Georgia may have found the secret ingredient when it comes to preventing and mitigating unconstitutional measures that specifically violate the Second Amendment by letting individuals sue offending municipalities.
On January 14, the Georgia State Senate and House passed SB204, a bill that State Senator Colton Moore called “the most pro-gun piece of legislation” since he’s been in the Georgia Senate. Mr. Moore – a Second Amendment absolutist who holds an annual machinegun shoot fundraiser – is the youngest senator to serve in Georgia, and has been serving since he was elected at the age of 24.
“Finally, gun owners are on the offense. My bill is a major victory for every gun-owning Georgian who values their God-given right to keep and bear arms. It finally gives citizens the power to sue local municipalities that try to infringe on our Second Amendment rights and puts an end to the tyrannical local gun grabs that have been spreading across the state. This legislation makes it clear that Georgia is a Second Amendment state, and we will defend that right against every level of government,” said Senator Moore in an interview with News2A.
SB204 allows an individual aggrieved by an ordinance or law that violates the state’s preemption on firearms laws to sue the municipality for actual damages or $25,000.00, whichever is greater, plus litigation costs and attorney’s fees. The bill is currently awaiting the governor’s signature, but will go into effect on July 1, if signed. The bill passed with a near-party line vote, and Senator Moore noted that he worked very closely with Georgia Gun Owners, the most prominent state-level gun rights group, during the drafting and advocacy process.
Georgia’s preemption statue Section 16-11-173, broadly prohibits counties, municipalities, or other local entities from regulating firearms possession. Yet, as both Georgia residents and residents of other states have experienced, that doesn’t prevent liberal or left-leaning municipalities from pushing gun control agendas. According to Senator Moore, Savannah prosecutors have charged 41 individuals who were victims of firearms theft from their vehicles for not meeting the standard of the city’s gun storage laws, effectively turning victims into criminals.
“I’ve received a lot of calls from Savannah conservatives who are very grateful and appreciative that we’ve sent this bill into law. I look forward to working with any legislator in any state who would like to pass something similar,” Moore told News2A.
The Georgia bill goes even further, protecting the lawful First Amendment activities related to sales and marketing of firearms by stating, “The General Assembly further declares that the lawful design, marketing, manufacture, and sale of firearms and ammunition and other weapons to the public is not unreasonably dangerous activity and does not constitute a nuisance per se.”
The bill provides wide protections, stating that no municipality may regulate “possession, ownership, transport, carrying, transfer, sale, purchase, licensing, storage, or registration of firearms or other weapons or components of firearms or other weapons.” So-called “safe storage” laws have been employed in numerous anti-gun jurisdictions as a means to chill the ability to exercise 2A rights. “We expanded the Second Amendment,” said Moore, adding, “We made it more difficult for them to ever regulate firearms and broadened the scope of what self-preservation means.”
Senator Moore has sponsored a state-level Second Amendment Preservation Act (currently with the Senate Judiciary Committee), which would require the federal government to enforce any gun law that is not in compliance with state law. He is also campaigning for the Office of Georgia House Representative in Congress, previously filled by Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently resigned.
To learn more about Mr. Moore and his campaign for the U.S. House, visit https://www.coltonmoore.com
