Georgia has no statute that prohibits "carrying while under the influence" of alcohol or drugs. The closest statute, O.C.G.A. § 16-11-134, prohibits...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Georgia has no statute that prohibits "carrying while under the influence" of alcohol or drugs. The closest statute, O.C.G.A. § 16-11-134, prohibits discharging a firearm while under the influence. It does not criminalize mere possession or carry while intoxicated. Federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), separately prohibits firearm possession by any "unlawful user of or addicted to" a controlled substance, and that federal rule reaches Georgia carriers regardless of state silence.
For a Georgia weapons carry license (WCL) holder or a constitutional-carry-eligible "lawful weapons carrier," the practical rule: nothing in Georgia criminal code makes it an offense to have a firearm on you while you have alcohol in your bloodstream. If you fire that firearm at the wrong BAC, or fire it while impaired by drugs, you commit a separate offense under § 16-11-134, with one statutory carve-out (defense of life, health, and property). And if you are an unlawful drug user under federal law, you have a federal firearm-possession problem regardless of whether you have consumed anything that day.
O.C.G.A. § 16-11-134 is titled "Discharging Firearm While Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs." The operative word is discharging. The statute reaches firing a gun while impaired, not carrying one. The Georgia Code text:
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge a firearm while:
(1) Under the influence of alcohol or any drug or any combination of alcohol and any drug to the extent that it is unsafe for the person to discharge such firearm except in the defense of life, health, and property;
(2) The person's alcohol concentration is 0.08 grams or more at any time while discharging such firearm or within three hours after such discharge of such firearm from alcohol consumed before such discharge ended; or
(3) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this Code section, there is any amount of marijuana or a controlled substance, as defined in Code Section 16-13-21, present in the person's blood or urine, or both, including the metabolites and derivatives of each or both without regard to whether or not any alcohol is present in the person's breath or blood.
Three independent triggers. Any one is enough:
§ 16-11-134(a)(1) excepts discharge "in the defense of life, health, and property." If you fire in self-defense, defense of another person, or in defense of property, the impaired-discharge prohibition under subsection (a)(1) does not apply. Two cautions:
§ 16-11-134(b) addresses prescription medication and other lawful drug use:
The fact that any person charged with violating this Code section is or has been legally entitled to use a drug shall not constitute a defense against any charge of violating this Code section; provided, however, that such person shall not be in violation of this Code section unless such person is rendered incapable of possessing or discharging a firearm safely as a result of using a drug other than alcohol which such person is legally entitled to use.
In plain language: a valid prescription is not an automatic defense, but if you are lawfully entitled to use a drug you only violate the statute if that drug actually rendered you unable to handle or fire the gun safely. This shields the patient on prescribed antidepressants or pain medication who has not been functionally impaired; it does not shield the recreational user.
§ 16-11-134(c) grades the offense: "Any person convicted of violating subsection (a) of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature."
"Misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature" is the most serious misdemeanor grade in Georgia. Under O.C.G.A. § 17-10-4 it carries a maximum 12-month jail sentence and a $5,000 fine (vs. $1,000 for an ordinary misdemeanor). It is not a felony, so it does not automatically trigger the felon-in-possession prohibition at § 16-11-131, but it will appear on a background check and may affect future WCL eligibility.
Four things § 16-11-134 does not do:
While Georgia is silent on possession-while-using, federal law is not. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) makes it unlawful for any person "who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802))" to possess any firearm or ammunition. The federal statute uses an open-ended "unlawful user" standard rather than a per se BAC or metabolite trigger, and ATF has historically read it to reach any pattern of recent or regular use.
Three points every Georgia carrier should understand:
§ 16-11-127 does not impose a blanket bar on firearms in establishments that serve alcohol, but it respects private property owners' decisions. In an establishment licensed to serve alcohol for on-premises consumption, the property owner or person in legal control can communicate a no-firearms rule, and a carrier who is asked to leave commits criminal trespass under § 16-7-21 if they refuse. The detailed analysis lives in the PROHIBITED_PLACES section; the consequence for under-the-influence is that the practical carry-while-drinking rule in Georgia is most often set by the bar or restaurant, not by the criminal code.
Georgia does not have the kind of statutory "50/50 rule" some states use (where carry is restricted in venues that derive more than half their revenue from alcohol). The question is simply whether the owner consents.
A Georgia DUI arrest does not automatically forfeit firearm rights. A first or second DUI is a misdemeanor and does not trigger the state felon-in-possession statute at § 16-11-131 or the federal prohibition at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). However:
Statutorily, you can carry in Georgia with alcohol on board. Practically, every responsible firearms instructor teaches the opposite: do not carry while drinking. The reasoning is operational, not legal.
The Georgia firearms-instructor consensus is to treat the decision to consume alcohol as the decision to disarm. There is no statutory threshold to track because the discharge offense reaches discharges that occur after you have stopped drinking but still test positive within three hours.
SB 319 (2022), Georgia's constitutional carry act, did not amend § 16-11-134. The discharge prohibition applies identically to a WCL holder, a "lawful weapons carrier," and a non-licensed person carrying unlawfully. The eligibility framework at § 16-11-125.1 incorporates federal § 922(g) prohibitions, so an "unlawful user" of a controlled substance is not a lawful weapons carrier and forfeits the constitutional-carry privilege.
| Topic | Georgia rule | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Carrying while alcohol is in your system | Not prohibited by state criminal statute | No statute on point |
| Discharging while functionally impaired | Misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature | O.C.G.A. § 16-11-134(a)(1), (c) |
| Discharging at BAC ≥ 0.08 (or within 3 hrs back-test) | Misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature | O.C.G.A. § 16-11-134(a)(2) |
| Discharging with any marijuana / controlled substance in blood or urine | Misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature | O.C.G.A. § 16-11-134(a)(3) |
| Defense of life, health, property | Carve-out from impairment prong | O.C.G.A. § 16-11-134(a)(1) |
| Lawfully-prescribed non-alcohol drugs | Defense only if not actually impaired | O.C.G.A. § 16-11-134(b) |
| Possession while an "unlawful user" of a controlled substance | Federal felony | 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) |
| Possession while a marijuana user (incl. state-legal medical marijuana) | Federal felony in the Eleventh Circuit | 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3); cf. U.S. v. Daniels (5th Cir. 2024) (not binding in GA) |
| WCL eligibility, current controlled-substance user | Disqualified | O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129 (per Clayton County / Georgia.gov guidance) |
| WCL eligibility, drug or alcohol treatment within 5 years | Disqualified absent probate-judge waiver | Georgia.gov "Apply for a Firearms License" |
| Carry inside a bar / restaurant | Permitted unless owner objects | O.C.G.A. § 16-11-127 (see PROHIBITED_PLACES) |
| Effect of constitutional carry (SB 319, 2022) | Did not amend § 16-11-134 | O.C.G.A. § 16-11-125.1; § 16-11-126 |
Georgia criminalizes the discharge, not the carry, of a firearm under the influence. § 16-11-134 sets a 0.08 BAC discharge threshold, an any-amount drug-metabolite rule, and an impairment standard, all backed by a misdemeanor-of-a-high-and-aggravated-nature grade. Federal § 922(g)(3) comes closest to a true possession-while-using prohibition and reaches marijuana users in the Eleventh Circuit. Responsible carriers treat the decision to drink as the decision to disarm.
This page covers one part of our Georgia concealed carry guide.
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