HB 1095: Fire protection and safety; establish permanent consumer fireworks sales facilities

Georgia currently regulates fireworks sales through licensed stores, permanent retail facilities, and temporary sales stands, and it bans selling fireworks from tents, canopies, or membrane structures. This bill rewrites parts of that law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 10 of Title 25) to remove the tent ban and instead create a new licensed category, the 'temporary consumer fireworks retail sales facility,' which can include tents that meet national fire safety standards (NFPA 1124). Distributors could operate up to three of these temporary facilities if they already run at least two established Georgia locations (or, for out of state distributors, at least ten locations nationally) that have been open at least 30 days before July 4 or December 31. These temporary facilities must sit within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant (or get a fire department waiver) and at least one mile from any permanent fireworks retail facility. The bill also drops the requirement that one temporary stand benefit and be operated by a nonprofit group, removes the enhanced $5,000 penalty and license revocation for illegal tent sales, and makes a matching change to a related county and municipal law (O.C.G.A. § 36-60-24).

• Repeals Georgia's current ban on selling consumer fireworks from tents, canopies, or membrane structures.
• Creates a new licensed category, 'temporary consumer fireworks retail sales facility,' with its own $500 per-location license fee and application process.
• Removes the requirement that at least one temporary fireworks stand be operated by and benefit a nonprofit group.
• Eliminates the enhanced $5,000 penalty and up to two-year license revocation previously reserved for illegal tent sales.
• Requires temporary facilities to be at least 1,000 feet from a fire hydrant or fire department connection (absent a waiver) and at least one mile from any permanent fireworks retail facility.
• Sets minimum-location thresholds before a distributor can add temporary facilities: two Georgia locations for in-state distributors, ten locations for out-of-state distributors.

Fireworks distributors and retailers, particularly those wanting to sell from tents or other temporary structures; county and municipal governments and their fire departments, which issue licenses and enforce distance rules; local fire departments and probate courts handling license disputes; and nonprofit groups that previously partnered with fireworks stands.

If enacted, fireworks could again be legally sold from tents and similar temporary structures around holidays like the Fourth of July and New Year's, subject to fire-hydrant proximity rules and distance limits from permanent stores. Nonprofits would lose their guaranteed role in temporary stands, and violators of the tent rules would no longer face the higher $5,000 penalty.

• Section 1 revises definitions in O.C.G.A. § 25-10-1, replacing the 'nonprofit group' definition with a new 'permanent consumer fireworks retail sales facility' definition and adding a 'temporary consumer fireworks retail sales facility' definition.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 25-10-2 to allow sales from temporary consumer fireworks retail sales facilities, requiring compliance with NFPA 1124, fire hydrant proximity (or waiver), a one-mile buffer from permanent facilities, and removes the outright ban on tent sales.
• Section 2 also lets Georgia-based distributors with at least two established locations, or out-of-state distributors with at least ten locations, operate up to three temporary facilities per the 30-day pre-holiday operating rule.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 25-10-5.1 to set a $500 per-location license fee for temporary facilities and removes the requirement that a nonprofit group directly participate in and benefit from at least one temporary stand.
• Section 4 amends the penalty provision (O.C.G.A. § 25-10-9), removing the enhanced $5,000 fine and up to two-year license revocation previously imposed for knowingly selling fireworks from a tent, canopy, or membrane structure.
• Section 5 makes a conforming change to O.C.G.A. § 36-60-24, still barring county and municipal governments from unreasonably delaying or denying applications for these sales facilities.

1. 2026-03-06House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
2. 2026-03-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (Cámara de Representantes)
3. 2026-02-18House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
4. 2026-02-03House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
5. 2026-02-02House First Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
6. 2026-01-29House Hopper (Cámara de Representantes)

• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)Patrocinador principal
• Steve Tarvin (R, HD-002)
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)

• fireworks regulation
• fire safety
• business licensing
• local government rules