Lawmakers: Senate votes to crack down on gang recruitment and Dems call out gun violence on Day 17

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On Day 17 of the 2023 legislative session, Georgia lawmakers speak as advocates display names of people affected by gun violence in the state.

Credit: Sarah Kallis / GPB News

The Georgia Senate voted to increase penalties for street gang recruitment on Day 17. 

Senate Bill 44, sponsored by Sen. Bo Hatchett (R - Cornelia) would increase the mandatory minimum jail time for gang recruitment to five years. If the crime involves a person under the age of 17 or a person with a disability, the penalty increases to 10 years. The minimum penalties increase even more after multiple offenses.

The bill is part of Republicans’ push to get tough on street gangs. Hatchett said the bill would help protect Georgia's youth from gangs. 

He said the bill is "giving prosecutors the tools to go back to known gang members and protect the children of this state."

Democrats raised concerns that the bill could actually hurt some of Georgia's most vulnerable populations more than it could help them. 

Sen. Kim Jackson (D - Stone Mountain) sponsored an amendment that would exclude victims of sex trafficking from being prosecuted for gang recruitment. 

"This week, and in the weeks to come, we will pass multiple bills all in the name of protecting women, girls and children who are victims of sex trafficking," Jackson said. "There are multiple bills that do that. And I'm asking that you are tasked with amendments in that same spirit, because we understand and recognize that these children are children, and not criminals."

Sen. Derek Mallow (D - Savannah) sponsored an amendment that would allow a judge to consider one of the five exceptions to the mandatory minimum sentence rules, as opposed to all five.

Mallow argued that more social services for low-income youth will help deter gang participation, not higher mandatory minimum sentences. 

But both amendments failed, and the bill passed 21-11 in a party-line vote. 

Democrats in both the House and Senate shared their own solutions for protecting children during a news conference at the Capitol today. They highlighted five gun bills they’re proposing to reduce gun violence. The legislators said that safe gun storage could limit gun homicides and suicides in youth. Firearms are now the leading cause of death for children, according to researchers at the New England Journal of Medicine.

Legislation has been introduced in both the House and the Senate to address gun storage around children. SB 75 and House Bill 161 would classify knowingly storing a loaded gun where a minor could reach it as a misdemeanor. Other proposed measures would implement background checks and a three-day waiting period for person-to-person gun sales.