Sponsors (2)
The bill strengthens criminal penalties and federal tools to prevent minors' access to firearms and improve public safety, but it trades that for expanded criminal exposure, legal uncertainty, privacy concerns, and a risk of unequal enforcement that could disproportionately affect some families and communities.
Children and teens: reduces their access to non-handgun firearms by making adults criminally liable for knowingly supplying or negligently storing guns that a youth accesses, which should lower youth self-harm and juvenile firearm crime.
Adults who transfer or store firearms negligently: increases legal accountability and deterrence by treating unlawful transfers to minors as prosecutable offenses, which may discourage reckless/irresponsible transfers and reduce crimes committed with those weapons.
Law enforcement & public safety: gives the Department of Justice clearer federal tools to prosecute unlawful transfers to minors, potentially improving investigations and preventing shootings involving minors.
Lawful gun owners and caregivers: significantly increases criminal liability risk for owners who may not foresee a youth's access, exposing otherwise law-abiding adults to prosecution for another person's actions.
Adults who unintentionally transfer or allow access: creates risk of severe felony exposure (penalties up to 10 years) for conduct that may be negligent rather than malicious, potentially overcriminalizing accidents.
Racial, ethnic, and low-income communities: risk of uneven or disproportionate enforcement if 'knowing' or intent standards are applied broadly, which could amplify existing criminal-justice disparities.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for criminal penalties for a person who provides fire arms to juveniles if such firearms are thereafter used for the commission of a criminal offense.
Introduced June 23, 2026 by Sean Casten · Last progress June 23, 2026
Creates federal crimes and graduated prison penalties for adults who knowingly provide or negligently store firearms that a juvenile uses to self-harm or commit crimes, with certain storage exemptions.
Makes it a federal crime for adults (18+) to knowingly provide most firearms (other than handguns) to a juvenile when the adult knows or reasonably believes the juvenile intends self-harm or to commit a crime, and for adults to keep or store firearms in a way that allows a juvenile to gain unauthorized access and then use the weapon to injure or kill someone. The bill creates new criminal penalties that increase depending on whether the firearm was used in a crime, caused injury or death, or was directly provided by the adult, with maximum imprisonment ranging from 1 to 10 years and fines.