Sponsors (193)
The bill trades clearer, nationwide safe-storage standards that can reduce child accidents and illegal gun access for new costs, criminal and property penalties for gun owners, and greater litigation and administrative burdens for individuals and local governments.
Children and teenagers are less likely to suffer accidental shootings or firearm suicides because the bill promotes and establishes secure firearm-storage standards.
People in communities — including individuals legally prohibited from possessing firearms — would face lower risk of obtaining unsecured or stolen guns, reducing illegal possession and violent crime.
Residents and local economies could benefit because reduced neighborhood gun violence helps preserve businesses, jobs, and property values.
Firearm owners and households would face new upfront and ongoing costs — buying locks/safes, fines (e.g., $500 per violation), and other compliance expenses — increasing financial burdens on families and hobbyists.
Gun owners would face heightened criminal and property-risk exposure — including possible imprisonment (up to 5 years) and seizure/forfeiture of firearms for storage violations — raising due-process and civil‑liberties concerns.
Individuals and businesses could face expanded liability and legal uncertainty because the bill's congressional statement and standards may be used by courts to broaden negligence exposure and blur lines between negligence and intentional-tort doctrines, likely increasing lawsuits.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 25, 2025 by Rosa L. Delauro · Last progress February 25, 2025
Makes it a federal offense to leave a firearm that has traveled in or affected interstate or foreign commerce accessible when the owner knows or reasonably should know a minor or a person legally prohibited from possessing firearms could gain access. Violations carry civil fines; if an unsecured weapon is obtained and causes injury or death, the owner faces criminal penalties up to 5 years imprisonment and possible forfeiture. The bill also adds a statutory authorization for a federal "Firearm Safe Storage Program" (text not provided) and a nonbinding statement that failure to safely store a firearm constitutes negligence and may be treated as a proximate cause of firearm harm.