[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4005 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4005

 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prevent minors from gaining 
  unsupervised access to loaded firearms or to unloaded firearms and 
                     ammunition for such firearms.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 10, 1994

Mr. Torricelli introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prevent minors from gaining 
  unsupervised access to loaded firearms or to unloaded firearms and 
                     ammunition for such firearms.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) every day in the United States, 14 children age 19 or 
        under are killed in accidents, suicides, and homicides 
        involving firearms;
            (2) according to a study by the General Accounting Office, 
        for every accidental death with a firearm, there are 100 
        accidental injuries with a firearm;
            (3) many of these deaths and accidental injuries would be 
        avoided by requiring owners of firearms to store their firearms 
        in a way not easily accessible to minors; and
            (4) when a child is injured by a negligently stored 
        firearm, the owner of the firearm should be held criminally 
        liable.

SEC. 2. ACCESS TO FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION BY JUVENILES.

    (a) Prohibition.--Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(s)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to leave a loaded 
firearm, or an unloaded firearm and ammunition for the firearm, in a 
way that the person knows, or reasonably should know, is likely to be 
accessible to a juvenile, unless the person has given the juvenile 
permission to possess the item, and the possession is under the 
supervision of an adult who is not prohibited by Federal, State, or 
local law from possessing a firearm.
    ``(2) As used in paragraph (1):
            ``(A) The term `juvenile' means an individual who has not 
        attained 18 years of age.
            ``(B) The term `adult' means an individual who has attained 
        21 years of age.''.
    (b) Notice Requirements.--
            (1) Notice to be posted by licensed dealers.--Section 923 
        of such title is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Each licensed dealer shall post conspicuously at the place of 
business of the licensed dealer a copy of the provisons of section 
922(s) in block letters that are not less than 1 inch in height.''.
            (2) Notice to be included on the form required to be 
        obtained by licensed dealers from prospective firearms 
        transferees.--Section 926 of such title is amended by adding at 
        the end the following:
    ``(d) The Secretary shall ensure that the provisions of section 
922(s) appear on the form required to be obtained by a licensed dealer 
from a prospective transferee of a firearm.''.
    (c) Penalty.--Section 924(a) of such title is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``paragraph (2) or (3) 
        of''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(s) shall be imprisoned 
not more than 1 year.''.

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