When Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law in 2022 that allowed most Georgia residents to carry a firearm without a concealed carry permit, he celebrated the expansion of gun rights in the state.

The law “makes sure that law abiding Georgians — including our daughters and your family, too — can protect themselves without having to ask permission from state government,” he said at the time.

Republicans in control of state government have steadily loosened restrictions on firearm ownership in recent years. The state does not have universal background checks for gun purchases, safe storage laws or a so-called red-flag law — measures that have been instituted elsewhere in the nation in response to gun violence.

It remains unclear how the 14-year-old suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting obtained the weapon, which the police have described as an AR-platform-style weapon.

Last year, officers with the sheriff’s office in Jackson County, Ga., interviewed the suspect and his father during an investigation into online shooting threats, the F.B.I. said on Wednesday. The child denied making the threats, the authorities said. His father told investigators that there were hunting guns at their home, but that his son did not have unauthorized access to them.

Georgia law prohibits an adult from “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly” selling or giving a handgun to a minor. An adult who is found guilty of breaking the law could be charged with a felony and face some prison time or a fine.