As you are reading this letter, legislators are moving into their apartments or long-term hotels in Atlanta, gearing up for the kickoff of the 2025 legislative session.
Sessions begins on January 13, just a few days away.
With Republicans having massive majorities in the House and Senate (and a mandate from the voters clearly conveyed on November 5) this is our year to MASH THE GAS PEDAL TO THE FLOOR!
There’s a lot that we need to do to solidify and strengthen our gun rights, and this is the best time to do it in years.
We’ve got endless opportunities in Atlanta.
But we also need to press our advantage in Congress, and help President Trump pass National Reciprocity, a bill he said he would happily sign IF Congress puts it on his desk.
After four of years of fighting to hold the line against Joe Biden, I want to engage GGO in as many fights as possible.
But I need to be realistic.
Having spent so much money on the primary and general election (which was wildly successful), and after we spent so much on federal programs blocking Biden, we cannot afford to engage in all of these fights at the same time.
In the wake of our general election program, and as part of gearing up for 2025, our team has been reviewing our budget.
(This is the only part of my job that I don’t like.) 🙂
Now that we’ve had our budget meeting (and know the updated political situation at a detailed level) we have some tough choices to make about the upcoming session.
But unlike many organizations that just tell their members what they want them to hear, this isn’t ‘my’ organization.
GGO’s board has always understood that this is a member-driven organization and that we work for you! And that’s why we need to hear from you, right away.
Where do YOU want us to focus in 2025?
How do YOU want us to spend the donations you give us?
To get your feedback, I have prepared a special “2025 GGO Members Only Ballot” and included it below. Please take a minute to read this and then complete your ballot right away.
Without a doubt, the biggest opportunity we have in Congress in 2025 will be our chance to finally pass a National Reciprocity law.
H.R. 38 has been gaining ground for years.
It has hundreds of co-sponsors (Barry Loudermilk refused).
And it would simply let Georgians carry nationwide under the authority of our Georgia carry permit. It’s just like a driver’s license; wherever it’s issued, it’s good nationwide.
Without this law, we’re continually rolling the dice driving into any ‘blue’ state.
Yes, there are ‘peaceable journey’ laws.
But it so often doesn’t work that way in real life depending on the state you’re in and the officer you are dealing with. And when a gun owner is charged with this, it takes years to deal with it.
The good news is that President Trump has already put out a policy video telling the American people that he will sign this bill into law, IF Congress puts it on his desk.
But there are plenty of things that need to be done to increase Second Amendment freedom here in Georgia, too.
When Georgia passed Stand-Your-Ground law in 2006 it was ok.
But the legal threats to gun owners have evolved over the last few years as blue city/state prosecutors try to throw gun owners in prison for life for the ‘crime’ of self-defense.
So it’s critical that we upgrade Stand-Your-Ground law to meet those threats.
Here in Georgia, if we use our firearms in a self-defense situation, we are presumed guilty in the eyes of the law. That means instead of the state having to prove our guilt, we have to prove our innocence. That’s much, much harder.
(18 states have already fixed this by granting gun owners the presumption of innocence, but Georgia is not on the list.)
What often happens is a gun owner runs out of money to defend himself in court and is forced to accept a plea deal that still sends him to prison for a long time.
Sure, it is possible to clear your name of the original charges if you don’t make a deal, but the deck is stacked against you in unimaginable ways.
And you have to fight this legal battle all while you’re running out of money due to legal bills, after you’ve been branded a murderer in the media, and after you’ve lost your job from too much exposure.
Georgia needs to grant gun owners the presumption of innocence, and quickly.
But we can’t forget that this is our chance to ban ‘Red Flag’ laws forever.
We’ve blocked ‘Red Flag Gun Seizures’ for years in Atlanta.
That’s because these laws allow liberal judges to order the seizure of our firearms before we’ve been charged, indicted, or convicted of anything.
The very idea of confiscating firearms BEFORE a crime is committed destroys the idea that we are innocent until proven guilty, the bedrock of America’s jurisprudence system.
Despite that, ‘red’ states like Florida have passed ‘Red Flags.’ And in Florida alone, over 10,000 gun owners have already been disarmed!
But it’s not enough to continue blocking this bill.
It’s high time that Georgia passes our bill to ban ‘Red Flag’ laws by requiring that before any Georgian can have his firearms confiscated, he must be convicted of a violent felony crime.
And to make sure that Georgia’s ‘blue’ cities follow this law, we have civil penalties built into the bill.
So if the Atlanta PD enforces a state or federal ‘Red Flag’ law, the impacted gun owner could sue the agency in civil court.
Last session, lawmakers in Atlanta scoffed at this bill.
Leadership said that no one has banned ‘Red Flags,’ and Georgia wasn’t going to be the first. I never agreed with that, but it’s a moot point now as Wyoming passed legislation in 2024 that made it a crime to enforce ‘Red Flag’ laws!
Now it’s time that Georgia follows suit.
But it would be a mistake to give up on the Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA) just because President Trump is going to be in the White House for the next four years.
SAPA tells the feds that they cannot use state and local cops to enforce federal gun control laws or Executive Orders.
And by voluntarily withdrawing our state-funded resources from the federal government’s control, we cripple their ability to enforce unconstitutional gun control laws!
To ensure that all agencies abide by this law, we’ve put civil penalties in this language too. And while Missouri’s SAPA law was blocked for a few ancillary reasons, our language has been updated to ensure it would survive a court challenge.
But with Trump in the White House, that won’t matter.
You see, this is the BEST TIME to pass SAPA. Having a friendly Department of Justice means we won’t have this law challenged in court once we pass it, and we’ll have years of legal precedence when Trump leaves office!
The bottom line is that we’ll only have Trump in the White House for four years. We need to get SAPA done quickly.
The next Democrat President could be in office by 2029.
And if that happens, it will be a Radical Leftist who will more than likely make Joe Biden seem like a moderate.
So we need to secure the protections of SAPA now, to be in position to defend ourselves against the next attack that comes from the federal government!
As you can see, there is a lot going on in 2025.
The impact of passing National Reciprocity would be huge!
The impact of enhancing Stand-Your-Ground law in Georgia would be huge. So would banning ‘Red Flags.’ So would passing SAPA!
But as I said at the beginning of this letter, after all we accomplished in 2024, GGO simply can’t afford to run full mobilization programs on each of these issues right now.
That’s why I need to hear from you.
With the legislature and Congress convening for 2025 in just a couple of days, where do you want us to focus?
Please let me know right away, by filling out your “2025 GGO Members Only Ballot.”
When you review your member ballot, you’ll see that I have included another option. And if I’m being honest, this is the option I hope you’ll select…even if it seems crazy!
But, again, we can’t afford to fight on all fronts as things are today.
So if you choose Option 5, I hope that you’ll consider a very generous donation to help us run our full scale mobilization programs on these bills.
If you can afford to donate $100, now is the time.
If you can afford to donate $50, now is the time.
If you can afford to donate $25, now is the time.
The amount of your gift is always up to you. But after four years of defense against Biden’s attacks on our gun rights, it’s time to go on offense — as hard as we can!
The General Assembly is convening in just days; I need to hear from you as soon as possible.
The General Assembly is convening in just days; I need to hear from you as soon as possible.
For Freedom,
Aaron Dorr
Executive Director
Georgia Gun Owners
P.S. The 2025 legislative session begins on January 13, and I need to make some very difficult decisions about where to focus our resources and our time this session.
We’ve been on defense for four years in D.C.; now it’s time to go on offense with National Reciprocity. But there are major opportunities here in Atlanta, too.
But after a massive legislative and election program in 2024, we can’t engage in all of these at the same time. Where do YOU want us to fight?
Please fill out your “2025 GGO Members Only Ballot” today! After you do, please consider a donation of $100, $50 or $25 to help us fight for freedom next session!