Opinion

Georgia voters must push elected officials to make progress on gun safety

Polls show most Georgians support background checks, safe storage, red flag laws and funding for prevention. Leaders must listen.
People on Clifton Road approach a memorial dedicated to fallen DeKalb County police officer David Rose outside the CDC headquarters on Sunday. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

People on Clifton Road approach a memorial dedicated to fallen DeKalb County police officer David Rose outside the CDC headquarters on Sunday. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)
By Heather Hallett and Mike Greenwald
2 hours ago

The shooting at the CDC near the Emory University campus on Aug. 8, which left a police officer and the shooter dead, was the latest episode in a spate of firearm violence in Georgia.

More than 35 people were shot in Atlanta over a four-day period in late July. On Aug. 6, five members of the military were shot on base at Fort Stewart by a fellow soldier.

As students in many metro Atlanta districts are returning to school, we approach the one-year anniversary of the worst school shooting in Georgia history, at Apalachee High. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children in our state.

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Georgia isn’t alone, but we’re in bad company. Our state consistently ranks in the bottom third for gun violence rates in a country that stands alone among developed nations in this crisis.

Common-sense legislation has been derailed over and over

If you’re reading this, chances are you support common-sense gun safety laws that have reduced gun deaths elsewhere: universal background checks, red flag laws, secure storage requirements, and funding for prevention programs.

Heather Hallett (Courtesy)

Credit: hand

Heather Hallett (Courtesy)

Most people do, across party lines and regardless of gun ownership. But despite overwhelming public support and mounting evidence of their effectiveness, Georgia lawmakers fail to act. Why?

The answer lies in politics — but we shouldn’t accept that gun safety is a partisan issue when polls show it’s not. Party politics are often steered by extremists, and a small, vocal faction of Second Amendment absolutists work to shut down any dissent within the Georgia GOP.

In 2025, they ambushed a House Public Safety Committee hearing to block House Bill 472, a modest, bipartisan bill sponsored by a gun-friendly Republican that would ban certain firearms from parts of the Georgia World Congress Center. It never got a full hearing.

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They also targeted Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta (District 45) for being the sole Republican co-sponsor of HB 1, the Pediatric Health Safe Storage Act.

Republicans who support gun safety measures know they’ll face political punishment, even if the pushback comes from a narrow slice of the electorate.

Apalachee High shooting should have been the last straw

Two forces can counter this imbalance: party leadership and voters.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a 2026 gubernatorial candidate, hasn’t helped. After his plan to give bonuses to teachers who carry guns in classrooms failed to gain support, his office quietly added a $5 million line item into the FY2025 budget. Public outcry forced its removal.

Mike Greenwald (Courtesy)

Credit: Hand

Mike Greenwald (Courtesy)

House Speaker Jon Burns acknowledged the need for action after the Apalachee High shooting and helped his chamber pass HB 79, which offered a modest tax credit for secure storage devices.

But in the Senate, newly elected Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte amended the bill to add a tax holiday for all gun purchases, effectively killing the only piece of gun safety legislation to pass either chamber last session.

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Gov. Brian Kemp subverted public opinion, championing an open-carry law that most Georgians oppose. Again and again, state leadership has dismissed the will of the people.

That leaves voters, and especially Republican voters, with the power to break the logjam.

Citizens must push lawmakers to do better in 2026 legislation session

Georgia Majority for Gun Safety sent a pledge to every 2024 candidate in the Georgia House and Senate. Only two Republican candidates signed it.

But if more Republican voters speak directly to their legislators about popular, evidence-based safety laws, they can give lawmakers the political cover to act. Republicans in swing districts already feel the tension.

Rep. Deborah Silcox, R-Sandy Springs (District 53) ran campaign ads promoting universal background checks and secure storage despite never backing legislation to make them law (though she did co-sponsor HB 79 before it was gutted). Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan recently left the Republican Party, citing its refusal to align with popular opinion on gun safety as one of the reasons.

The truth is that progress won’t come from the top. It will come from the people.

We understand that politics can be hard to stomach. But we have an opportunity to reframe gun safety as the shared concern it is, not a partisan wedge. We need more Republican voters to help us do that. The majority of Georgians already agree on the basics: background checks, safe storage, red flag laws, funding for prevention. Now we need to speak up, together, and push lawmakers to act accordingly.

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For the 2026 session, we urge the Legislature to invest in a statewide safe storage education campaign. If more Georgians adopt safe storage practices, we will save lives by reducing accidental shootings, youth suicide and firearm theft. There is no credible policy reason to oppose this modest funding request, but the Georgia Legislature must find the will and voters are essential to that effort.

Let’s remove gun safety from the political battlefield and treat it for what it is — a matter of life and death. Join our movement and the Georgia Majority for Gun Safety’s mailing list. Make your voice heard. Georgia’s children are counting on us.

Heather Hallett is the founder and director of Georgia Majority for Gun Safety.

Mike Greenwald, M.D. is a pediatric emergency medicine physician and the co-founder and co-chair of Georgia Clinicians for Gun Safety.

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Heather Hallett and Mike Greenwald

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