In a significant legal development, a Georgia judge dismissed charges against a man accused of breaching a Savannah city ordinance that bans firearms in unlocked vehicles. The judge determined that the ordinance conflicts with both state law and the U.S. Constitution.
The individual at the center of this case, Clayton Papp, was cited by Savannah police back in August 2024. The ordinance in question enforces penalties, including fines and potential jail time, for leaving firearms in vehicles that are not securely locked. Papp’s legal counsel requested that the judge dismiss the citation, arguing its legality.
Chatham County Recorder’s Court Judge Brian Joseph Huffman Jr. ruled in favor of Papp, marking a decisive moment in his legal battle. However, the impact of this ruling is expected to remain limited to Papp’s specific case, as he challenged the ordinance within the context of his defense.
Despite the court’s decision, Savannah’s Mayor, Van Johnson, expressed the city’s commitment to continuing enforcement of the ordinance. “This measure has been in place for some time now, and it has helped decrease the incidents of guns being stolen from unlocked vehicles in Savannah,” Mayor Johnson stated to the press.
A Georgia judge tossed out the case against a man who was cited for violating a Savannah city ordinance prohibiting guns in unlocked vehicles. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We’ve had this in existence now for quite some time, and we have reduced the number of guns stolen from unlocked vehicles in Savannah,” Democrat Mayor Van Johnson told reporters.
Johnson has pushed the gun ordinance as a way to urge responsible gun ownership without infringing on their rights to own or carry firearms. He said on Wednesday that the number of guns stolen from unlocked cars reported to Savannah police dipped from more than 200 in 2023 to just over 100 this year.
Savannah’s city council voted unanimously last year to prohibit firearms in unlocked vehicles, with violators subject to maximum penalties of a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail.
Proponents of the measure argued that the law would make it harder for criminals to steal firearms in the Peach State, where Republican state lawmakers have made it easier to own and carry guns.
“Concerns over firearms stolen from vehicles and later used in violent crime are in fact concerning,” the judge said in his ruling. “Good intentions, however, do not immunize legislation from constitutional scrutiny.”
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said the city will continue to enforce the gun ordinance. (Getty Images)
Huffman Jr. threw out the case in a ruling on Wednesday that declared Savannah’s ordinance “void and unenforceable.”
The judge said the ordinance violates a state law that prohibits local governments from regulating “the possession, ownership, transport, (or) carrying” of firearms.
He also ruled that the ordinance “burdens conduct covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment.”
Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr celebrated the ruling as “a major victory for law-abiding gun owners, who shouldn’t be punished for the actions of criminals & thieves.”
While the judge found that Savannah’s ordinance is illegal, the ruling likely only applies to Papp’s case because the challenge was raised as part of a criminal defense and not a broader lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop further enforcement, Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University law professor, told The Associated Press.
“In theory, the city could continue to enforce the ordinance and leave it to individual defendants to raise this question again as a defense,” Kreis said.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr celebrated the ruling as “a major victory for law-abiding gun owners.” (Getty Images)
A separate lawsuit brought by another gun owner aiming to halt enforcement of the ordinance was dismissed last year by a different judge in Chatham County Superior Court, ruling that the gun owner in that case lacked standing to file the lawsuit because he was not a Savannah resident and had not been cited under the ordinance.
