Savannah’s controversial ordinance that threatened gun owners with fines and jail time for leaving firearms inside unlocked vehicles is effectively dead after a judge declared the measure void and unenforceable.
The Savannah City Council unanimously approved the ordinance in April 2024.
It required anyone leaving a firearm inside an unoccupied vehicle to place it in a glove compartment, console, locked trunk or behind the vehicle’s last upright seat.
The firearm could not be visible, and every door and hatch had to be locked.
A related ordinance also required firearm owners to report a lost or stolen gun to Savannah police within 24 hours of discovering it missing.
Violators faced a fine of up to $1,000 and as many as 30 days in jail.
City leaders argued the ordinance was needed because guns stolen from vehicles were contributing to crime.
Savannah reported that 244 firearms were stolen from vehicles during 2023, including 203 taken from unlocked vehicles.
Mayor Van Johnson urged residents to either take their firearms with them or lock them inside their vehicles. Official meeting records show the council approved the ordinance by a unanimous 9-0 vote.
Opponents, including Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, argued that Savannah exceeded its authority because state law prevents cities and counties from independently regulating the possession, ownership, transportation or carrying of firearms.
The dispute reached a courtroom after Savannah police cited Clayton Papp for violating the ordinance in August 2024.
On Nov. 12, 2025, Chatham County Recorder’s Court Judge Brian Joseph Huffman Jr. dismissed the case against Papp and issued a 12-page ruling declaring the ordinance “void and unenforceable.”
The judge found that Savannah’s ordinance was preempted by Georgia law and also burdened conduct protected by the Second Amendment.
Although the court acknowledged concerns about firearms being stolen and later used in crimes, the judge found that the city’s public-safety goal did not allow it to disregard state law or constitutional protections. The ruling ended the prosecution against Papp.
The Georgia General Assembly later passed Senate Bill 204, which would have explicitly prohibited local firearm-storage laws and allowed people to sue local governments that enforced them.
Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed that bill in May 2026, saying he supported stronger penalties against governments that infringed on gun rights but objected to language that could expose law enforcement officers to lawsuits.
Savannah’s ordinance nevertheless remained unenforceable following the earlier court ruling.
The ordinance has not been formally erased from Savannah’s code, and a separate Superior Court lawsuit seeking a broader ruling remains pending.
However, with a judge already declaring the measure void and the city unable to successfully prosecute the challenged citation, the ordinance is effectively dead unless a higher court reverses that decision.
The ruling does not change the basic safety recommendation that firearms should be secured and kept out of sight when left in a vehicle.
What it changes is Savannah’s ability to impose its own criminal penalties on gun owners for failing to do so.
Yolonda Harris
News Now Georgia
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