SB 19: Brady Law Regulations; purchase or transfer of certain firearms; require a ten-day waiting period

Georgia currently has no statewide waiting period for buying a firearm from a licensed dealer. This bill adds a detailed legal definition of 'semiautomatic assault weapon' to the state's Brady Law Regulations (O.C.G.A. § 16-11-171), covering certain rifles, shotguns, and pistols with features like folding stocks, pistol grips, flash suppressors, or detachable magazines that meet specific criteria. The bill then adds a new Code section, 16-11-172.1, requiring licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers to wait ten business days (excluding weekends and holidays) before completing any sale or transfer of a weapon meeting that definition. Dealers must keep records available for law enforcement inspection. The waiting period would not apply to people who already hold a Georgia weapons carry license or to certain other exempt purchasers. Dealers who violate the waiting period, or buyers who use fraud to get around it, would be guilty of a felony punishable by one to five years in prison.

• Adds a new legal definition of 'semiautomatic assault weapon' covering specific rifles, shotguns, and pistols with combinations of features like detachable magazines, folding stocks, or flash suppressors.
• Creates a new ten-business-day waiting period before a licensed dealer, importer, or manufacturer can complete the sale or transfer of a weapon that fits that definition.
• Exempts people who already hold a Georgia weapons carry license, and certain other exempt persons under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-130, from the waiting period.
• Requires dealers to keep transfer records available for law enforcement to inspect during normal business hours.
• 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.

Gun dealers, importers, and manufacturers licensed under federal law; Georgians buying or receiving semiautomatic rifles, shotguns, or pistols that meet the bill's definition; holders of Georgia weapons carry licenses, who are exempt; and law enforcement agencies, which gain inspection access to dealer records.

Buyers of firearms meeting the bill's 'semiautomatic assault weapon' definition would have to wait ten business days to complete a purchase from a licensed dealer, unless they already hold a carry license. Dealers face new record-keeping duties and felony liability for skirting the waiting period.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 16-11-171 to add definitions of 'pistol grip' and 'semiautomatic assault weapon,' listing specific rifle, shotgun, and pistol features that qualify.
• Section 2 adds new Code Section 16-11-172.1(a), requiring a ten-business-day wait before a licensed dealer, importer, or manufacturer can complete a sale or transfer of a qualifying weapon.
• Section 2 also adds subsection (b), requiring dealers to make records available to law enforcement for criminal investigations during normal business hours.
• Section 2 exempts weapons carry license holders and persons covered by O.C.G.A. § 16-11-130 from the waiting period under subsection (c).
• Section 2 sets a felony penalty of one to five years in prison for dealers who violate the waiting period or buyers who use fraud to avoid it, under subsection (d).
• Section 3 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2025-01-17Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-01-16Senate Hopper (Senate)

• David Lucas (D, SD-026)Primary sponsor
• Emanuel Jones (D, SD-010)
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)

• gun control
• waiting period
• assault weapons
• firearm regulations
• gun dealers