Sponsors
The bill strengthens rules, education, and enforcement to reduce juvenile handgun access and accidental shootings, but it increases criminal and civil liability risks for parents and household members, raises compliance and administrative costs, may limit some lawful youth shooting activities, and introduces privacy and equity trade-offs.
Parents and children: the bill reduces juvenile access to handguns and the risk of accidental shootings by tightening who can give valid parental consent, requiring safe-storage with approved safety devices when firearms are not within immediate reach, and funding LEA-led gun-safety education.
Law enforcement, prosecutors, and communities: the bill creates clearer statutory standards and federal civil penalties that make it easier to deter and enforce unsafe juvenile possession and storage practices.
Injured individuals and families: a new private right of action lets victims seek monetary compensation and injunctive relief against owners or premises controllers whose storage or control of firearms causes injury.
Parents: individuals who in good faith but unknowingly misjudge whether an adult supervisor is legally eligible could face criminal liability for providing written consent, exposing many parents to prosecution risk.
Children and parents: the tighter 'actual knowledge' consent standard may restrict lawful supervised instructional or sporting firearm opportunities if parents cannot verify a supervisor's legal eligibility.
Homeowners, roommates, and landlords: the bill creates new financial exposure—civil penalties (up to $5,000), a 5-year federal disqualification from receiving firearms, joint-and-several liability for damages, and insurance uncertainty—that could impose substantial costs on people who share living or rental arrangements.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Creates federal penalties and private liability for unsecured firearm storage, tightens parental consent for juvenile handgun use, authorizes LEA grants for parent gun-safety education, and requires DOJ reporting.
Makes it a federal offense to keep or store an unsecured firearm (unless carried on the person or within immediate reach), creates civil liability and civil penalties for failures to secure firearms, tightens parental-consent limits for juveniles using handguns, and requires the Attorney General to issue related regulations and reports. It also funds competitive grants to local school districts in States with secure-storage laws to provide parents with education and materials on gun safety and secure storage. Imposes notice and NICS-related requirements tied to civil penalties, adds a disqualification from firearm possession for repeat civil-penalty recipients, and requires the Department of Education to issue guidance and award grants to eligible LEAs. The Attorney General must report disaggregated implementation data annually.
Introduced June 27, 2025 by Madeleine Dean · Last progress June 27, 2025