---
title: SB 231. Firearms; activities relating to such that occur at a sport shooting range; negligent acts of a third party involving the use of a weapon, firearm; limit liability of a weapons, firearms, or ammunition manufacturer, trade assoc.
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb231
cite_as: SB 231, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb231
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb231.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb231/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70639
date: 2025-02-21
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.
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previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb230.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb232.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb231.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 231
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-20
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Jason Anavitarte
- Steve Gooch
- Timothy Bearden
- Randy Robertson
- Russ Goodman
- Sam Watson
- Carden Summers
- Drew Echols
- Colton Moore
- Clint Dixon
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB231/2025
upstream_id: 1978486
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- gun laws
- firearms liability
- sport shooting ranges
- local government lawsuits
- gun manufacturers
---
# SB 231. Firearms; activities relating to such that occur at a sport shooting range; negligent acts of a third party involving the use of a weapon, firearm; limit liability of a weapons, firearms, or ammunition manufacturer, trade assoc.
## Text
Senate Bill 231
By: Senators Anavitarte of the 31st, Gooch of the 51st, Bearden of the 30th, Robertson of the
29th, Goodman of the 8th and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 16-11-173 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
legislative findings, preemption of local regulation and lawsuits relative to firearms, and
exceptions, so as to limit liability of a weapons, firearms, or ammunition manufacturer, trade
association, owner or operator of a sport shooting range, or dealer for unlawful, intentional,
or negligent acts of a third party involving the use of a weapon, firearm, or ammunition or
activities relating to such that occur at a sport shooting range; to provide the state with the
exclusive right to bring suit against a weapons, firearms, or ammunition manufacturer, trade
association, owner or operator of a sport shooting range, or dealer on behalf of any state
agency or a local government; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and
for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 16-11-173 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to legislative
findings, preemption of local regulation and lawsuits relative to firearms, and exceptions, is
amended by revising subsection (b) as follows:
"(b)(1) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, no county or municipal
corporation, by zoning, by ordinance or resolution, or by any other means, nor any
agency, board, department, commission, political subdivision, school district, or authority
of this state, other than the General Assembly, by rule or regulation or by any other
means shall regulate in any manner:
(A) Gun shows;
(B) The possession, ownership, transport, carrying, transfer, sale, purchase, licensing,
or registration of firearms or other weapons or components of firearms or other
weapons;
(C) Firearms dealers or dealers of other weapons; or
(D) Dealers in components of firearms or other weapons.
(2) A weapons, firearms, or ammunition manufacturer, trade association, owner or
operator of a sport shooting range, or dealer shall not be held liable as a third party for
unlawful, intentional, or negligent acts of another involving the use of a weapon, firearm,
or ammunition or activities relating to such that occur at a sport shooting range. The
authority to bring suit and right to recover against any weapons, firearms, or ammunition
manufacturer, trade association, owner or operator of a sport shooting range, or dealer by
or on behalf of any governmental unit created by or pursuant to an Act of the General
Assembly or the Constitution, or any department, agency, or authority thereof, for
damages, abatement, or injunctive relief resulting from or relating to the lawful design,
manufacture, marketing, or sale of weapons, firearms, or ammunition to the public or
activities relating to weapons, firearms, or ammunition that occur at a sport shooting
range shall be reserved exclusively to the state. This paragraph shall not prohibit a
political subdivision or local government authority from bringing an action against a
weapons, firearms, or ammunition manufacturer or dealer for breach of contract or
express warranty as to weapons, firearms, or ammunition purchased by the political
subdivision or local government authority."
SECTION 2.
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 Georgia Senate bill would shield gun and ammunition makers, trade groups, dealers, and sport shooting range owners from liability for other people's unlawful, intentional, or negligent acts involving firearms, and would remove local governments' ability to sue them.
### Plain-language summary
Current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 16-11-173) already blocks local governments from regulating guns, gun shows, and dealers, and reserves to the state alone the right to sue gun manufacturers, trade associations, or dealers over the lawful design, marketing, or sale of firearms. This bill expands that protection significantly.
It adds a new rule saying that gun and ammunition manufacturers, trade associations, sport shooting range owners or operators, and dealers cannot be held liable as a third party when someone else acts unlawfully, intentionally, or negligently with a weapon, firearm, or ammunition, including incidents that happen at a shooting range. It also extends the state's exclusive right to sue to cover shooting range owners and activities at ranges. At the same time, it deletes the existing carve-out that let a city, county, or local authority sue a manufacturer or dealer for breach of contract or breach of warranty over firearms the local government itself purchased.
### What it does
- Bars holding gun and ammunition manufacturers, trade associations, dealers, and shooting range owners or operators liable for another person's unlawful, intentional, or negligent acts involving a weapon, firearm, or ammunition.
- Extends that liability shield to cover activities that occur at a sport shooting range.
- Expands the state's exclusive right to sue firearms manufacturers, trade associations, and dealers so it also covers sport shooting range owners and operators and range-related activities.
- Removes the current exception that allowed a city, county, or local government authority to sue a manufacturer or dealer for breach of contract or breach of warranty over firearms it purchased.
- Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with these changes.
### Who it affects
Gun, ammunition, and weapons manufacturers, trade associations, dealers, and sport shooting range owners and operators would gain new legal protections. Local governments, school districts, and other state political subdivisions would lose their ability to sue these businesses, including over contracts they signed for firearms purchases.
### Why it matters
People injured by someone else's misuse of a firearm, or by an incident at a shooting range, would generally not be able to hold the manufacturer, dealer, or range owner responsible in those cases. Local governments would also lose their existing right to sue over firearms purchase contracts, leaving only the state able to bring such claims.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 16-11-173(b)(2), adding language that bars liability for manufacturers, trade associations, sport shooting range owners or operators, and dealers for third parties' unlawful, intentional, or negligent acts involving weapons or ammunition.
- Section 1 also adds sport shooting range owners and operators, and activities occurring at a shooting range, to the category of parties and conduct that only the state may sue over.
- Section 1 deletes the prior exception permitting a political subdivision or local government authority to sue a manufacturer or dealer for breach of contract or express warranty on firearms it purchased.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws, a standard closing provision.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-20)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-02-21)
- Sponsors: Jason Anavitarte, Steve Gooch, Timothy Bearden, Randy Robertson, Russ Goodman, Sam Watson, Carden Summers, Drew Echols, Colton Moore, Clint Dixon
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70639
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb231.md?full=1