HB 601: Georgia Gun Safe Act of 2025; enact

This bill amends several parts of Georgia law dealing with guns, peace officer hiring, and emergency powers. It expands the crime of furnishing a handgun or long gun to a minor, bans 3D printed firearms and magazines holding more than 16 rounds, and raises the age at which a minor can possess a handgun or long gun (a flat ban under 16, with supervised exceptions up to 18). It creates a new Georgia Firearms Registry run by the Secretary of State, requiring most firearm purchases, gifts, and transfers by Georgia residents after July 1, 2025 to be registered within 30 days. It sets new safe storage rules for guns left in vehicles or unattended, requires ammunition to be stored separately, and applies federal background checks to gun show sales. It bars gun sales to anyone under 21, imposes a five-day waiting period for buyers under 27, and bans sales of a defined list of 'assault weapons' from July 1, 2025 through January 1, 2036. It also shortens weapons carry licenses to one-year terms, lowers the license fee to $20, extends school safety zones to 500 yards from campus property, and bars agencies from certifying or hiring a peace officer previously fired for misconduct in a law enforcement job.

• Expands the offense of selling or furnishing a handgun or long gun to a minor and toughens rules on parents who knowingly let a minor with a violent history possess one.
• Makes it a crime to print or possess a 3D printed firearm or to possess a large capacity magazine holding more than 16 rounds, punishable by up to five years in prison.
• Creates the Georgia Firearms Registry, requiring most firearm purchases, transfers, gifts and inheritances by Georgia residents after July 1, 2025 to be registered within 30 days.
• Sets new safe storage requirements for firearms left in vehicles, when the owner is away, or when a child could reasonably access the gun, and requires ammunition to be stored separately.
• Applies national background checks to firearm sales at gun shows, bars gun sales to anyone under 21, and imposes a five-day waiting period for buyers under 27.
• Bans the sale of a list of defined 'assault weapons' by licensed dealers from July 1, 2025 through January 1, 2036, and bars hiring or certifying a peace officer previously fired for job-related misconduct.

Gun owners and buyers of all ages, parents and guardians of minors, firearm dealers and gun show vendors, probate court judges who issue carry licenses, current weapons carry license holders, school administrators overseeing school safety zones, and law enforcement agencies that hire or certify peace officers.

Gun owners would face new registration, storage, and licensing paperwork, including annual license renewals and a lower $20 fee. Younger buyers would face a minimum purchase age of 21 and waiting periods, sellers would face new background-check and sales restrictions, and school zones would expand well beyond campus boundaries.

• Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 16-11-101.1 to criminalize selling or furnishing a handgun or long gun to a minor and expand parental liability, with penalties up to $5,000 and five years in prison.
• Section 3 creates a new crime for producing a 3D printed firearm, punishable by five years imprisonment.
• Section 4 bans possession of large capacity magazines (over 16 rounds) and 3D printed firearms alongside existing bans on machine guns and sawed-off weapons.
• Section 7 expands 'school safety zones' to cover real property within 500 yards of a school, rather than just on school grounds.
• Section 8 shortens weapons carry licenses from five years to one year and lowers the application fee from $30 to $20.
• Section 10 bans anyone under 16 from possessing a handgun or long gun outright and sets separate rules and penalties for those under 18 without supervision.
• Sections 12 create the Georgia Firearms Registry and new safe-storage and ammunition-separation requirements, with misdemeanor and felony penalties for violations.
• Sections 15 and 16 bar firearm sales to people under 21, impose a five-day waiting period for buyers under 27, and ban sales of defined 'assault 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-68)Primary sponsor
• Michelle Au (D, HD-50)
• Billy Mitchell (D, HD-88)
• Saira Draper (D, HD-90)
• Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-42)

• gun control
• firearms registry
• weapons carry license
• assault weapons ban
• school safety zones