HB 4: Brady Law Regulations; three-day waiting period for purchase or transfer of certain firearms; require

Under current Georgia law, a licensed firearm dealer can complete a sale as soon as the required background check (NICS check) clears. This bill would add a new waiting period on top of that check. Licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers could not complete a purchase or transfer until the third day after it began, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or state and federal holidays. The background check could still happen during that window. The waiting period would not apply to people who already hold a Georgia weapons carry license (O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129) or to certain other people covered under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-130. Dealers would have to make their sales records available to law enforcement during normal business hours for criminal investigations. A dealer that violates the waiting period, or a buyer who uses fraud to get around it, would be guilty of a felony punishable by one to five years in prison.

• Adds a new Georgia code section requiring licensed dealers to wait until the third business day (excluding weekends and holidays) before completing a firearm purchase or transfer.
• Allows the required federal background check (NICS check) to take place at any point during the three day waiting window.
• Exempts sales to people who hold a Georgia weapons carry license or who qualify under a separate existing exemption in O.C.G.A. § 16-11-130.
• Requires licensed dealers to make sales records available to law enforcement during normal business hours for criminal investigations.
• Makes it a felony, punishable by one to five years in prison, for a dealer to violate the waiting period or for a buyer to use fraud to dodge it.

Licensed firearm importers, manufacturers, and dealers in Georgia; anyone buying or receiving a transferred firearm from a licensed dealer; people who already hold a Georgia weapons carry license, who would be exempt; and law enforcement agencies conducting criminal investigations.

Georgians buying firearms from licensed dealers would generally have to wait several extra business days before taking possession, unless they hold a weapons carry license. Dealers would face new recordkeeping duties and felony liability for violations, changing how quickly and under what conditions firearm sales can be completed.

• Section 1 adds new Code Section 16-11-172.1 to Part 5 of Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16, creating the three day waiting period.
• Subsection (a) sets the waiting period as ending on the third day after a purchase or transfer begins, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and state or federal holidays, while allowing the background check to run during that time.
• Subsection (b) requires dealers to make records available for law enforcement inspection during normal business hours for criminal investigations.
• Subsection (c) exempts weapons carry license holders and people covered under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-130 from the waiting period.
• Subsection (d) makes violations by dealers, or fraud by buyers to avoid the waiting period, a felony punishable by one to five years in prison.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

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
• Long Tran (D, HD-080)
• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)
• Saira Draper (D, HD-090)
• Ruwa Romman (D, HD-097)
• Samuel Park (D, HD-107)

• gun control
• firearm purchases
• waiting period
• criminal penalties
• weapons carry license