[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1598 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1598

      To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a 
    nonrefundable tax credit against income tax for individuals who 
  purchase a residential safe storage device for the safe storage of 
                               firearms.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 29, 2005

Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mr. Craig, Mr. Burns, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Lincoln, 
 and Mr. Schumer) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 
                and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a 
    nonrefundable tax credit against income tax for individuals who 
  purchase a residential safe storage device for the safe storage of 
                               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 Protection and Home Safety Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR RESIDENTIAL GUN SAFE PURCHASES.

    (a) In General.--Subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to nonrefundable 
personal credits) is amended by inserting after section 25B the 
following new section:

``SEC. 25C. PURCHASE OF RESIDENTIAL GUN SAFES.

    ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--In the case of an individual, there 
shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter 
for the taxable year an amount equal to 25 percent of the amount paid 
or incurred by the taxpayer during such taxable year for the purchase 
of a qualified residential gun safe.
    ``(b) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Maximum credit.--The credit allowed under subsection 
        (a) with respect to any qualified residential gun safe shall 
        not exceed $250.
            ``(2) Carryforward of unused credit.--If the credit 
        allowable under subsection (a) for any taxable year exceeds the 
        limitation imposed by section 26(a) for such taxable year 
        reduced by the sum of the credits allowable under this subpart 
        (other than this section and section 23), such excess shall be 
        carried to the succeeding taxable year and added to the credit 
        allowable under subsection (a) for such taxable year. No credit 
        may be carried forward under this subsection to any taxable 
        year following the third taxable year after the taxable year in 
        which the purchase or purchases are made. For purposes of the 
        preceding sentence, credits shall be treated as used on a 
        first-in first-out basis.
    ``(c) Qualified Residential Gun Safe.--For purposes of this 
section, the term `qualified residential gun safe' means a container 
not intended for the display of firearms which is specifically designed 
to store or safeguard firearms from unauthorized access and which meets 
a performance standard for an adequate security level established by 
objective testing.
    ``(d) Special Rules.--
            ``(1) Denial of double benefit.--No deduction shall be 
        allowed under this chapter with respect to any expense which is 
        taken into account in determining the credit under this 
        section.
            ``(2) Married couples must file joint return.--If the 
        taxpayer is married at the close of the taxable year, the 
        credit shall be allowed under subsection (a) only if the 
        taxpayer and taxpayer's spouse file a joint return for the 
        taxable year.
            ``(3) Marital status.--Marital status shall be determined 
        in accordance with section 7703.
    ``(e) Election to Have Credit Not Apply.--A taxpayer may elect to 
have this section not apply for any taxable year.
    ``(f) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations 
as may be necessary to ensure that residential gun safes qualifying for 
the credit meet design and performance standards sufficient to ensure 
the provisions of this section are carried out.
    ``(g) Statutory Construction; Evidence; Use of Information.--
            ``(1) Statutory construction.--Nothing in this section 
        shall be construed--
                    ``(A) as creating a cause of action against any 
                firearms dealer or any other person for any civil 
                liability, or
                    ``(B) as establishing any standard of care.
            ``(2) Evidence.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, evidence regarding the use or nonuse by a taxpayer of the 
        tax credit under this section shall not be admissible as 
        evidence in any proceeding of any court, agency, board, or 
        other entity for the purposes of establishing liability based 
        on a civil action brought on any theory for harm caused by a 
        product or by negligence, or for purposes of drawing an 
        inference that the taxpayer owns a firearm.
            ``(3) Use of information.--No database identifying gun 
        owners may be created using information from tax returns on 
        which the credit under this section is claimed.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 6501(m) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ``25C(e),'' before ``30(d)(4),''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart A of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter I of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 25B the 
following new item:

``Sec. 25C. Purchase of residential gun safes.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2004.
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