HB 508: Crimes and offenses; prohibit sale, transfer, use, possession, importation, or manufacture of certain firearms and magazines

Georgia currently has no state law banning specific semiautomatic rifles or large-capacity magazines. This bill would add a new section to Georgia's firearms law (O.C.G.A. § 16-11-139) making it illegal to own, possess, use, sell, import, or manufacture a 'semiautomatic assault weapon,' defined as a center-fire rifle that can use a magazine holding more than 20 rounds, or such a magazine itself. People who already own one of these weapons or magazines before July 1, 2025 could keep it if it is securely stored in a locked container with a trigger lock. Owners could still sell or transfer a weapon (but not a magazine) if a licensed dealer runs a federal background check on the buyer. Law enforcement, certified peace officers, and certain nuclear facility security officers are exempt. Violations are misdemeanors with fines up to $500, escalating to a more serious misdemeanor and possible loss of hunting rights for repeat offenses, and the weapons involved could be seized through civil forfeiture. The law would take effect July 1, 2025.

• Bans owning, possessing, using, selling, importing, or manufacturing semiautomatic rifles that can use a magazine holding more than 20 rounds, called 'semiautomatic assault weapons.'
• Bans owning, possessing, using, selling, importing, or manufacturing magazines and similar feeding devices that hold more than 20 rounds and fit these rifles.
• Allows people who already owned these weapons before July 1, 2025 to keep them if stored in a locked container with a trigger lock, and allows sale only after a dealer-run background check on the buyer.
• Allows people who already owned the oversized magazines before July 1, 2025 to keep them but bars any future sale or transfer of those magazines.
• Exempts law enforcement agencies, certified peace officers (active or retired), and certain nuclear facility security officers from the ban.
• Sets misdemeanor fines up to $250 for a first offense and $500 for a second, and makes a third or later offense a more serious misdemeanor with possible loss of hunting rights, plus civil forfeiture of the weapon or magazine.

Gun owners and prospective buyers of certain semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines in Georgia, firearms dealers who would run background checks on sales of grandfathered weapons, law enforcement agencies and active or retired peace officers, and security officers at nuclear power facilities.

Georgians who own qualifying rifles or magazines would face new storage and sale restrictions, and anyone acquiring new ones after July 1, 2025 could face criminal charges. The bill would change what firearms and magazines can legally be bought, sold, or made in the state going forward.

• Section 1 states legislative findings that semiautomatic rifles using high-capacity magazines pose a public safety threat and have been used in mass shootings.
• Section 2 adds new Code Section 16-11-139 defining 'semiautomatic assault weapon' as a center-fire rifle capable of using a magazine with more than 20 rounds, excluding rimfire weapons.
• Subsection (c) lets pre-July 1, 2025 owners keep a covered rifle if securely stored, and sell it only after a dealer conducts a federal background check on the buyer.
• Subsection (e) lets pre-July 1, 2025 owners keep oversized magazines but bans any future sale or transfer of them.
• Subsection (f) exempts law enforcement agencies, certified peace officers, retired certified peace officers, and certain nuclear facility security officers.
• Subsection (h) sets penalties: misdemeanor fines up to $250 for a first offense and $500 for a second, a more serious misdemeanor with possible loss of hunting rights for a third or later offense, and civil forfeiture of the weapon or magazine.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.

1. 2025-02-21House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-20House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-19House Hopper (House)

• Derrick Jackson (D, HD-068)Primary sponsor
• Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)
• Viola Davis (D, HD-087)
• Eric Bell (D, HD-075)
• L.C. Myles (D, HD-126)

• gun control
• assault weapons ban
• high-capacity magazines
• firearm possession laws
• public safety