[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 26 (Thursday, March 1, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1770-S1772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KOHL (for himself, Mr. Chafee, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
        Schumer, Mr. Reed, Mr. Kerry, and Mr. Corzine):
  S. 436. A bill to amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, 
to require the provision of a child safety lock in connection with the 
transfer of a handgun and provide safety standards for child safety 
locks; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, today I introduce the Child Safety Lock Act 
of 2001, along with Senators Chafee, Durbin, Schumer, Reed, Corzine, 
Boxer and Kerry. Our bipartisan measure will save children's lives by 
reducing the senseless tragedies that result when children get their 
hands on improperly stored and unlocked handguns.
  Each year, teenagers and children are involved in more than 10,000 
accidental shootings in which close to 800 people die. In addition, 
every year 1,300 children use firearms to commit suicide. Safety locks 
can be effective in deterring some of these incidents and in preventing 
others.
  The sad truth is that we are inviting disaster every time an unlocked 
gun is stored but is still easily accessible to children. In fact, guns 
are kept in 43 percent of American households with children. In 23 
percent of the gun households, the guns are kept loaded. And, in one 
out of every eight of those homes the guns are left unlocked.
  That is wrong. It is unacceptable. But these cold statistics do not 
begin to describe in human terms the daily tragedies that could be 
prevented by the use of a safety lock.
  Take, for example, the story of a teenage girl in Milwaukee last year 
who was killed when the gun her boyfriend found accidentally went off, 
shooting her in the chest. A lock certainly would have prevented this 
tragedy. A lock would have also saved both the three-year-old in New 
Orleans who shot himself in the head with his mother's gun two months 
ago or the two-year-old boy who shot himself in the forehead with his 
mother's pistol in Pennsylvania last October. Of course, no one will 
ever forget the story of six-year-old Kayla Rolland in Michigan killed 
last year by a classmate who had brought a gun to school. The stories 
could go on for pages, each more tragic than the last, but the most 
tragic fact of all is that many of them were entirely preventable.
  Our legislation will help address this problem. It is simple, 
effective and straightforward. It requires that a child safety device, 
or trigger lock, be sold with every handgun. These devices vary in 
form, but the most common resemble a padlock that wraps around the gun 
trigger and immobilizes it. Trigger locks are already used by tens of 
thousands of responsible gun owners to protect their firearms from 
unauthorized use, and they can be purchased in virtually any gun store 
for less than ten dollars.
  This year, for the first time, this child safety lock bill includes 
standards for the safety locks, building on the work of Senator Kerry 
on this issue. A recent study by the Consumer Product Safety Commission 
and a recent recall by the safety lock manufacturers conclusively 
demonstrates that child safety locks are not being made

[[Page S1771]]

well enough. A lock that is easily picked or one that breaks apart with 
little force defeats the safety purpose of this bill. We wouldn't use a 
lock that is less than foolproof to guard our most valuable 
possessions. We shouldn't use defective locks to protect what is most 
valuable to us--our children.
  A child safety lock provision passed the Senate by an overwhelming 
vote of 78-20 last session as an amendment during the juvenile justice 
debate. This proposal is as popular with the rest of the country and 
the law enforcement community as it was with the last Senate. Polls 
show that between 75 and 80 percent of the American public, including 
gun owners, favor the mandatory sale of child safety locks with guns. 
When I surveyed almost 500 of Wisconsin's police chiefs and sheriffs 
last summer, approximately 90 percent responded that child safety locks 
should be sold with each gun.
  In addition, according to published reports from last year's 
campaign, President Bush indicated that he supports the idea of 
mandatory child safety locks and would sign a bill that required the 
sale of a child safety lock with all new handguns. Attorney General 
Ashcroft confirmed that the administration supports the mandatory sale 
of child safety locks during his confirmation hearings before the 
Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year.
  This legislation is necessary to ensure that safety locks are 
provided with all handguns and to keep the pressure on handgun 
manufacturers to put safety first. We already protect children by 
requiring that seat belts be installed in all automobiles and that 
childproof safety caps be provided on medicine bottles. We should be no 
less vigilant when it comes to gun safety.
  I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the bill be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 436

       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 Safety Lock Act of 
     2001''.

     SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF CHILD HANDGUN SAFETY LOCKS.

       (a) Definitions.--Section 921(a) of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(35) The term `locking device' means a device or locking 
     mechanism--
       ``(A) that--
       ``(i) if installed on a firearm and secured by means of a 
     key or a mechanically, electronically, or electromechanically 
     operated combination lock, is designed to prevent the firearm 
     from being discharged without first deactivating or removing 
     the device by means of a key or mechanically, electronically, 
     or electromechanically operated combination lock;
       ``(ii) if incorporated into the design of a firearm, is 
     designed to prevent discharge of the firearm by any person 
     who does not have access to the key or other device designed 
     to unlock the mechanism and thereby allow discharge of the 
     firearm; or
       ``(iii) is a safe, gun safe, gun case, lock box, or other 
     device that is designed to store a firearm and that is 
     designed to be unlocked only by means of a key, a 
     combination, or other similar means; and
       ``(B) that is approved by a licensed firearms manufacturer 
     for use on the handgun with which the device or locking 
     mechanism is sold, delivered, or transferred.''.
       (b) Unlawful Acts.--
       (1) In general.--Section 922 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by inserting after subsection (y) the 
     following:
       ``(z) Locking Devices.--
       ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), it 
     shall be unlawful for any licensed manufacturer, licensed 
     importer, or licensed dealer to sell, deliver, or transfer 
     any handgun to any person other than a licensed manufacturer, 
     licensed importer, or licensed dealer, unless the transferee 
     is provided with a locking device for that handgun.
       ``(2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) does not apply to--
       ``(A) the--
       ``(i) manufacture for, transfer to, or possession by, the 
     United States or a State or a department or agency of the 
     United States, or a State or a department, agency, or 
     political subdivision of a State, of a firearm; or
       ``(ii) transfer to, or possession by, a law enforcement 
     officer employed by an entity referred to in clause (i) of a 
     firearm for law enforcement purposes (whether on or off 
     duty); or
       ``(B) the transfer to, or possession by, a rail police 
     officer employed by a rail carrier and certified or 
     commissioned as a police officer under the laws of a State of 
     a firearm for purposes of law enforcement (whether on or off 
     duty).''.
       (2) Effective date.--Section 922(y) of title 18, United 
     States Code, as added by this subsection, shall take effect 
     180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (c) Liability; Evidence.--
       (1) Liability.--Nothing in this section shall be construed 
     to--
       (A) create a cause of action against any firearms dealer or 
     any other person for any civil liability; or
       (B) establish any standard of care.
       (2) Evidence.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
     evidence regarding compliance or noncompliance with the 
     amendments made by this section shall not be admissible as 
     evidence in any proceeding of any court, agency, board, or 
     other entity, except with respect to an action to enforce 
     this section.
       (3) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection shall 
     be construed to bar a governmental action to impose a penalty 
     under section 924(p) of title 18, United States Code, for a 
     failure to comply with section 922(y) of that title.
       (d) Civil Penalties.--Section 924 of title 18, United 
     States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``or (f)'' and 
     inserting ``(f), or (p)''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(p) Penalties Relating to Locking Devices.--
       ``(1) In general.--
       ``(A) Suspension or revocation of license; civil 
     penalties.--With respect to each violation of section 
     922(y)(1) by a licensee, the Secretary may, after notice and 
     opportunity for hearing--
       ``(i) suspend or revoke any license issued to the licensee 
     under this chapter; or
       ``(ii) subject the licensee to a civil penalty in an amount 
     equal to not more than $10,000.
       ``(B) Review.--An action of the Secretary under this 
     paragraph may be reviewed only as provided in section 923(f).
       ``(2) Administrative remedies.--The suspension or 
     revocation of a license or the imposition of a civil penalty 
     under paragraph (1) does not preclude any administrative 
     remedy that is otherwise available to the Secretary.''.

     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 LOCKS.

       ``(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 Safety Lock Act of 2001 to establish a consumer 
     product safety standard for locking devices. 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 locking devices that--
       ``(i) are sufficiently difficult for children to de-
     activate or remove; and
       ``(ii) prevent the discharge of the handgun unless the 
     locking device 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.

[[Page S1772]]

       ``(2) Locking device.--The term `locking device' has the 
     meaning given that term in clauses (i) and (iii) of section 
     921(a)(35)(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 locks.''.
       (c) 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.
                                 ______