SB 49: Carrying and Possession of Firearms; offense of making a firearm accessible to a child; establish

Georgia currently has a law about children carrying or possessing firearms, but no specific offense targeting adults who leave loaded guns accessible to kids. This bill adds a new Code section making it a crime when a child under 17 gains access to a loaded ('readily dischargeable') firearm because a person carelessly failed to secure it or left it somewhere the person knew or should have known the child could reach. The bill lists affirmative defenses, including supervised hunting or sporting use, self-defense by the child, or the child trespassing to get the gun. A basic violation is a misdemeanor, but it becomes a more serious 'misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature' if the child discharges the gun and someone dies or is seriously hurt. Family members of a child who is killed or seriously hurt by the discharge cannot be arrested until at least seven days after the incident. The bill also requires firearm dealers to post a warning sign about unsecured firearms, with a fine of up to $500 for failing to do so.

• Creates a new crime for adults who fail to secure a loaded firearm or leave it where a child under 17 can access it, when the adult acted with criminal negligence.
• Sets three affirmative defenses: supervised lawful use like hunting, lawful self-defense by the child, or the child trespassing to get the gun.
• Raises the penalty from a basic misdemeanor to a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature if the child discharges the firearm and causes death or serious injury.
• Delays arrest of a family member for at least seven days if the child's discharge of the firearm caused the child's own death or serious injury.
• Requires firearm dealers to post a conspicuous warning sign, in one-inch block letters, about the danger of leaving unsecured firearms where children can reach them, backed by a fine of up to $500 for noncompliance.

Parents, grandparents, and other adults who keep firearms in homes with children under 17; children who might access an unsecured gun; firearm dealers who must post the new warning sign; and law enforcement and prosecutors who would enforce the new offense.

Adults who keep loaded firearms accessible to children could face new criminal charges, with harsher consequences if a child is hurt or killed by the gun. Firearm dealers would face a new signage duty and a fine for skipping it, and grieving family members would get a short arrest delay after a child's accidental discharge.

• Adds new Code Section 16-11-132.1 defining 'child' (under 17), 'dealer,' 'family,' 'readily dischargeable firearm,' and 'secure.'
• Subsection (b) creates the offense: a child accessing a loaded firearm because the adult, with criminal negligence, failed to secure it or left it somewhere accessible.
• Subsection (c) lists affirmative defenses covering supervised lawful use, defensive use by the child, and trespass by the child.
• Subsection (d) sets the penalty as a misdemeanor, escalating to a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature if the child's discharge causes death or serious injury, and bars arrest of a qualifying family member for seven days after such an incident.
• Subsection (e) requires dealers to post a specific warning sign in one-inch block letters and sets a fine of up to $500 for violations.
• Section 2 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2025-01-29Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-01-28Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)Primary sponsor
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)

• gun safety
• child access to firearms
• firearm storage laws
• gun dealer regulations