It took some time, but Attorney General Chris Carr is now backing a lawsuit filed in Chatham County Superior Court by a Second Amendment gun-rights organization challenging a Savannah ordinance prohibiting the storage of firearms inside the city limits.
The ordinance, approved by the City Council in April 2024, bans storing guns in unlocked vehicles, with violators subject to a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail.
In response, the state’s top law enforcement officer wrote in a brief that the ordinance is defying a state law prohibiting local governments from regulating the possession, transport or carrying of firearms. “This misguided attempt to punish law-abiding Georgians does absolutely nothing to address crime, and it won’t hold up in court,” Carr said. “No matter how much the mayor disagrees with our laws, he cannot openly infringe on the Second Amendment rights of our citizens. Progressive politics aren’t a defense for government overreach.”
The attorney general, a recently-announced 2026 Republican gubernatorial candidate, sent a letter to Savannah’s mayor and other officials after the local law was approved. Carr said that Savannah must rescind the original Council vote, warning of potential civil liability. Since then, Democrat Savannah Mayor Van Johnson has defiantly refused to back down. “We say, ‘Sue us,’ ” Johnson once declared. “We’ll go to the (U.S.) Supreme Court. … We have some of the best lawyers.”
