[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4444 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4444

 To prevent children from injuring themselves and others with firearms.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 6, 1998

Mr. DeFazio (for himself, Ms. Furse, Mr. Blumenauer, and Ms. Hooley of 
   Oregon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prevent children from injuring themselves and others with firearms.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Child Firearm Access Prevention 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CHILDREN AND FIREARMS SAFETY.

    (a) Secure Gun Storage or Safety Device.--Section 921(a) of title 
18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(34) The term `secure gun storage or safety device' means--
            ``(A) a device that, when installed on a firearm, prevents 
        the firearm from being operated without first deactivating or 
        removing the device;
            ``(B) a device incorporated into the design of the firearm 
        that prevents the operation of the firearm by anyone not having 
        access to the device; or
            ``(C) a safe, gun safe, gun case, lock box, or other device 
        that is designed to be or can be used to store a firearm and 
        that can be unlocked only by means of a key, a combination, or 
        other similar means.''.
    (b) Prohibition and Penalties.--Section 922 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(y) Prohibition Against Giving Juveniles Access to Certain 
Firearms.--
            ``(1) Definition of juvenile.--In this subsection, the term 
        `juvenile' means an individual who has not attained the age of 
        18 years.
            ``(2) Prohibition.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), 
        any person that--
                    ``(A) keeps a loaded firearm, or an unloaded 
                firearm and ammunition for the firearm, any of which 
                has been shipped or transported in interstate or 
                foreign commerce or otherwise substantially affects 
                interstate or foreign commerce, within any premise that 
                is under the custody or control of that person; and
                    ``(B) knows, or reasonably should know, that a 
                juvenile is capable of gaining access to the firearm 
                without the permission of the parent or legal guardian 
                of the juvenile;
        shall, if a juvenile obtains access to the firearm and thereby 
        causes death or bodily injury to the juvenile or to any other 
        person, or exhibits the firearm either in a public place, or in 
        violation of subsection (q), be imprisoned not more than 1 
        year, fined not more than $10,000, or both.
            ``(3) Exceptions.--Paragraph (2) does not apply if--
                    ``(A) the person uses a secure gun storage or 
                safety device for the firearm;
                    ``(B) the person is a peace officer, a member of 
                the Armed Forces, or a member of the National Guard, 
                and the juvenile obtains the firearm during, or 
                incidental to, the performance of the official duties 
                of the person in that capacity;
                    ``(C) the juvenile obtains, or obtains and 
                discharges, the firearm in a lawful act of self-defense 
                or defense of 1 or more other persons; or
                    ``(D) the person has no reasonable expectation, 
                based on objective facts and circumstances, that a 
                juvenile is likely to be present on the premises on 
                which the firearm is kept.''.
    (c) Role of Licensed Firearms Dealers.--Section 926 of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) The Secretary shall ensure that a copy of section 922(y) 
appears on the form required to be obtained by a licensed dealer from a 
prospective transferee of a firearm.''.
    (d) No Effect on State Law.--Nothing in this section or the 
amendments made by this section shall be construed to preempt any 
provision of the law of any State, the purpose of which is to prevent 
children from injuring themselves or others with firearms.
                                 <all>