Georgia generally allows anyone who is not prohibited from possessing firearms to have or carry a firearm on their person inside their motor vehicle.¹

A person who “while in a motor vehicle or close to the motor vehicle that was used to transport the shooter or the firearm, or both, with intent to injure another, or damage the property of another, discharges a firearm at or toward vehicle or close to the motor vehicle that was used to transport the shooter or the firearm, or both, with intent to injure another, or damage the property of another, discharges a firearm at or toward [an occupied dwelling, building, or vehicle or towards a person]” is guilty of the crime of “drive-by” shooting, which is punishable by imprisonment for not less than five nor more than 20 years.²

Georgia generally allows anyone who is a “lawful weapons carrier”³ to transport a firearm in a passenger motor vehicle, except when on private property and subject to private property owners’ restrictions.⁴

Georgia generally prohibits an employer from conditioning employment upon any agreement that prohibits an employee from entering a parking lot with firearms or ammunition in the employee’s privately owned motor vehicle, provided that the firearm or ammunition is locked out of sight within the trunk, glove box, or other enclosed compartment or area of the motor vehicle, provided that the employee is a lawful weapons carrier.⁵ This provision does not apply to an employer providing a secure parking area not accessible to the general public, or to an area used for parking on a temporary basis, among other exceptions.⁶ In addition, this provision does not restrict the rights of private property owners or persons in legal control of property, and when a private property owner or person in legal control of property is also an employer, their rights as a private property owner or person in legal control of property govern.⁷

Georgia law now generally prohibits anyone who is not a lawful weapons carrier from boarding or attempting to board an aircraft, bus, or rail vehicle with a firearm.⁸ (A law Georgia enacted in 2010 had repealed restrictions on weapons carry license holders carrying guns on public transportation and a law enacted in 2022 repealed restrictions on lawful weapons carriers generally).

Georgia law also generally allows lawful weapons carriers to possess a firearm in a motor vehicle parked in a parking facility of otherwise firearm-free zones, such as government buildings, courthouses, jails, prisons, places of worship, and in some cases school safety zones, so long as the firearm is in the locked compartment of the vehicle, or in a locked container in or a locked firearms rack on the vehicle.⁹

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1. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-126(a).[↩]
2. Ga. Code. Ann. § 16-15-4.1.[↩]
3. A person is a lawful weapons carrier if (1) they would be eligible for a weapons carry license under Georgia law (whether or not they have a license) and are not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing a handgun or long gun, (2) if they are a resident of any other state who would otherwise be eligible to obtain a weapons carry license under Georgia law but for the residency requirement, or (3) if they are licensed to carry a weapon in any other state. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-125.1(2.1).[↩]
4. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-126(c). A private property owner or person in legal control of property through a lease, rental agreement, licensing agreement, contract, or any other agreement to control access to such property has the right to forbid possession of a firearm on the property. Id.[↩]
5. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-135(b).[↩]
6. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-135(d).[↩]
7. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-135(k).[↩]
8. Ga. Code Ann. §§ 16-12-123(b).[↩]
9. Ga. Code Ann. §§ 16-11-127(a)(4), (d)(3); 16-11-127.1(c)(7)-(8).[↩]