I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5941 

To prevent child injuries and deaths by firearms. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2018 

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Ms. NORTON) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 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 child injuries and deaths by 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 ‘‘Child Gun Access Pre5 vention Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CHILD ACCESS PREVENTION GRANTS TO STATES. 

7 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General shall, 

8 subject to the availability of appropriations, make grants 

9 to States that have in place a child access prevention law 

10 that, at a minimum, has substantially similar requireVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:38 Jun 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5941.IH H5941

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1 ments to those under subsection (c), for the purpose of 

2 implementing or carrying out such a law, including edu3 cating the public about such law. 

4 (b) APPLICATION.—The chief executive of a State 

5 seeking a grant under this section shall submit an applica6 tion to the Attorney General at such time, in such manner, 

7 and containing such information as the Attorney General 

8 may reasonably require. 

9 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILD ACCESS PREVEN10 TION LAWS.—The requirements for a child access preven11 tion law described in this subsection are as follows: 

12 (1) Except as otherwise provided in this sub13 section, the law provides that it is unlawful for an 

14 adult to leave a unsecured firearm owned or con15 trolled by the adult in a manner that the adult 

16 knows or reasonably should know is accessible to a 

17 child. 

18 (2) For purposes of paragraph (1), an adult 

19 shall be considered to have left a firearm unsecured 

20 with respect to a child if— 

21 (A) the firearm is not secured, unless the 

22 adult is carrying the firearm or the firearm is 

23 readily accessible to the adult; or 


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1 (B) the firearm is secured, and the adult 

2 knows or reasonably should know that the child 

3 can unsecure the firearm. 

4 (3) In this subsection: 

5 (A) The term ‘‘adult’’ means a person who 

6 has attained 18 years of age. 

7 (B) The term ‘‘child’’ means a person who 

8 has not attained 18 years of age. 

9 (C) The term ‘‘secured’’ means in a locked 

10 container (such as a safe), or rendered inoper11 able by means of a tamper-resistant lock or 

12 other secure gun storage or safety device. 

13 (D) The term ‘‘firearm’’ has the meaning 

14 given that term in section 921 of title 18, 

15 United States Code. 

16 (4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an adult 

17 with respect to a child and a firearm if— 

18 (A)(i) the adult is directly supervising the 

19 child while the child is in possession of the fire20 arm; and 

21 (ii) a parent or guardian of the child has 

22 consented to the supervision; or 

23 (B) the child accesses the firearm through 

24 an unforeseeable trespass. 


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1 (5) A law shall be considered to comply with 

2 the requirements of this subsection if the law pro3 vides that the prohibition under paragraph (1) ap4 plies— 

5 (A) only in the case that a child accesses 

6 the firearm, or a child accesses the firearm and 

7 a crime or further harm occurs as a result; or 

8 (B) regardless of whether a child accesses 

9 the firearm. 

10 (6) A law shall be considered to comply with 

11 the requirements of this subsection if the law pro12 vides that the prohibition under paragraph (1) ap13 plies— 

14 (A) only in the case that the unsecured 

15 firearm is loaded; or 

16 (B) regardless of whether the unsecured 

17 firearm is loaded. 

18 (d) REPORT.—A State receiving a grant under this 

19 section shall submit an annual report to the Attorney Gen20 eral containing, for the previous year— 

21 (1) a description of the use of the grant funds; 

22 (2) the number of children who were injured 

23 and the number of children who were killed by fire24 arms in that State; 


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1 (3) the number of adults who were prosecuted 

2 under the law described in subsection (a), and the 

3 number of such adults who were convicted; and 

4 (4) such additional information as the Attorney 

5 General may reasonably require. 

6 (e) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Any Federal funds 

7 received by a State under this section shall be used to sup8 plement, not supplant, non-Federal funds that would oth9 erwise be available for the purposes described in sub10 section (a). 

11 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec13 essary to carry out this section. 

14 SEC. 3. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVEN15 TION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 

18 and Human Services, through the Director of the Centers 

19 for Disease Control and Prevention, shall conduct a study, 

20 and submit to Congress a report, on child injuries and 

21 deaths resulting from firearms and on practices for the 

22 safe storage of firearms. 

23 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur24 poses of carrying out subsection (a), there is authorized 

25 to be appropriated $10,000,000. 


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1 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO FIREARMS DEAL2 ERS. 

3 Section 923 of title 18, United States Code, is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(m) Each licensed dealer shall provide to each per6 son to whom the licensee sells a firearm a document that 

7 contains gun safety information, including safe storage 

8 practices, as the Attorney General shall prescribe, which 

9 shall be set forth in easy-to-understand language.’’. 

Æ 


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