II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 193 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to require the safe 

storage of firearms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 18, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to 

require the safe storage of firearms, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Ethan’s Law’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress find the following: 

7 (1) An estimated 4,600,000 minors in the 

8 United States live in homes with at least 1 unse9 cured firearm. 


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1 (2) 73 percent of children under the age of 10 

2 living in homes with firearms reported knowing the 

3 location of their parents’ firearms. 36 percent of 

4 those children reported handling their parents’ unse5 cured firearms. 

6 (3) The presence of unsecured firearms in the 

7 home increases the risk of unintentional and inten8 tional shootings. Over 75 percent of firearms used in 

9 youth suicide attempts and unintentional firearm in10 juries were stored in the residence of the victim, a 

11 relative, or a friend. 

12 (4) The United States Secret Service and the 

13 Department of Education report that in 65 percent 

14 of deadly school shootings the attacker obtained the 

15 firearm from his or her own home or that of a rel16 ative. 

17 (5) In the last decade nearly 2,000,000 fire18 arms have been reported stolen. In 2016 alone, 

19 238,000 firearms were reported stolen in the United 

20 States. Between 2010 and 2016, police recovered 

21 more than 23,000 stolen firearms across jurisdic22 tions that were used to commit kidnappings, armed 

23 robberies, sexual assaults, murders, and other vio24 lent crimes. 


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1 (6) Higher levels of neighborhood gun violence 

2 drive depopulation, discourages commercial activity, 

3 and decreases property values, resulting in fewer 

4 business establishments, fewer jobs, lower home val5 ues, and lower home ownership rates. 

6 (7) The negative economic impact of gun vio7 lence in communities is tied directly to the national 

8 economy and interstate commerce. 

9 (8) Congress has the power under the interstate 

10 commerce clause and other provisions of the Con11 stitution of the United States to enact measures en12 suring firearms are securely stored. 

13 SEC. 3. SECURE GUN STORAGE OR SAFETY DEVICE. 

14 Section 922(z) of title 18, United States Code, is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) SECURE GUN STORAGE BY OWNERS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) OFFENSE.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro19 vided in clause (ii), it shall be unlawful for 

20 a person to store or keep any firearm that 

21 has moved in, or that has otherwise af22 fected, interstate or foreign commerce on 

23 the premises of a residence under the con24 trol of the person if the person knows, or 

25 reasonably should know, that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a minor is likely to gain ac2 cess to the firearm without the per3 mission of the parent or guardian of 

4 the minor; or 

5 ‘‘(II) a resident of the residence 

6 is ineligible to possess a firearm under 

7 Federal, State, or local law. 

8 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall 

9 not apply to a person if the person— 

10 ‘‘(I) keeps the firearm— 

11 ‘‘(aa) secure using a secure 

12 gun storage or safety device; or 

13 ‘‘(bb) in a location which a 

14 reasonable person would believe 

15 to be secure; or 

16 ‘‘(II) carries the firearm on his 

17 or her person or within such close 

18 proximity thereto that the person can 

19 readily retrieve and use the firearm as 

20 if the person carried the firearm on 

21 his or her person. 

22 ‘‘(B) PENALTY.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any person who 

24 violates subparagraph (A) shall be fined 

25 $500 per violation. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) ENHANCED PENALTY.—If a per2 son violates subparagraph (A) and a minor 

3 or a resident who is ineligible to possess a 

4 firearm under Federal, State, or local law 

5 obtains the firearm and causes injury or 

6 death to such minor, resident, or any other 

7 individual, the person shall be fined under 

8 this title, imprisoned for not more than 5 

9 years, or both. 

10 ‘‘(iii) FORFEITURE OF IMPROPERLY

11 STORED FIREARM.—Any firearm stored in 

12 violation of subparagraph (A) shall be sub13 ject to seizure and forfeiture in accordance 

14 with the procedures described in section 

15 924(d). 

16 ‘‘(C) MINOR DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 

17 the term ‘minor’ means an individual who is 

18 less than 18 years of age.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM. 

20 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

21 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 

22 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART NN—FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM 

2 ‘‘SEC. 3041. FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Attorney General 

4 shall make grants to an eligible State or Indian Tribe to 

5 assist the State or Indian Tribe in carrying out the provi6 sions of any State or Tribal law that is functionally iden7 tical to section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States Code. 

8 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE STATE OR INDIAN TRIBE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para10 graph (2), a State or Indian Tribe shall be eligible 

11 to receive grants under this section on and after the 

12 date on which the State or Indian Tribe— 

13 ‘‘(A) enacts legislation functionally iden14 tical to section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United 

15 States Code; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the attorney general of the State (or 

17 comparable Tribal official) submits a written 

18 certification to the Assistant Attorney General 

19 stating that the law of the State or Indian 

20 Tribe reflects the sense of Congress in section 

21 922(z)(4)(D) of such title 18. 

22 ‘‘(2) FIRST YEAR ELIGIBILITY EXCEPTION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered State or In24 dian Tribe shall be eligible to receive a grant 

25 under this section during the 1-year period be26 ginning on the date of enactment of this part. 


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1 ‘‘(B) COVERED STATE OR INDIAN TRIBE.— 

2 In this paragraph, the term ‘covered State or 

3 Indian Tribe’ means a State or Indian Tribe 

4 that, before the date of enactment of this part, 

5 enacted legislation— 

6 ‘‘(i) that is functionally identical to 

7 section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States 

8 Code; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) for which the attorney general of 

10 the State (or comparable Tribal official) 

11 submits a written certification to the As12 sistant Attorney General stating that the 

13 law of the State or Indian Tribe reflects 

14 the sense of Congress in section 

15 922(z)(4)(D) of such title 18. 

16 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded under this 

17 section may be used by a State or Indian Tribe to assist 

18 law enforcement agencies or the courts of the State or In19 dian Tribe in enforcing and otherwise facilitating compli20 ance with any State law functionally identical to section 

21 922(z)(4), of title 18, United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible State or Indian 

23 Tribe desiring a grant under this section shall submit to 

24 the Assistant Attorney General an application at such 

25 time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied by 


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1 such information, as the Assistant Attorney General may 

2 reasonably require. 

3 ‘‘(e) INCENTIVES.—For each of fiscal years 2019 

4 through 2023, the Attorney General shall give affirmative 

5 preference to all Bureau of Justice Assistance discre6 tionary grant applications of a State or Indian Tribe that 

7 has enacted legislation— 

8 ‘‘(1) functionally identical to section 922(z)(4) 

9 of title 18, United States Code; and 

10 ‘‘(2) for which the attorney general of the State 

11 (or comparable Tribal official) submits a written cer12 tification to the Assistant Attorney General stating 

13 that the law of the State or Indian Tribe reflects the 

14 sense of Congress in section 922(z)(4)(D) of such 

15 title 18.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

17 Paragraph (4) of section 922(z) of title 18, United 

18 States Code, as added by section 3, is amended by adding 

19 at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(D) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO

21 LIABILITY.—It is the sense of Congress that— 

22 ‘‘(i) failure to comply with subpara23 graph (A) constitutes negligence under any 

24 relevant statute or common law rule; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) when a violation of subparagraph 

2 (A) is the but-for cause of a harm caused 

3 by the discharge of a firearm, such viola4 tion should be deemed to be the legal or 

5 proximate cause of such harm, regardless 

6 of whether such harm was also the result 

7 of an intentional tort.’’. 

8 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

9 If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made 

10 by this Act, or the application of such provision to any 

11 person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remain12 der of this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, or 

13 the application of such provision to other persons or cir14 cumstances, shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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