ATLANTA — Georgia's influential Republican House speaker, Jon Burns, has laid out a legislative agenda in the wake of last week's shooting at Apalachee High School that includes an endorsement of incentives for safe storage and gun safety training.
The signal of support for measures tied to gun ownership itself is the first from a leading state Republican since the shooting.
In a letter outlining five legislative priorities, Speaker Burns pledged that "we will reintroduce legislation that incentivizes safe storage and encourages law-abiding citizens to properly secure their firearms and obtain gun safety training."
"Simple measures such as storing guns in lockboxes or equipping firearms with trigger locks has the ability to save lives," the House speaker wrote.
The speaker's other legislative endorsements were for:
- Mental health and behavior monitoring services and inter-agency communication between school systems (coming after accused Apalachee High shooter Colt Gray had previous contact with authorities in Jackson County over an alleged school threat);
- Expanding mental healthcare for Georgia residents and students;
- New systems and technologies to detect firearms before they're brought into a school;
- And increasing penalties for making terroristic threats at schools.
"This is far from an exhaustive list. As the 2025 session approaches, we will continue having conversations about implementing common-sense policies that take steps toward securing the safety and well-being of Georgia’s students," the speaker wrote. "As the facts of this tragic incident are further revealed, it will be our priority to ensure we properly examine every reasonable idea and solution to protect and defend the most vulnerable among us — our children — while also protecting the right and privilege of our citizens to protect their families and property."
See Burns' full letter below:
Democrats have made broad calls for legislation in the wake of the school shooting, which killed four people and injured nine more. In particular they have highlighted Safe Storage Act legislation that would require gun owners to lock up firearms in households where minors live, with penalties for those who don't comply. Republicans have generally pushed back at those calls, characterizing them as political overreach that would infringe on Second Amendment rights.
“While we sit here and mourn the families and the kids, what are we doing about it?" said state Sen. David Lucas, a Democrat and member of the Senate Safe Firearms Storage Study Committee.
Republican state Sen. Frank Ginn, also on the committee, said "we need to take some action on things" but that "firearms are not the enemy... the enemy is the mentally deranged."
At a 9/11 memorial event yesterday, Gov. Brian Kemp, the state's foremost Republican, said that just as America remembers those lost in the September 11, 2001 attacks, "we will never forget those we lost on September the fourth."
"Just as we did in the days following the September 11th attacks, we are all coming together to pray for the families and friends and those touched by this tragedy," he continued.
Kemp did not address any policy proposals related to the shooting in his speech and did not take questions following his remarks.
In a follow-up email, 11Alive asked Kemp's press secretary, Garrison Douglas, whether the governor planned to call for the creation of a commission to investigate the circumstances leading up to the shooting or call for any other legislative, executive, or other policy plans related to the attack or school safety more broadly.
"Right now, a Georgia community suffering indescribable loss and pain is searching for a way towards recovery," Douglas wrote in an emailed response. "Our focus is on those impacted and all those who serve in our schools. To support them and ensure they continue to have all the resources they need to find that road to recovery, not engage in election year politics."
Douglas pointed to nearly $300 million earmarked for various school safety grants since Kemp became governor in 2019 as well as 2023 legislation that supported several school safety training and protocol measures.
Georgia lawmakers have recently considered a variety of firearms storage proposals.
In February, Georgia's Senate passed legislation that sought to promote safe firearm storage by exempting gun safes and other firearm safety devices from state sales tax. A couple weeks later, the House passed legislation to create a state income tax credit of up to $300 for the purchase of gun safes, trigger locks, other firearms security devices or the costs of instructional courses on safe firearms handling.
But neither chamber signed off on the other's approach.
Republican state Rep. Mark Newton, a lead sponsor of the proposed income tax credit, said Thursday that he hopes senators will take a close look at the plan during the 2025 legislative session.
The Senate Safe Firearms Storage Study Committee is considering proposals for next year.
"This year’s rival bills both “had strong support and demonstrated the desire to incentivize gun safety,” Republican state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, the sponsor of the Senate version, said last week. “I am certain that we will be continuing the conversation next session.”
Meanwhile, Democrats gained little traction on legislation that would have created a misdemeanor crime for negligently failing to secure firearms accessed by children.
However, in a test case that’s being challenged in court, the Democratic-led city of Savannah enacted an ordinance that imposes fines and possibly jail time for people who leave guns inside unlocked cars.