(Georgia Recorder) — Georgia senators passed a bill Wednesday that could make it cheaper to buy guns, ammunition and accessories like scopes, stocks and gun safes on a party-line vote, and behind the scenes, lawmakers and lobbyists are tussling over a Democrat-sponsored plan to encourage gun owners to lock up their weapons.
Senate Bill 47 would be in effect for 11 days each year, starting on the second Friday in October, set to coincide with the start of deer hunting season.
The bill’s author, Republican Caucus Chair Sen. Jason Anavitarte said it will help get Georgians out into nature.
“This bill is promoting outdoorsmanship,” the Dallas Republican said. “In Georgia, hunting is the primary means of keeping the deer population in check as well as preventing the destruction of crops or accidents with motorists caused by deer.”
Republicans, including Sen. Timothy Bearden, praised the plan.
“The Second Amendment is there to protect us, the citizens, the ones that we represent,” he said. “If someone wants to go out because it’s their first time buying a firearm, as former law enforcement, I hope they go get the training they need to use that firearm proficiently. If it’s a sales tax holiday that allows them to do it, or to go out and buy that shotgun for their kid so they can take them into the woods and teach them how to hunt, how to respect nature, and just understand the beauty of that partnership between a father and a child or a mother and a child or the family going out hunting together, and this allows them to do it, then let’s do it.”
But Senate Democrats were skeptical that the bill was really about deer hunting. They suggested it was in poor taste to promote the bill following September’s deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County and suggested a tax holiday for necessities like school supplies, sporting goods not related to guns or menstrual products.
“We have for years in finance committee, begged and pleaded, could women and girls feminine products enjoy a sales tax relief?” asked Atlanta Democratic Sen. Nan Orrock. “The answer is always no. The bill’s never quite ready. But when the chairman of the Senate GOP caucus brings this bill in the very shadow of this horrendous school shooting that tore at the hearts and the minds of Georgians all across, we mourned with this community that was hit by this school shooting. And we want to stand up and send this bill, which is nothing but a message saying ‘Hoorah for guns.’”
Democrats expressed support for another proposal that would offer a tax credit for gun safety device purchases.
Anavitarte said he stores his guns in a safe and encourages others to do the same, but he indicated he wouldn’t want to mandate it.
“I don’t know that Georgia or even the federal government needs to get into the practice of having to legislate basically education and our Second Amendment and infringing on that or common sense,” he said.
Storage bill
But Johns Creek Democratic state Rep. Michelle Au is continuing her push for a bill that would implement punishments for people who do not store loaded guns properly and a child gains access to it. Failing to comply would be a high and aggravated misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $5,000. Atlanta Democratic Sen. Elena Parent has a nearly identical bill in the Senate.
Au, who is a physician, said guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the U.S., and House Bill 1 would keep more kids safe.
“What this bill aims to do is to create a culture and expectation of what safe storage looks like,” she said. “And when I say that, what I mean is that there are some people who understand that you do need to prevent children and teenagers from accessing guns, but maybe they don’t know that putting it on the top shelf of your kitchen pantry is not actually safe storage. They think they’re doing the right thing, but they’re not.”
Au sponsored an identical bill in 2023, which received a committee hearing, but no vote. This year, she’s hoping it will go further. Among the bill’s sponsors is Marietta Republican Rep. Sharon Cooper, chair of the House Committee on Public and Community Health.
Alex Dorr, political director for Georgia Gun Owners, a pro-gun group, is hoping to kill the bill.
Dorr’s name was on a text message addressed to Cooper’s constituents urging them to call into her office and demand she withdraw her support of the bill.
“Sharon is the ONLY Republican to co-sponsor HB-1, the Radical Left’s primary gun control bill that will force you to lock up your firearms 24/7, or face legal consequences,” the text reads. “This gives criminals the advantage!”
In a phone call, Dorr requested that questions be emailed to him, but he did not respond to the emailed questions.
Cooper responded with a statement.
“I have always been a defender of the Second Amendment, and believe that protecting our rights goes hand in hand with preventing tragedies. While HB1 is not scheduled to move forward, I put my name on it because gun owners should lead the way in keeping firearms out of the hands of children. This bill isn’t about restrictions—it’s about accountability.”
Au called Cooper brave for signing onto the bill and said other Republicans privately agree.
“They recognize that extremely aggressive and well-financed groups like the pro-gun lobby, like the NRA, like Georgia Gun Owners, make a lot of problems for them electorally,” she said. “They will threaten them publicly. They will mount social media campaigns, trying to gin up their base, to act aggressively against these legislators. They will threaten to primary them. They will threaten to pour money into elections to get them out of office, and that political pressure, they feel, clearly works.”
