Georgia's New Governor Backs Universal Background Checks and Red Flag Laws
Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, is Georgia's governor-elect. Her campaign website promises to support universal background checks and a red flag law. Democrats also swept the statewide offices, which leaves Georgia gun owners with a governor who wants new gun restrictions and a state government that has little room to block them. Bottoms replaces Brian Kemp, who won the office in 2018 by beating Democrat Stacy Abrams.
Key Details
The source is a Bearing Arms column written by a Georgia resident who says he expected Republicans to lose but did not expect the margin of the defeat. The key points:
- Governor-elect: Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta.
- Background checks and red flags: Her campaign site lists support for universal background checks and a red flag law.
- Law enforcement funding: She promises to expand GBI capacity, forensic resources, and investigative help for smaller jurisdictions.
- Violence reduction and reentry: Her platform includes targeted violence reduction, diversion and treatment for nonviolent cases, and the Prison to Work initiative.
- Statewide sweep: The writer says Democrats won every statewide race.
- Legislature: The writer says the General Assembly changed little. He also says its districts are drawn to limit the influence of urban Democratic areas such as Atlanta, Macon, and Albany.
- Attorney General: The writer says Attorney General Chris Carr's office did not answer his questions about following the U.S. Department of Justice on NFA items.
- NFA registration: The writer says Georgia requires NFA items to be registered with ATF, and calls that an issue the state should fix.
- Session timing: The General Assembly is not in session, and the writer says a special session now would cause more harm than good for the state GOP.
Background
Georgia has spent the last several years moving in the gun owner's direction. Governor Kemp signed permitless carry into law in 2022, and the state now allows most adults to carry a handgun without a permit. That shift came from a Republican trifecta and a Republican-controlled legislature. The 2026 election reversed the executive branch, and the legislative majority is the only thing standing between Georgia and a new set of gun laws.
Federal policy on NFA items changed as well. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, set the $200 transfer tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and AOWs to $0, effective January 1, 2026. The tax change did not remove the registration requirement, and lawsuits filed after the change challenge that registration. Several states have moved to relieve their residents of state-level NFA rules. Georgia has not, and the writer says the attorney general declined to take a position.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Georgia gun owners should pay attention to three groups. First, anyone who buys a firearm from a private seller. Universal background checks would require a check on private transfers that Georgia currently does not require, so a private sale of a pistol, rifle, or shotgun could become a paperwork event. Second, anyone who owns suppressors, SBRs, or other NFA items. If Georgia keeps its state-level registration rule, owners who bought items after the federal tax went to zero still face a state-level compliance burden. Third, anyone with a concealed carry or permitless carry habit. A red flag law would let a court order removal of firearms from a person the court considers a risk, based on a petition filed by family members or police.
The timing matters. Bottoms takes office in January 2027. The legislature meets in January, which gives Georgia gun owners a short window to contact their state representatives and senators before any bill is drafted. Watch the 2027 session calendar, the bill numbers that drop in January, and any committee hearings on background checks or red flags.
DownRange Analysis
A universal background check law would probably survive a Second Amendment challenge. The Supreme Court in Bruen requires the government to show that a regulation fits within the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. Background checks have strong support under that test, and courts have generally upheld them. A red flag law stands on weaker ground. Courts have to weigh due process against the Second Amendment, and Bruen gives gun owners a solid argument against ex parte removal orders. Expect any red flag bill to face a lawsuit within months of signing.
The market will feel this first. Georgia dealers and private sellers will watch for any background check rule that changes how a transfer happens. Suppressor and NFA buyers in Georgia will see prices and demand shift as they decide whether to move across state lines. Right now, the smart move is to keep receipts, bills of sale, and transfer records on every firearm you own. Join your state gun rights group, call your legislators now, and plan for the 2027 session. The legislature, not the governor, will decide what happens to gun owners in Georgia.
