumentality, or institution of the United States or of any other state.
(2) No person or government entity shall knowingly and willfully:
(A) Create or maintain a multijurisdictional data base database regarding persons
issued or who have applied for weapons carry licenses; or
(B) Keep, or cause to be kept, any list, record, or registry of privately owned firearms
or owners of such firearms; provided, however, that nothing in this subparagraph shall
prohibit a person from keeping, or causing to be kept, any list, record, or registry of
firearms owned by such person.
(3) Any person aggrieved by a violation of this subsection may bring an action for relief.
Such person who proves by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she is or was
contained in such a multijurisdictional database or in a list, record, or registry as forth in
paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be entitled to obtain, in addition to appropriate
declaratory or injunctive relief:
(A) One hundred dollars or actual damages, whichever is greater; and
(B) Expenses of litigation, including costs and reasonable attorney's fees."
SECTION 2.
Said title is further amended by revising subsection (e) of Code Section 16-11-173, relating
to legislative findings, preemption of local regulation and lawsuits, and exceptions, as
follows:
"(e)(1) Except as provided for in paragraph (2) of this subsection, nothing Nothing
contained in this Code section shall prohibit municipalities, or counties, or consolidated
governments, by ordinance or resolution, from reasonably limiting or prohibiting the
discharge of firearms within the boundaries of the municipal corporation, or county, or
consolidated government.
(2) No municipality, county, or consolidated government shall prohibit the discharge of
firearms on a parcel of land that is five acres or more in size, provided that the owner or
lawful occupants of such land consent to such discharging of firearms. Nothing in this
paragraph shall preempt a zoning ordinance which prohibits or limits commercial
shooting ranges or other commercial activity upon such parcel."
SECTION 3.
Title 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to criminal procedure, is
amended by revising subsection (g) of Code Section 17-5-54, relating to disposition of
personal property in custody of law enforcement agency, as follows:
"(g)(1) With respect to unclaimed firearms, if the sheriff, chief of police, agency director,
or designee of such official certifies that a firearm is unsafe because of wear, damage,
age, or modification or because any federal or state law prohibits the sale or distribution
of such firearm, at the discretion of such official, it shall be transferred to the Division of
Forensic Sciences of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, a municipal or county law
enforcement forensic laboratory for training or experimental purposes, or be destroyed.
(2) Otherwise, an unclaimed firearm:
(A) Possessed by a municipal corporation shall be disposed of as provided for in Code
Section 36-37-6; provided, however, that municipal corporations shall not have the
right to reject any bids or to cancel any proposed sale of such firearms, and all sales
shall may be to persons any person, but the transfer of such firearms shall only be to
persons, specified by the winning bidders, who are licensed as firearms collectors,
dealers, importers, or manufacturers under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. Section 921, et
seq., and who are authorized to receive such firearms under the terms of such license.
The municipal corporation shall dispose of all such firearms at least once every 12
months during any time in which the municipal corporation has an inventory of five or
more firearms. If a municipal corporation does not dispose of such firearms as required
by this Code section, a person interested in acquiring any such firearms may bring an
action in mandamus or other legal proceeding to compel the disposition. A person who
has been unable to acquire a firearm because of the municipal corporation's failure to
dispose of the firearm pursuant to this Code section shall, in addition to any other relief
to which he or she is entitled, be entitled to actual damages or $100.00, whichever is
greater. A prevailing plaintiff in such an action shall be entitled to his or her costs,
including reasonable attorney's fees; or
(B) Possessed by the state or a political subdivision other than a municipal corporation,
shall be disposed of by sale at public auction. While any person may bid at auction, the
transfer of such firearms shall only be to persons, specified by the winning bidders, who
are licensed as firearms collectors, dealers, importers, or manufacturers under the
provisions of 18 U.S.C. Section 921, et seq., and who are authorized to receive such
firearms under the terms of such license. Auctions required by this subparagraph may
occur online on a rolling basis or at live events, but in no event shall such auctions
occur less frequently than once every 12 months during any time in which the political
subdivision or state custodial agency has an inventory of five or more saleable firearms.
If the state or a political subdivision other than a municipal corporation does not
dispose of such firearms as required by this Code section, a person interested in
acquiring any such firearms may bring an action in mandamus or other legal proceeding
to compel the disposition. A person who has been unable to acquire a firearm because
of the state or such political subdivision's failure to dispose of the firearm pursuant to
this Code section shall, in addition to any other relief to which he or she is entitled, be
entitled to actual damages or $100.00, whichever is greater. A prevailing plaintiff in
such an action shall be entitled to his or her costs, including reasonable attorney's fees.
(3) If no bids from eligible recipients are received within six months from when bidding
opened on a firearm offered for sale pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection, the
firearm shall be transferred to the Division of Forensic Sciences of the Georgia Bureau
of Investigation, a municipal or county law enforcement forensic laboratory for training
or experimental purposes, or be destroyed."
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A House committee substitute to HB 1454 would let Georgians sue if their names end up in a gun registry, let counties and cities allow gun discharge on large rural properties, and force local governments to sell off unclaimed firearms on a regular schedule.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law already bans government agencies from keeping lists or shared databases of gun owners or weapons carry license holders, but currently offers no way to enforce that ban. This bill adds a legal remedy: anyone who proves they were wrongly listed in such a database or registry could sue and collect at least $100 (or actual damages) plus attorney's fees.
The bill also changes local gun discharge rules. Cities, counties, and consolidated governments could still limit firing guns within their borders, but they could no longer ban discharge on privately owned parcels of five acres or more if the landowner consents, though zoning limits on commercial shooting ranges would still apply.
Finally, it tightens rules for police departments and other agencies disposing of unclaimed firearms. Municipalities and other government bodies must auction or sell unclaimed guns to licensed dealers at least once every 12 months once they have five or more firearms in inventory, and buyers unable to get a firearm because an agency failed to follow this schedule could sue for damages of at least $100 plus legal costs.
### What it does
- Creates a lawsuit remedy for people wrongly placed in a multijurisdictional gun database or a firearms registry, allowing at least $100 in damages plus attorney's fees (O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129).
- Allows cities, counties, and consolidated governments to keep regulating gun discharge generally, but bars them from prohibiting discharge on private parcels of five acres or more with landowner consent (O.C.G.A. § 16-11-173).
- Preserves local zoning power over commercial shooting ranges even on those larger rural parcels.
- Requires municipalities and other government bodies to auction or sell unclaimed firearms to licensed dealers at least once every 12 months once they hold five or more guns (O.C.G.A. § 17-5-54).
- Creates a new lawsuit for people unable to buy a firearm because a government agency failed to hold required disposal auctions, entitling them to at least $100 in damages plus attorney's fees and costs.
- Lets winning bidders at firearm auctions direct the actual transfer to another licensed dealer, collector, importer, or manufacturer rather than only to themselves.
### Who it affects
Weapons carry license holders and firearm owners concerned about being tracked in government databases, rural landowners who want to allow shooting on their property, city and county governments that regulate gun discharge or store unclaimed firearms, and licensed firearms dealers who buy guns at government auctions.
### Why it matters
People wrongly listed in a gun database could now collect money damages instead of having no recourse. Rural landowners would gain a clearer right to allow shooting on large tracts despite local ordinances. Local agencies would face a firm deadline and lawsuit risk for clearing out unclaimed firearms, changing how police departments manage seized gun inventories.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites the database prohibition in O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(k), letting anyone proven to be in a banned gun database or registry sue for at least $100 or actual damages, plus litigation costs and attorney's fees.
- Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 16-11-173(e) so local governments cannot ban firearm discharge on parcels of five acres or more with owner consent, while keeping their power to limit discharge elsewhere and to zone commercial shooting ranges.
- Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 17-5-54(g), requiring municipalities and other government bodies to dispose of unclaimed firearms with an inventory of five or more at least once every 12 months through sale or auction to licensed dealers.
- Section 3 also creates a mandamus and damages remedy ($100 or actual damages, plus costs and attorney's fees) for people unable to acquire a firearm because a government agency missed its disposal deadline.
- Section 3 allows winning bidders at firearm auctions to direct that guns be transferred to another licensed collector, dealer, importer, or manufacturer rather than only to the bidder personally.
- Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-25)
- Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (2026-03-03)
- Sponsors: Jason Ridley, John Corbett, Noel Williams, Trey Rhodes, Charles Cannon, Lauren McDonald
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73627
> The history, votes, and amendments (199 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1454.md?full=1