---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-11-106. Possession of firearm or knife during commission of or attempt to commit certain crimes.
collection: code
id: 16-11-106
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-11-106 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-11-106
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-11-106.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-11-106/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t16-ch7-11-(v14a)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=f5e4f5fa_0#page=102
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CRIMES AND OFFENSES / OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND SAFETY / DANGEROUS INSTRUMENTALITIES AND PRACTICES / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-11-106. Possession of firearm or knife during commission of or attempt to commit certain crimes.

(a) For the purposes of this Code section, the term “firearm” shall include stun guns and tasers. A stun gun or taser is any device that is powered by electrical charging units such as batteries and emits an electrical charge in excess of 20,000 volts or is otherwise capable of incapacitating a person by an electrical charge.

(b) Any person who shall have on or within arm’s reach of his or her person a firearm or a knife having a blade of three or more inches in length during the commission of, or the attempt to commit:

(1) Any crime against or involving the person of another;

(2) The unlawful entry into a building or vehicle;

(3) A theft from a building or theft of a vehicle;

(4) Any crime involving the possession, manufacture, delivery, distribution, dispensing, administering, selling, or possession with intent to distribute any controlled substance or marijuana as provided in Code Section 16-13-30, any counterfeit substance as defined in Code Section 16-13-21, or any noncontrolled substance as provided in Code Section 16-13-30.1; or

(5) Any crime involving the trafficking of substances in violation of Code Section 16-13-31,

and which crime is a felony, commits a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by confinement for a period of five years, such sentence to run consecutively to any other sentence which the person has received.

(c) Upon the second or subsequent conviction of a person under this Code section, the person shall be punished by confinement for a period of ten years. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the sentence of any person which is imposed for violating this Code section a second or subsequent time shall not be suspended by the court and probationary sentence imposed in lieu thereof.

(d) The punishment prescribed for the violation of subsections (b) and (c) of this Code section shall not be reducible to misdemeanor punishment as is provided by Code Section 17-10-5.

(e) Any crime committed in violation of subsections (b) and (c) of this Code section shall be considered a separate offense.

## History

Ga. L. 1968, p. 982, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1974, p. 385, § 1; Ga. L. 1976, p. 1591, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1985, p. 425, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1205, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 624, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1618, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 4, § 16; Ga. L. 2025, p. 460, § 2-2/SB 79, effective July 1, 2025.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2025, p. 460, § 1-1/SB 79, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act.’”

Ga. L. 2025, p. 460, § 3-1/SB 79, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the 2025 amendment shall be applicable to all offenses committed on or after July 1, 2025.

## Amendments

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, substituted “trafficking of substances in violation of” for “trafficking of cocaine, marijuana, or illegal drugs as provided in” in paragraph (b)(5). See Editor’s notes for applicability.