Georgia’s Family Violence Act does not itself take a respondent’s guns away. Federal law can, and Georgia enforces the result.
What the Georgia Statute Says
OCGA 19-13-4 lists eleven kinds of relief a family violence protective order may contain, from directing the respondent to stop the acts to awarding temporary custody. None of them is a firearms provision. A judge can still order surrender in a particular case. In Jones v. Spruill, 337 Ga. App. 200 (2016), the trial court ordered the respondent to hand over any firearms in his possession to the sheriff’s department.
The Federal Prohibition
Under 18 USC 922(g)(8), a person subject to a domestic violence restraining order may not possess a firearm, but only if the order meets three conditions. As the United States Supreme Court set them out in United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. 680 (2024), the person must (1) have received actual notice and an opportunity to be heard before the order was entered, (2) be restrained from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or that partner’s child, and (3) be found a “credible threat to the physical safety” of that person, or be explicitly prohibited by the order from using physical force against them.
An ex parte order under OCGA 19-13-3(b) is entered before any hearing, so it does not meet the first condition. A separate provision, 18 USC 922(g)(9), reaches anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
What That Means in Georgia
Georgia ties its weapons carry license to the federal bar. In Bell v. Hargrove, 313 Ga. 30 (2021), the Georgia Supreme Court quoted OCGA 16-11-129(b)(2)(E): “[n]o weapons carry license shall be issued to … [a]ny person who is prohibited from possessing or shipping a firearm in interstate commerce pursuant to subsections (g) and (n) of 18 [USC] 922.”
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!