| 3 | 3 | | By: Representatives Ridley of the 6 |
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| 4 | 4 | | th |
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| 5 | 5 | | , Rhodes of the 124 |
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| 6 | 6 | | th |
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| 7 | 7 | | , Burchett of the 176 |
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| 8 | 8 | | th |
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| 9 | 9 | | , Williams |
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| 10 | 10 | | of the 148 |
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| 11 | 11 | | th |
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| 12 | 12 | | , Ridley of the 22 |
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| 13 | 13 | | nd |
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| 14 | 14 | | , and others |
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| 15 | 15 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 16 | 16 | | AN ACT |
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| 17 | 17 | | To amend Titles 10 and 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to commerce |
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| 18 | 18 | | 1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | and trade and crimes and offenses, respectively, so as to provide for protections of persons2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | who own, purchase, or engage in the business of selling firearms; to prohibit financial3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | institutions from requiring the use of a firearms code that distinguishes firearms retailers4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | from other retailers; to prohibit discrimination against firearms retailers by financial5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | institutions through the use of a firearms code; to prohibit the disclosure of certain financial6 |
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| 24 | 24 | | records by financial institutions; to provide for petitions to the Attorney General to7 |
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| 25 | 25 | | investigate alleged violations; to prohibit persons or government entities from keeping8 |
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| 26 | 26 | | registries of firearms or owners of firearms; to provide for construction; to provide9 |
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| 27 | 27 | | definitions; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.10 |
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| 28 | 28 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:11 |
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| 29 | 29 | | SECTION 1.12 |
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| 30 | 30 | | Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to commerce and trade, is13 |
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| 31 | 31 | | amended by revising Part 7 of Article 15 of Chapter 1, relating to the "Georgia Firearms14 |
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| 32 | 32 | | Industry Nondiscrimination Act," as follows:15 |
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| 35 | 35 | | "Part 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | 16 |
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| 37 | 37 | | 10-1-439.17 |
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| 38 | 38 | | This part shall be known and may be cited as the 'Georgia Firearms Industry18 |
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| 39 | 39 | | Nondiscrimination Act.'19 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10-1-439.1.20 |
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| 41 | 41 | | As used in this part, the term:21 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (1) 'Disclose a financial record' means transfer, publish, or distribute protected financial |
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| 43 | 43 | | 22 |
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| 44 | 44 | | information to another person for any purpose other than to:23 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (A) Process or facilitate a payment card transaction; or24 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (B) Take any actions related to dispute processing, fraud management, or protecting25 |
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| 47 | 47 | | transaction integrity from concerns related to illegal activities or cyber risks.26 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (2) 'Financial institution' means any bank, trust company, building and loan association,27 |
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| 49 | 49 | | credit union as defined in Code Section 7-1-4, merchant acquirer limited purpose bank28 |
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| 50 | 50 | | as defined in Code Section 7-9-2, federally chartered banking institution that accepts state29 |
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| 51 | 51 | | deposits, or entity involved in facilitating or processing payment card transactions,30 |
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| 52 | 52 | | including, but not limited to, an acquirer, a payment card network, or a payment card31 |
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| 53 | 53 | | issuer.32 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (3) 'Financial services' means any service or product offered to the consumer or business33 |
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| 55 | 55 | | market by a bank, trust company, building and loan association, credit union as defined34 |
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| 56 | 56 | | by Code Section 7-1-4, any merchant acquirer limited purpose bank as defined in35 |
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| 57 | 57 | | paragraph (7) of Code Section 7-9-2, or a federally chartered banking institution that36 |
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| 58 | 58 | | accepts state deposits financial institution.37 |
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| 59 | 59 | | (4) 'Firearms code' means the Merchant Category Code 5723 approved by the38 |
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| 60 | 60 | | International Organization for Standardization or any other merchant category code or39 |
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| 61 | 61 | | indicator that a financial institution assigns to a merchant or to a payment card transaction40 |
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| 64 | 64 | | that identifies whether the merchant is a firearms retailer or whether the payment card41 |
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| 65 | 65 | | transaction involves the purchase of a firearm or ammunition.42 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (5) 'Firearms retailer' means any person physically located in this state that is engaged43 |
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| 67 | 67 | | in the lawful business of selling or trading firearms or ammunition.44 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (6) 'Payment card' shall have the same meaning as provided in Code Section 10-15-1.45 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (7)(2) 'Person' means one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, limited liability46 |
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| 70 | 70 | | companies, corporations, unincorporated organizations, mutual companies, joint stock47 |
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| 71 | 71 | | companies, trusts, agents, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, receivers,48 |
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| 72 | 72 | | labor organizations, public bodies, and public corporations and the State of Georgia and49 |
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| 73 | 73 | | all political subdivisions and agencies thereof or other legal or business entities. Such50 |
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| 74 | 74 | | term shall include federally chartered banking institutions that accept state deposits.51 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (8) 'Protected financial information' means any record of a sale, purchase, return, or52 |
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| 76 | 76 | | refund involving a payment card that is retrieved, characterized, generated, labeled,53 |
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| 77 | 77 | | sorted, or grouped based on the assignment of a firearms code.54 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (3)(9) 'Trade association' means any corporation, unincorporated association, federation,55 |
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| 79 | 79 | | business league, or professional or business organization not organized or operated for56 |
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| 80 | 80 | | profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private57 |
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| 81 | 81 | | shareholder or individual; that is an organization described in Section 501(c)(6) of58 |
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| 82 | 82 | | Title 26 of the United States Code and exempt from tax under Section 501(a) of such59 |
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| 83 | 83 | | title; and two or more members of which are manufacturers or sellers of a qualified60 |
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| 84 | 84 | | product as defined by Section 7903(4) of Title 15 of the United States Code.61 |
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| 85 | 85 | | 10-1-439.2.62 |
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| 86 | 86 | | (a) Unless otherwise precluded by law, regulation, or membership eligibility, it shall be63 |
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| 87 | 87 | | an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person to refuse to provide financial services64 |
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| 88 | 88 | | of any kind to, to refrain from continuing to provide existing financial services to, to65 |
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| 89 | 89 | | terminate existing financial services with, or to otherwise discriminate in the provision of66 |
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| 92 | 92 | | financial services against a person or trade association solely because such person or trade |
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| 93 | 93 | | 67 |
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| 94 | 94 | | association is engaged in the lawful commerce of firearms or ammunition products and is68 |
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| 95 | 95 | | licensed pursuant to Chapter 44 of Title 18 of the United States Code or is a trade69 |
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| 96 | 96 | | association.70 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (b) It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any financial institution to require |
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| 98 | 98 | | 71 |
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| 99 | 99 | | the usage of a firearms code in a way that distinguishes a firearms retailer that is physically72 |
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| 100 | 100 | | located in this state from general merchandise retailers or sporting goods retailers, unless73 |
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| 101 | 101 | | such required usage of a firearms code is based on a good faith conclusion that such action74 |
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| 102 | 102 | | is required by applicable law or regulation.75 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (c) It shall be unlawful for any financial institution to discriminate against a firearms76 |
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| 104 | 104 | | retailer by declining a lawful payment card transaction based solely on the assignment or77 |
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| 105 | 105 | | nonassignment of a firearms code; provided, however, that a financial institution may78 |
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| 106 | 106 | | decline or otherwise refuse to process a payment card transaction on the basis of a firearms79 |
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| 107 | 107 | | code if such action is requested by the customer or is the result of fraud prevention80 |
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| 108 | 108 | | procedures or merchant category exclusions offered by the financial institution for the81 |
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| 109 | 109 | | purpose of expenditure control or corporate payment card control.82 |
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| 110 | 110 | | (d) Except as otherwise required by law or regulation, a financial institution shall not83 |
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| 111 | 111 | | disclose a financial record, including a firearms code that was collected in violation of84 |
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| 112 | 112 | | subsection (b) of this Code section, unless such disclosure is based on a good faith85 |
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| 113 | 113 | | conclusion that it was required by applicable law or regulation.86 |
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| 114 | 114 | | (e) Nothing in this Code section shall limit the ability of a financial institution to negotiate87 |
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| 115 | 115 | | with responsible parties or otherwise impair the financial institution's actions related to88 |
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| 116 | 116 | | dispute processing, fraud management, or protecting transaction integrity from concerns89 |
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| 117 | 117 | | related to illegal activities or cyber risks.90 |
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| 120 | 120 | | 10-1-439.3. |
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| 121 | 121 | | 91 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (a) |
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| 123 | 123 | | Whenever the Attorney General has reason to believe that any person is engaging, has92 |
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| 124 | 124 | | engaged, or is about to engage in any act or practice declared unlawful by this part, the93 |
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| 125 | 125 | | Attorney General shall, upon written request made pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code94 |
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| 126 | 126 | | section or by his or her own initiative, investigate and, upon finding a probable violation95 |
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| 127 | 127 | | of this part, bring an action in the name of the state against such person to:96 |
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| 128 | 128 | | (1) Obtain a declaratory judgment that the act or practice violates the provisions of this97 |
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| 129 | 129 | | part;98 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (2) Enjoin any act or practice that violates the provisions of this part by issuance of a99 |
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| 131 | 131 | | temporary restraining order or preliminary or permanent injunction, without bond, upon100 |
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| 132 | 132 | | the giving of appropriate notice; and101 |
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| 133 | 133 | | (3) Recover civil penalties of up to $10,000.00 per violation of this part or any102 |
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| 134 | 134 | | injunction, judgment, or consent order issued or entered into under the provisions of this103 |
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| 135 | 135 | | chapter and reasonable expenses, investigative costs, and attorney's fees.104 |
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| 136 | 136 | | Provided, however, that no action shall be brought by the Attorney General under this105 |
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| 137 | 137 | | subsection until after the person who is alleged to have violated this part has received106 |
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| 138 | 138 | | written notice from the Attorney General of the alleged violation and failed to cease the107 |
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| 139 | 139 | | activity that is alleged to be a violation of this part within 30 days of receiving such notice.108 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (b) Any person who is the subject of an action believed to be in violation of this part may109 |
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| 141 | 141 | | request, in writing, that the Attorney General investigate the alleged violation pursuant to110 |
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| 142 | 142 | | subsection (a) of this Code section.111 |
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| 143 | 143 | | (c) The remedies set forth in this Code section shall be the exclusive remedies for112 |
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| 144 | 144 | | violations of this part.113 |
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| 145 | 145 | | 10-1-439.4.114 |
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| 146 | 146 | | The provisions of this part shall not apply to any bank, trust company, credit union, or115 |
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| 147 | 147 | | merchant acquirer limited purpose bank that is chartered under the laws of this state or any116 |
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| 150 | 150 | | other state to the extent that federal law precludes or preempts or has been determined to |
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| 151 | 151 | | 117 |
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| 152 | 152 | | preclude or preempt the application of the provisions of this part to any federally chartered118 |
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| 153 | 153 | | bank, trust company, credit union, or merchant acquirer limited purpose bank."119 |
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| 154 | 154 | | SECTION 2.120 |
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| 155 | 155 | | Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to crimes and offenses, is121 |
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| 156 | 156 | | amended in Code Section 16-11-129, relating to weapons carry license, gun safety122 |
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| 157 | 157 | | information, temporary renewal permit, mandamus, and verification of license, by revising123 |
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| 158 | 158 | | subsection (k) as follows:124 |
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| 159 | 159 | | "(k) Data base prohibition.125 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (1) As used in this subsection, the term: |
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| 161 | 161 | | 126 |
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| 162 | 162 | | (A) 'Government entity' means an office, agency, authority, department, commission,127 |
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| 163 | 163 | | board, body, division, instrumentality, or institution of the state or of any county,128 |
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| 164 | 164 | | municipal corporation, or consolidated government within this state.129 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (B) 'Multijurisdictional data base' means a data base of information shared between or130 |
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| 166 | 166 | | among more than one government entity or between or among a government entity and131 |
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| 167 | 167 | | any office, agency, authority, department, commission, board, body, division,132 |
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| 168 | 168 | | instrumentality, or institution of the United States or of any other state.133 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (2) No A person or government entity shall knowingly and willfully:134 |
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| 170 | 170 | | (A) not create Create or maintain a multijurisdictional data base of information135 |
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| 171 | 171 | | regarding persons issued or who have applied for weapons carry licenses; or136 |
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| 172 | 172 | | (B) Keep, or cause to be kept, any list, record, or registry of privately owned firearms137 |
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| 173 | 173 | | or owners of such firearms; provided, however, that nothing in this subparagraph shall138 |
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| 174 | 174 | | prohibit a person from keeping, or causing to be kept, any list, record, or registry of139 |
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| 175 | 175 | | firearms owned by such person."140 |
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