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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 515

To prevent children from injuring themselves with handguns.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 3, 1999

Ms. CARSON (for herself, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. STARK, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. LUTHER, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. WEXLER, Mrs. CHRISTIANCHRISTENSEN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. FORD, Ms.

MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. CLAY, Ms.

DEGETTE, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. LANTOS, Mrs. CLAYTON, Ms.

PELOSI, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GEORGE MILLER

of California, and Mr. ABERCROMBIE) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the

Committee on Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To prevent children from injuring themselves with handguns.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Handgun Injury

5 Prevention Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) In the 10 years from 1987 through 1996,

2 nearly 2,200 children in the United States who were

3 14 years of age or younger died from unintentional

4 shootings, and in 1996 alone, 138 children were shot

5 and killed unintentionally, which is an average of 11

6 children every month, or 1 child every third day, ac7 cording to the National Center for Health Statistics.

8 (2) The United States leads the industrialized

9 world in the rates of children lost to unintentional

10 firearms-related death. A 1997 study from the Cen11 ters for Disease Control and Prevention found that

12 for unintentional firearms-related deaths for children

13 under the age of 15, the rate in the United States

14 was 9 times greater than in 25 other industrialized

15 countries combined.

16 (3) While the number of unintentional deaths

17 from firearms is an unacceptable toll on the children

18 of the United States, nearly 8 times that number are

19 treated annually in hospital emergency rooms in the

20 United States for nonfatal unintentional gunshot

21 wounds, according to an article in the June 12,

22 1996, issue of the Journal of the American Medical

23 Association.

24 (4) In the June 12, 1987, issue of the Journal

25 of the American Medical Association, a study of un-
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1 intentional firearms deaths among children in Cali2 fornia found that unintentional gunshot wounds

3 most often involve handguns.

4 (5) A study in the December 1995 issue of the

5 Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found

6 that children as young as 3 years old are strong

7 enough to fire most commercially available hand8 guns. The study found that 25 percent of 3- to 4-

9 year-olds and 70 percent of 5- to 6-year-olds had

10 sufficient finger strength to fire 59 (or 92 percent)

11 of the 64 commonly available handguns examined in

12 the study.

13 (6) Currently, firearms are the only products

14 manufactured in the United States that are not sub15 ject to minimum safety standards.

16 (7) A 1997 public opinion poll conducted by the

17 National Opinion Research Center at the University

18 of Chicago in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins

19 Center for Gun Policy and Research found that 74

20 percent of the people of the United States support

21 safety regulation of the firearms industry.

22 (8) Firearms, their component parts, and safety

23 locks designed to prevent firearms from accidentally

24 discharging, all move in interstate commerce.
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1 (9) Many currently available trigger locks and

2 other similar devices are inadequate to prevent the

3 accidental discharge of the firearms to which they

4 are attached, or to prevent children from gaining ac5 cess to the firearms.

6 SEC. 3. REGULATION OF HANDGUN DISCHARGE PROTEC7 TION PRODUCTS.

8 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of the

9 Treasury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall

10 prescribe such regulations governing the design, manufac11 ture, and performance of, and commerce in, handgun dis12 charge protection products, as are necessary to reduce or

13 prevent unreasonable risk of injury to children from the

14 unintentional discharge of handguns.

15 (b) MINIMUM SAFETY STANDARD.—The regulations

16 required by subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, set forth

17 a minimum safety standard that a handgun discharge pro18 tection product must meet in order to be manufactured,

19 sold, transferred, or delivered consistent with this Act. In

20 developing the standard, the Secretary shall give appro21 priate consideration to handgun discharge protection

22 products that are not detachable, but are permanently in23 stalled and incorporated into the design of a handgun. The

24 standard shall include provisions to ensure that any hand25 gun discharge protection product that meets the standard
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1 is of adequate quality and construction to prevent children

2 from operating a handgun, and to ensure that such a

3 product cannot be removed from a handgun except

4 through the use of a key, combination, or other method

5 of access made possible by the manufacturer of the prod6 uct.

7 (c) USE OF POISON PACKAGING PREVENTION

8 STANDARDS TEST PROTOCOLS.—In developing the stand9 ard required by subsection (b), the Secretary shall con10 sider using test protocols described in section 1700.20 of

11 title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, (in effect as of Jan12 uary 1, 1998), related to poison prevention packaging

13 standards.

14 (d) DEADLINE FOR ISSUANCE OF STANDARD.—With15 in 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,

16 the Secretary shall issue in final form the standard re17 quired by subsection (b).

18 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE OF STANDARD.—The standard

19 issued under subsection (b) shall take effect 6 months

20 after the date of issuance.

21 SEC. 4. ORDERS; INSPECTIONS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may issue an order

23 prohibiting the manufacture, sale, transfer, or delivery of

24 a handgun discharge protection product which the Sec25 retary finds has been designed, or has been or is intended
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1 to be manufactured, transferred, or distributed in violation

2 of this Act or a regulation prescribed under this Act.

3 (b) AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE THE RECALL, REPAIR,

4 OR REPLACEMENT OF, OR THE PROVISION OF RE5 FUNDS.—The Secretary may issue an order requiring the

6 manufacturer of, and any dealer in, a handgun discharge

7 protection product which the Secretary finds has been de8 signed, manufactured, transferred, or delivered in viola9 tion of this Act or a regulation prescribed under this Act,

10 to—

11 (1) provide notice of the risks associated with

12 the product, and of how to avoid or reduce the risks,

13 to—

14 (A) the public;

15 (B) in the case of the manufacturer of the

16 product, each dealer in the product; and

17 (C) in the case of a dealer in the product,

18 the manufacturer of the product and the other

19 persons known to the dealer as dealers in the

20 product;

21 (2) bring the product into conformity with the

22 regulations prescribed under this Act;

23 (3) repair the product;
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1 (4) replace the product with a like or equivalent

2 product which is in compliance with such regula3 tions;

4 (5) refund the purchase price of the product,

5 or, if the product is more than 1 year old, a lesser

6 amount based on the value of the product after rea7 sonable use;

8 (6) recall the product from the stream of com9 merce; or

10 (7) submit to the Secretary a satisfactory plan

11 for implementation of any action required under this

12 subsection.

13 (c) INSPECTIONS.—In order to ascertain compliance

14 with this Act and the regulations and orders issued under

15 this Act, the Secretary may, at reasonable times—

16 (1) enter any place in which handgun discharge

17 protection products are manufactured, stored, or

18 held, for distribution in commerce, and inspect those

19 areas where the products are manufactured, stored,

20 or held; and

21 (2) enter and inspect any conveyance being

22 used to transport for commercial purposes a hand23 gun discharge protection product.
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1 SEC. 5. UNLAWFUL ACTS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 30 days after a final

3 standard issued under section 3(b) takes effect, it shall

4 be unlawful—

5 (1) for any licensed manufacturer or licensed

6 importer to sell, transfer, or deliver to any person

7 any handgun without a handgun discharge protec8 tion product that meets the standard; and

9 (2) for any licensed dealer to sell, transfer, or

10 deliver to any person any handgun without the

11 handgun discharge protection product supplied to

12 the dealer by the licensed manufacturer or importer.

13 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to

14 the sale, transfer, or delivery of a handgun to a depart15 ment or agency of the Federal Government or of any State

16 government or political subdivision of a State.

17 SEC. 6. WARNING LABELS FOR HANDGUNS.

18 (a) INCLUSION OF WARNING LABELS IN HANDGUN

19 PACKAGING.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A licensed manufacturer, li21 censed importer, or licensed dealer shall not sell,

22 transfer, or deliver a handgun with accompanying

23 packaging or other descriptive materials, unless the

24 warning label described in paragraph (2) is dis25 played on the principal display panel of the packag26 ing and on the materials.
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1 (2) WARNING LABEL.—

2 (A) CONTENT.—The warning label re3 ferred to in paragraph (1) is a label that, in

4 conspicuous and legible type, contains the fol5 lowing statement:

6 ‘‘Children are attracted to and can oper7 ate handguns, which can cause severe inju8 ries or death.

9 ‘‘Prevent child access by always keeping

10 handguns locked away and unloaded.’’.

11 (B) APPEARANCE.—The statement re12 quired by subparagraph (A) shall, by typog13 raphy, layout, or color, be in contrast with

14 other printed matter on the package or descrip15 tive materials, in a manner similar to that de16 scribed in section 1500.121 of title 16, Code of

17 Federal Regulations (in effect as of January 1,

18 1998).

19 (b) AFFIXATION OF WARNING LABEL TO HANDGUN

20 TRANSFERRED WITHOUT PACKAGING.—A licensed manu21 facturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer shall not

22 sell, transfer, or deliver a handgun without accompanying

23 packaging or other descriptive materials, unless the label
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1 described in subsection (a)(2)(A) is affixed to the handgun

2 by a method to be prescribed by rule by the Secretary.

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect

4 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

5 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

6 Each licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, and

7 licensed dealer shall report to the Secretary any informa8 tion obtained by the manufacturer, importer, or dealer

9 which reasonably supports the conclusion that—

10 (1) a child has suffered an unintentional or

11 self-inflicted gunshot wound inflicted through the

12 use of a handgun that was sold, transferred, or de13 livered by the manufacturer, importer, or dealer

14 after the effective date of this Act; and

15 (2) as a result, the individual died, suffered se16 rious injury, or was treated for an injury by a medi17 cal professional.

18 SEC. 8. ENFORCEMENT.

19 (a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—The Secretary may assess a

20 civil money penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each viola21 tion of this Act.

22 (b) REVOCATION OF FEDERAL FIREARMS LI23 CENSE.—Section 923(e) of title 18, United States Code,

24 is amended by inserting after the 2nd sentence the follow25 ing: ‘‘The Secretary may, after notice and opportunity for
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1 hearing, revoke any license issued under this section if the

2 holder of the license violates any provision of the Child

3 Handgun Injury Prevention Act or any rule or regulation

4 prescribed under such Act.’’.

5 (c) PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any person aggrieved by any

7 violation of this Act or of any regulation prescribed

8 or order issued under this Act by another person

9 may bring an action against such other person in

10 any United States district court for damages, includ11 ing consequential damages. In any action under this

12 subsection, the court, in its discretion, may award to

13 a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney’s fee as

14 part of the costs.

15 (2) RULE OF INTERPRETATION.—The remedy

16 provided for in paragraph (1) shall be in addition to

17 any other remedy provided by common law or under

18 Federal or State law.

19 (d) PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT OF THIS ACT.—Any in20 terested person may bring an action in any United States

21 district court to enforce this Act, or restrain any violation

22 of this Act or of any regulation prescribed or order issued

23 under this Act. In any action under this subsection, the

24 court, in its discretion, may award to a prevailing plaintiff

25 a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.
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1 (e) EFFECT ON PRIVATE REMEDIES.—

2 (1) IRRELEVANCY OF COMPLIANCE WITH THIS

3 ACT.—Compliance with this Act or any order issued

4 or regulation prescribed under this Act shall not re5 lieve any person from liability to any person under

6 common law or State statutory law.

7 (2) IRRELEVANCY OF FAILURE TO TAKE AC8 TION UNDER THIS ACT.—The failure of the Sec9 retary to take any action authorized under this Act

10 shall not be admissible in litigation relating to the

11 product under common law or State statutory law.

12 (f) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Any person who has re13 ceived from the Secretary a notice that the person has vio14 lated a provision of this Act or of a regulation prescribed

15 under this Act with respect to a handgun discharge protec16 tion product, and who subsequently knowingly violates

17 such provision with respect to the product shall be fined

18 under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more

19 than 2 years, or both.

20 SEC. 9. NO EFFECT ON STATE LAW.

21 This Act does not annul, alter, impair, or affect, or

22 exempt any person subject to the provisions of this Act

23 from complying with, any provision of the law of any State

24 or any political subdivision thereof, except to the extent

25 that such provisions of State law are inconsistent with any
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1 provision of this Act, and then only to the extent of the

2 inconsistency. A provision of State law is not inconsistent

3 with this Act if such provision affords greater protection

4 to children in respect of handguns than is afforded by this

5 Act.

6 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) The term ‘‘handgun discharge protection

9 product’’ means any device (including a handgun)

10 that is designed, manufactured, or represented in

11 commerce, as useful in protecting children from in12 jury from the unintentional discharge of a handgun.

13 (2) The term ‘‘children’’ means individuals who

14 have not attained 18 years of age.

15 (3) The terms ‘‘licensed importer’’, ‘‘licensed

16 manufacturer’’, ‘‘licensed dealer’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and

17 ‘‘handgun’’ have the meanings given in paragraphs

18 (9), (10), (11), (18), and (29), respectively, of sec19 tion 921(a) of title 18, United States Code.

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