Georgia gun laws explained as four die in school shooting
By Josh Marcus,
2024-09-05
Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, is the latest school across the US to experience a mass shooting as part of the country’s gun violence epidemic, with four killed and scores injured on Wednesday morning.
The shooting has prompted scrutiny of Georgia’s gun laws.
“After decades of inaction, Republicans in Congress must finally say ‘enough is enough’ and work with Democrats to pass common-sense gun safety legislation,” President Biden said in a statement. “We must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines once again, require safe storage of firearms, enact universal background checks, and end immunity for gun manufacturers.”
Here’s what you need to know.
What kind of gun was used in the Apalachee school shooting?
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday said the school shooter used an AR-style rifle in the killing.
Earlier in the day, the FBI revealed it previously investigated the suspect for allegedly making online threats to commit a school shooting.
Gray’s father described keeping hunting guns in the house, but said Gray didn’t have unsupervised access to them.
What are Georgia’s gun laws?
If the shooter was indeed a teenager, they wouldn’t have lawful access to buy a handgun, rifle, or shotgun under state law and federal law.
Individuals must be 18 or older to purchase handguns in the state, according to the Giffords Center, and federal law imposes the same age limit for the sale of shotguns and rifles, per the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
Overall, Everytown for Gun Safety ranks Georgia as number 46 of 50 in terms of the strength of its gun laws, describing the state’s policies as “ some of the weakest ” in the nation.
In 2022, Georgia enacted a permitless carry law, repealing provisions requiring people to obtain a license and be subject to fingerprinting and a background check before carrying concealed weapons in public spaces.
How bad is gun violence in Georgia?
Georgia is in the upper third for firearm mortality across the US.
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