Overview
- Senate Bill 204 won final Senate approval and would add "storage" to Georgia’s firearm preemption law, preventing cities and counties from regulating how guns are kept.
- The bill creates a private right of action allowing people cited under local storage ordinances to sue for at least $25,000, with attorney fees also recoverable in some cases.
- Savannah’s 2024 ordinance penalized leaving firearms in unlocked, unattended vehicles with up to a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail, and city officials report a roughly 30% drop in such gun thefts since it took effect.
- A Chatham County Recorder’s Court judge threw out a citation in November 2025, finding Savannah’s ordinance conflicted with state law and the U.S. Constitution.
- The measure passed largely along party lines, and sponsor Sen. Colton Moore led the push before stepping down from the Senate with plans for a congressional run.