Georgia receives F grade on annual gun laws scorecard

ATLANTA - An annual gun law scorecard has given Georgia the lowest grade possible for the strength of the state's gun laws.

Giffords Law Center's Gun Law Scorecard gave Georgia and 19 other states an F, calling the state's laws dealing with firearms "very weak."

The report says that Georgia has the 14th-highest gun death rate in the United States - the highest being in Mississippi.

In a statement, the law center said that states with gun laws identified as extremely week have a disproportionate toll on Black communities.

"Black Americans in F states have a gun death rate 117% higher than the national gun death rate for all Americans," the center said,

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According to officials, guns in Georgia are used to commit crimes in other states at more than double the national average.

The center recommends the state require background checks and waiting periods on all firearm purchases as well as prohibiting people convicted of domestic violence from possessing firearms.

The four states that received the highest grades on this year's scorecard were California, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Hawaii.

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