I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4965 

To create and disseminate best practices regarding safe firearm storage, 

to create a grant program for the distribution of safe storage devices, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Ms. JACKSON LEE (for herself, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. ADAMS, Mrs. BEATTY, 

Mr. BERA, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. 

BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTER of 

Louisiana, Mr. CASAR, Mr. CASTEN, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

CONNOLLY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mrs. 

FLETCHER, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Mr. FROST, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GOLDMAN

of New York, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HOYER, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Mr. IVEY, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 

Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. KEATING, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LANDSMAN, Ms. LEE of 

California, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. LIEU, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MANNING, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 

Mr. MEEKS, Mr. MFUME, Mr. MRVAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. 

PRESSLEY, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. 

SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SOTO, 

Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. 

TOKUDA, Mr. TONKO, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. 

WILD, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To create and disseminate best practices regarding safe fireVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4965.IH H4965

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arm storage, to create a grant program for the distribution of safe storage devices, 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 the ‘‘Kimberly Vaughan 

5 Firearm Safe Storage Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BEST PRACTICES FOR SAFE FIREARM STORAGE. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the At10 torney General shall establish voluntary best prac11 tices relating to safe firearm storage solely for the 

12 purpose of public education. 

13 (2) PUBLIC NOTICE; HEARING.—The Attorney 

14 General shall give not less than 90 days public no15 tice, and shall afford interested parties opportunity 

16 for hearing, before establishing the best practices. 

17 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In establishing the best prac18 tices under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall out19 line the best practices for preventing firearm loss, theft, 

20 and other unauthorized access for the following locations: 

21 (1) Businesses. 

22 (2) Vehicles. 

23 (3) Private homes. 

24 (4) Off-site storage facilities. 


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1 (5) Any other place about which the Attorney 

2 General deems appropriate to provide such guidance. 

3 (c) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

5 shall publish, in print and on a public website, the best 

6 practices established under subsection (a), and shall re7 view and update the best practices not less often than an8 nually. 

9 SEC. 3. PROMOTION OF SAFE FIREARM STORAGE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 923 of title 18, United 

11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(m) Beginning January 1, 2025, a licensed manu14 facturer or licensed importer that serializes not fewer than 

15 250 firearms annually pursuant to subsection (i) shall pro16 vide with each manufactured or imported handgun, rifle, 

17 or shotgun a clear and conspicuous written notice that— 

18 ‘‘(1) is attached or adhered to, or appears on 

19 or within any packaging of, the handgun, rifle, or 

20 shotgun; and 

21 ‘‘(2) states ‘SAFE STORAGE SAVES LIVES’ 

22 followed by the address of the public website estab23 lished by the Attorney General pursuant to section 

24 2 of the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage 

25 Act.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. SAFE STORAGE DEVICES FOR ALL FIREARM SALES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922(z) of title 18, United 

3 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘handgun’’ each place 

4 it appears and inserting ‘‘handgun, rifle, or shotgun’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall take effect on the date that is 180 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 5. SAFE FIREARM STORAGE GRANT PROGRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may award 

10 grants to States and Indian Tribes for the development, 

11 implementation, and evaluation of Safe Firearm Storage 

12 Assistance Programs. 

13 (b) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Each applicant 

14 for a grant under this section shall— 

15 (1) submit to the Attorney General an applica16 tion at such time, in such a manner, and containing 

17 such information as the Attorney General may re18 quire; and 

19 (2) to the extent practicable, identify State, 

20 local, Tribal, and private funds available to supple21 ment the funds received under this section. 

22 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 (1) GRANTEE REPORT.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of a grant 

25 under this section shall submit to the Attorney 


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1 General an annual report that includes the fol2 lowing information: 

3 (i) The amount distributed to each 

4 Safe Firearm Storage Assistance Program 

5 in the jurisdiction of the grant recipient. 

6 (ii) The number of safe firearm stor7 age devices distributed by each such Safe 

8 Firearm Storage Assistance Program. 

9 (B) PROHIBITION.—A recipient of a grant 

10 under this section shall not include in a report 

11 under subparagraph (A) any personally identi12 fying information of a recipient of a safe fire13 arms storage device pursuant to a Safe Firearm 

14 Storage Assistance Program funded under this 

15 section. 

16 (2) ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORT.—Beginning 

17 13 months after the date grants are first awarded 

18 under this section, and annually thereafter, the At19 torney General shall submit to the Congress a report 

20 that includes the following: 

21 (A) A list of grant recipients during the 

22 preceding year, including the funds awarded, 

23 cumulatively and disaggregated by grantee. 

24 (B) The information submitted pursuant 

25 to paragraph (1). 


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1 (d) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO2 PRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

3 Attorney General to carry out this section $10,000,000 

4 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2034, to remain 

5 available until expended. 

6 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—A grantee to which funds are 

7 awarded under this section— 

8 (1) shall use not less than 75 percent of the 

9 funds to create or to provide resources for Safe Fire10 arm Storage Assistance Programs in the jurisdiction 

11 of the grantee; and 

12 (2) may make available to nonprofit organiza13 tions not more than 25 percent of the funds to part14 ner with units of local government to purchase and 

15 distribute safe firearm storage devices. 

16 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) SAFE FIREARM STORAGE DEVICE.—The 

18 term ‘‘safe firearm storage device’’ means a device 

19 that— 

20 (A) is designed and marketed for the prin21 cipal purpose of denying unauthorized access to, 

22 or rendering inoperable, a firearm or ammuni23 tion; 


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1 (B) is secured by a combination lock, key 

2 lock, or lock based on biometric information; 

3 and 

4 (C) once locked, is incapable of being 

5 opened without the combination, key, or biomet6 ric information, respectively. 

7 (2) SAFE FIREARM STORAGE ASSISTANCE PRO8 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Safe Firearm Storage Assistance 

9 Program’’ means a program— 

10 (A) carried out by a unit of local govern11 ment or an Indian tribe; and 

12 (B) solely for the purpose of acquiring and 

13 distributing safe firearm storage devices to the 

14 public. 

Æ 


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