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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1355

To prevent children from having access to firearms.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 3, 2001

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. REED, and Mr.

SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To prevent children from having access to firearms.

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 ‘‘Children’s Firearm Ac5 cess Prevention Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CHILDREN AND FIREARMS SAFETY.

7 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 921(a)(34)(A) of title 18,

8 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or remov9 ing’’ after ‘‘deactivating’’.
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1 (b) PROHIBITION.—Section 922 of title 18, United

2 States Code, is amended by inserting after subsection (y)

3 the following:

4 ‘‘(z) PROHIBITION AGAINST GIVING JUVENILES AC5 CESS TO CERTAIN FIREARMS.—

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:

7 ‘‘(A) JUVENILE.—The term ‘juvenile’

8 means an individual who has not attained the

9 age of 18 years.

10 ‘‘(B) CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE.—The term

11 ‘criminal negligence’ pertains to conduct that

12 involves a gross deviation from the standard of

13 care that a reasonable person would exercise

14 under the circumstances, but which is not reck15 less.

16 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in

17 paragraph (3), it shall be unlawful for any person to

18 keep a loaded firearm, or an unloaded firearm and

19 ammunition for a firearm, any of which has been

20 shipped or transported in interstate or foreign com21 merce or otherwise substantially affects interstate or

22 foreign commerce, within any premises that is under

23 the custody or control of that person if that person

24 knows or, with criminal negligence, should know that

25 a juvenile is capable of gaining access to the firearm
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1 without the permission of the parent or legal guard2 ian of the juvenile, and fails to take steps to prevent

3 such access.

4 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (2) does not

5 apply if—

6 ‘‘(A) the person uses a secure gun storage

7 or safety device for the firearm;

8 ‘‘(B) the person is a peace officer, a mem9 ber of the Armed Forces, or a member of the

10 National Guard, and the juvenile obtains the

11 firearm during, or incidental to, the perform12 ance of the official duties of the person in that

13 capacity;

14 ‘‘(C) the juvenile obtains, or obtains and

15 discharges, the firearm in a lawful act of self16 defense or defense of one or more other per17 sons;

18 ‘‘(D) the person has no reasonable expecta19 tion, based on objective facts and cir20 cumstances, that a juvenile is likely to be

21 present on the premises on which the firearm is

22 kept;

23 ‘‘(E) the juvenile obtains the firearm as a

24 result of an unlawful entry by any person;
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1 ‘‘(F) the juvenile was supervised by a per2 son older than 18 years of age and was engag3 ing in hunting, sporting, or another lawful pur4 pose; or

5 ‘‘(G) the juvenile gained the gun during a

6 time that the juvenile was engaged in an agri7 cultural enterprise.’’.

8 (c) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of title 18, United

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing:

11 ‘‘(7)(A) Whoever violates section 922(z), if a juvenile

12 (as defined in section 922(z)) obtains access to the firearm

13 that is the subject of the violation and thereby causes

14 death or serious bodily injury to the juvenile or to any

15 other person, shall be fined not more than $4,000, impris16 oned not more than 1 year, or both.

17 ‘‘(B) Whoever violates section 922(z), if a juvenile (as

18 defined in section 922(z)) obtains access to the firearm

19 that is the subject of the violation shall be fined not more

20 than $500.’’.

21 (d) ROLE OF LICENSED FIREARMS DEALERS.—Sec22 tion 926 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by

23 adding at the end the following:

24 ‘‘(d) CONTENTS OF FORM.—The Secretary shall en25 sure that a copy of section 922(z) appears on the form
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1 required to be obtained by a licensed dealer from a pro2 spective transferee of a firearm;

3 ‘‘(e) NOTICE OF CHILDREN’S FIREARM ACCESS PRE4 VENTION ACT.—A licensed dealer shall post a prominent

5 notice in the place of business of the licensed dealer as

6 follows:

7 ‘‘IT IS UNLAWFUL AND A VIOLATION OF

8 THE CHILDREN’S FIREARM ACCESS PRE9 VENTION ACT TO STORE, TRANSPORT, OR

10 ABANDON AN UNINSURED FIREARM IN A

11 PLACE WHERE CHILDREN ARE LIKELY TO

12 BE AND CAN OBTAIN ACCESS TO THE FIRE13 ARM.’’.

14 (e) NO EFFECT ON STATE LAW.—Nothing in this

15 section or the amendments made by this section shall be

16 construed to preempt any provision of the law of any

17 State, the purpose of which is to prevent juveniles from

18 injuring themselves or others with firearms.

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