[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2810 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2810

   To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to confirm the Consumer 
Product Safety Commission's jurisdiction over child safety devices for 
                   handguns, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 28, 2000

 Mr. Kerry (for himself and Mr. DeWine) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to confirm the Consumer 
Product Safety Commission's jurisdiction over child safety devices for 
                   handguns, and for other purposes.

    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 Handgun Injury Prevention Act 
of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) A 1997 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study 
        found that the rate for unintentional firearms-related deaths 
        of children under the age of 15 in the United States was 9 
        times greater than the rate for 25 other industrialized 
        countries combined.
            (2) A study in the December, 1995, issue of the Archives of 
        Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that 25 percent of 3- 
        to 4-year-olds and 70 percent of 5- to 6-year-olds had 
        sufficient finger strength to fire 59 (or 92 percent) of the 64 
        commonly available handguns examined in the study.
            (3) Suicide accounted for 30 percent of child and teen gun 
        deaths in 1999. The risk of suicide is 5 times greater in 
        households with guns. Seventy-five percent of the guns involved 
        in self-inflicted and unintentional firearm injuries among 
        children come from the victim's home or the home of a friend or 
        relative.
            (4) Many currently available trigger locks, safety locks, 
        lock boxes, and other similar devices are inadequate to prevent 
        the accidental discharge of the firearms to which they are 
        attached.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT.

    (a) In General.--The Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

``SEC. 38. CHILD HANDGUN SAFETY DEVICES.

    ``(a) Establishment of Standard.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Rulemaking required.--Notwithstanding section 
                3(a)(1)(E) of this Act, the Commission shall initiate a 
                rulemaking proceeding under section 553 of title 5, 
                United States Code, within 90 days after the date of 
                enactment of the Child Handgun Injury Prevention Act of 
                2000 to establish a consumer product safety standard 
                for handgun locks. The Commission may extend the 90-day 
                period for good cause. Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, including chapter 5 of title 5, 
                United States Code, the Commission shall promulgate a 
                final consumer product safety standard under this 
                paragraph within 12 months after the date on which it 
                initiated the rulemaking. The Commission may extend 
                that 12-month period for good cause. The consumer 
                product safety standard promulgated under this 
                paragraph shall take effect 6 months after the date on 
                which the final standard is promulgated.
                    ``(B) Standard requirements.--The standard 
                promulgated under subparagraph (A) shall require gun 
                locks that--
                            ``(i) are sufficiently difficult for 
                        children to de-activate or remove; and
                            ``(ii) prevent the discharge of the handgun 
                        unless the gunlock has been de-activated or 
                        removed.
            ``(2) Certain provisions not to apply.--
                    ``(A) Provisions of this act.--Sections 7, 9, and 
                30(d) of this Act do not apply to the rulemaking 
                proceeding under paragraph (1). Section 11 of this Act 
                does not apply to any consumer product safety standard 
                promulgated under paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Chapter 5 of title 5.--Except for section 
                553, chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, does not 
                apply to this section.
                    ``(C) Chapter 6 of title 5.--Chapter 6 of title 5, 
                United States Code, does not apply to this section.
                    ``(D) National environmental policy act.--The 
                National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
                4321) does not apply to this section.
    ``(b) No Effect on State Law.--Notwithstanding section 26 of this 
Act, this section does not annul, alter, impair, affect, or exempt any 
person subject to the provisions of this section from complying with 
any provision of the law of any State or any political subdivision 
thereof, except to the extent that such provisions of State law are 
inconsistent with any provision of this section, and then only to the 
extent of the inconsistency. A provision of State law is not 
inconsistent with this section if such provision affords greater 
protection to children in respect of handguns than is afforded by this 
section.
    ``(c) Enforcement.--Notwithstanding subsection (a)(2)(A), the 
consumer product safety standard promulgated by the Commission under 
subsection (a) shall be enforced under this Act as if it were a 
consumer product safety standard described in section 7(a).
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Child.--The term `child' means an individual who has 
        not attained the age of 13 years.
            ``(2) Handgun lock.--The term `handgun lock' means any 
        disabling or locking device that is not built into the handgun 
        at the time of manufacture and that is designed to prevent the 
        handgun from being discharged unless the device has been 
        deactivated or removed.
            ``(3) Handgun.--The term `handgun'--
                    ``(A) has the meaning given that term in section 
                921(a) of title 18, United States Code; and
                    ``(B) includes any article taxable at the rate of 
                10 percent under section 4181 of the Internal Revenue 
                Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 4181).
            ``(4) Incorporated definitions.--The terms `licensed 
        importer', `licensed manufacturer', and `licensed dealer' have 
        the meanings given those terms in section 921(a) of title 18, 
        United States Code.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1 of the Consumer Product Safety 
Act is amended by adding at the end of the table of contents the 
following:

    ``Sec. 38. Child handgun safety devices.''.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission $2,000,000 to carry out the provisions of section 38 
of the Consumer Product Safety Act, such sums to remain available until 
expended.
                                 <all>