republic-os/legislation/us/states/ga/2015-16/sb-270.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Firearms; authorize qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry handgun anywhere within this state	A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 3 of Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to carrying and possession of firearms, so as to authorize persons who are qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry a handgun anywhere within this state; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.	us/states/ga	Georgia General Assembly	2015_16	SB 270	Georgia SB 270 (2015_16)	bill		enacted	Ben Watson Brandon Beach Bruce Thompson Burt Jones Charlie Bethel Dean Burke Ed Harbison Ellis Black Fran Millar Greg Kirk Harold Jones II Hunter Hill JaNice VanNess Jack Hill Jeff Mullis Jesse Stone Joshua McKoon Judson Hill Larry Walker, III Marty Harbin Michael Williams P. K. Martin IV Renee Unterman Tommie Williams Tyler Harper Valencia Seay William Jackson William Ligon, Jr.	9	17	1	2016-01-15	2016-05-03	openstates	ocd-bill/599d6df0-91c9-4a7f-a867-61ee84db0b14	http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl	03f59d773d18b90ba9d925216040903073409158f0931b7d9a858e47b46b04cd	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-ga

Georgia SB 270 (2015_16) — Firearms; authorize qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry handgun anywhere within this state

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 3 of Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to carrying and possession of firearms, so as to authorize persons who are qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry a handgun anywhere within this state; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. As introduced LC 41 0560 (committee substitute) — source
2. As passed Senate (committee substitute) — source
3. Committee sub LC 41 0659S (committee substitute) — source
4. Floor Amendment AM 41 0207 (committee substitute) — source
5. Floor Amendment AM 41 0211 (committee substitute) — source
6. LC 41 0821S/hss (committee substitute) — source
7. SB 270/AP* (committee substitute) — source
8. SB 270/HCSFA (committee substitute) — source
9. Sen floor amend 1 AM 41 0224 (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE — 54–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Ben Watson — primary (person)
• Brandon Beach — primary (person)
• Bruce Thompson — primary (person)
• Burt Jones — primary (person)
• Charlie Bethel — primary (person)
• Dean Burke — primary (person)
• Ed Harbison — primary (person)
• Ellis Black — primary (person)
• Fran Millar — primary (person)
• Greg Kirk — primary (person)
• Harold Jones II — primary (person)
• Hunter Hill — primary (person)
• JaNice VanNess — primary (person)
• Jack Hill — primary (person)
• Jeff Mullis — primary (person)
• Jesse Stone — primary (person)
• Joshua McKoon — primary (person)
• Judson Hill — primary (person)
• Larry Walker, III — primary (person)
• Marty Harbin — primary (person)
• Michael Williams — primary (person)
• P. K. Martin IV — primary (person)
• Renee Unterman — primary (person)
• Tommie Williams — primary (person)
• Tyler Harper — primary (person)
• Valencia Seay — primary (person)
• William Jackson — primary (person)
• William Ligon, Jr. — primary (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2016-01-15 Senate Hopper
• 2016-01-20 Senate Read and Referred referral-committee
• 2016-01-28 Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute committee-passage-favorable
• 2016-02-01 Senate Read Second Time reading-2
• 2016-02-17 Senate Third Read reading-3
• 2016-02-17 Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute passage
• 2016-02-18 House First Readers reading-1
• 2016-02-19 House Second Readers reading-2
• 2016-03-16 House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute committee-passage-favorable
• 2016-03-22 House Third Readers reading-3
• 2016-03-22 House Passed/Adopted By Substitute passage
• 2016-03-24 Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub As Amended
• 2016-03-24 House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
• 2016-03-31 Senate Sent to Governor executive-receipt
• 2016-05-03 Senate Date Signed by Governor executive-signature
• 2016-05-03 Act 524 executive-signature
• 2016-05-03 Effective Date

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/599d6df0-91c9-4a7f-a867-61ee84db0b14. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).