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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 936

To prevent children from having access to firearms.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 3, 1999

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr.

LAUTENBERG, Mrs. BOXER, and Mr. REED) 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) DEFINITION OF JUVENILE.—In this sub7 section, the term ‘juvenile’ means an individual who

8 has not attained the age of 18 years.

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

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

11 keep a loaded firearm, or an unloaded firearm and

12 ammunition for the firearm, any of which has been

13 shipped or transported in interstate or foreign com14 merce or otherwise substantially affects interstate or

15 foreign commerce, within any premise that is under

16 the custody or control of that person if that person

17 knows, or reasonably should know, that a juvenile is

18 capable of gaining access to the firearm without the

19 permission of the parent or legal guardian of the ju20 venile.

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

22 apply if—

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

24 or safety device for the firearm;
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1 ‘‘(B) the person is a peace officer, a mem2 ber of the Armed Forces, or a member of the

3 National Guard, and the juvenile obtains the

4 firearm during, or incidental to, the perform5 ance of the official duties of the person in that

6 capacity;

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

8 discharges, the firearm in a lawful act of self9 defense or defense of one or more other per10 sons;

11 ‘‘(D) the person has no reasonable expecta12 tion, based on objective facts and cir13 cumstances, that a juvenile is likely to be

14 present on the premises on which the firearm is

15 kept; or

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

17 result of an unlawful entry by any person.’’.

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

19 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing:

21 ‘‘(7) Whoever violates section 922(z), if a juvenile (as

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

23 and thereby causes death or bodily injury to the juvenile

24 or to any other person, or exhibits the firearm either in

25 a public place, or in violation of section 922(q)—
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1 ‘‘(A) shall be fined not more than $10,000, im2 prisoned not more than 1 year, or both; or

3 ‘‘(B) if such violation is reckless, shall be fined

4 in accordance with this title, imprisoned not more

5 than 5 years, or both.’’.

6 (d) ROLE OF LICENSED FIREARMS DEALERS.—Sec7 tion 926 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by

8 adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(d) CONTENTS OF FORM.—The Secretary shall en10 sure that a copy of section 922(z) appears on the form

11 required to be obtained by a licensed dealer from a pro12 spective transferee of a firearm.’’.

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

14 section or the amendments made by this section shall be

15 construed to preempt any provision of the law of any

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

17 injuring themselves or others with firearms.

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