Section 16-7-83. Persons convicted or under indictment for certain offenses

   (a) It shall be unlawful for any person who is under indictment for or who has been convicted of a felony by a court of this state, any other state, the United States including its territories, possessions, and dominions, or a foreign nation to possess, manufacture, transport, distribute, possess with the intent to distribute, or offer to distribute a destructive device, detonator, explosive, poison gas, or hoax device.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to distribute a destructive device, detonator, explosive, poison gas, or hoax device to any person:

   (1) Who he or she knows or should know is under indictment for or has been convicted of a felony by a court of this state, any other state, the United States including its territories, possessions, and dominions, or a foreign nation; or

   (2) Who he or she knows or should know has been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent or mentally ill by a court of this state, any other state, or the United States including its territories, possessions, and dominions.

(c) Any person convicted of a violation of this Code section shall be punished, in the case of an individual, by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 15 years or by a fine of not more than $25,000.00 or both or, if the defendant is a corporation, by a fine of not less than $10,000.00 nor more than $75,000.00 or not fewer than 1,000 nor more than 5,000 hours of community service or both.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities shall make available to any law enforcement agency or district attorney of this state such information as may be necessary to establish that a person has been adjudicated by any court to be mentally incompetent or mentally ill.

(e) The provisions of this Code section shall not apply to:

   (1) Any person who has been pardoned for a felony by the President of the United States, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, or the person or agency empowered to grant pardons under the constitution or laws of any other state or of a foreign nation and, by the terms of the pardon, has expressly been authorized to receive, possess, distribute, or transport a destructive device, explosive, poison gas, or detonator; or

   (2) A person who has been convicted of a felony, but who has been granted relief from the disabilities imposed by the laws of the United States with respect to the acquisition, receipt, transfer, shipment, or possession of explosives by the secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 845, may apply to the Board of Public Safety for relief from the disabilities imposed by this Code section in the same manner as is provided in subsection (d) of Code Section 16-11-131. The board may grant such relief under the same standards and conditions as apply to firearms.

Code 1981, § 16-7-83, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 416, § 3; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 3-2/HB 228.