I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1014

To prevent children from injuring themselves with handguns.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 14, 2001

Ms. CARSON of Indiana 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 children from injuring themselves with handguns.

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 Handgun Injury

5 Prevention Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) In the 10 years from 1987 through 1996,

9 nearly 2,200 children in the United States who were

10 14 years of age or younger died from unintentional
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1 shootings, and in 1996 alone, 138 children were shot

2 and killed unintentionally, which is an average of 11

3 children every month, or 1 child every third day, ac4 cording to the National Center for Health Statistics.

5 (2) The United States leads the industrialized

6 world in the rates of children lost to unintentional

7 firearms-related deaths. A 1997 study from the Cen8 ters for Disease Control and Prevention found that

9 for unintentional firearms-related deaths for children

10 under the age of 15, the rate in the United States

11 was 9 times greater than in 25 other industrialized

12 countries combined.

13 (3) While the number of unintentional deaths

14 from firearms is an unacceptable toll on the children

15 of the United States, nearly 8 times that number are

16 treated annually in hospital emergency rooms in the

17 United States for nonfatal unintentional gunshot

18 wounds, according to an article in the June 12,

19 1996, issue of the Journal of the American Medical

20 Association.

21 (4) In the June 12, 1987, issue of the Journal

22 of the American Medical Association, a study of un23 intentional firearms deaths among children in Cali24 fornia found that unintentional gunshot wounds

25 most often involve handguns.
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1 (5) A study in the December 1995 issue of the

2 Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found

3 that children as young as 3 years old are strong

4 enough to fire most commercially available hand5 guns. The study found that 25 percent of 3- to 4-

6 year-olds and 70 percent of 5- to 6-year-olds had

7 sufficient finger strength to fire 59 (or 92 percent)

8 of the 64 commonly available handguns examined in

9 the study.

10 (6) Currently, firearms are the only products

11 manufactured in the United States that are not sub12 ject to minimum safety standards.

13 (7) A 1997 public opinion poll conducted by the

14 National Opinion Research Center at the University

15 of Chicago in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins

16 Center for Gun Policy and Research found that 74

17 percent of the people of the United States support

18 safety regulation of the firearms industry.

19 (8) Firearms, their component parts, and safety

20 locks designed to prevent firearms from accidentally

21 discharging, all move in interstate commerce.

22 (9) Many currently available trigger locks and

23 other similar devices are inadequate to prevent the

24 accidental discharge of the firearms to which they
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1 are attached, or to prevent children from gaining ac2 cess to the firearms.

3 SEC. 3. REGULATION OF HANDGUN DISCHARGE PROTEC4 TION PRODUCTS.

5 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of the

6 Treasury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall

7 prescribe such regulations governing the design, manufac8 ture, and performance of, and commerce in, handgun dis9 charge protection products, as are necessary to reduce or

10 prevent unreasonable risk of injury to children from the

11 unintentional discharge of handguns.

12 (b) MINIMUM SAFETY STANDARD.—The regulations

13 required by subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, set forth

14 a minimum safety standard that a handgun discharge pro15 tection product must meet in order to be manufactured,

16 sold, transferred, or delivered consistent with this Act. In

17 developing the standard, the Secretary shall give appro18 priate consideration to handgun discharge protection

19 products that are not detachable, but are permanently in20 stalled and incorporated into the design of a handgun. The

21 standard shall include provisions to ensure that any hand22 gun discharge protection product that meets the standard

23 is of adequate quality and construction to prevent children

24 from operating a handgun, and to ensure that such a

25 product cannot be removed from a handgun except
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1 through the use of a key, combination, or other method

2 of access made possible by the manufacturer of the prod3 uct.

4 (c) USE OF POISON PACKAGING PREVENTION

5 STANDARDS TEST PROTOCOLS.—In developing the stand6 ard required by subsection (b), the Secretary shall con7 sider using test protocols described in section 1700.20 of

8 title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, (in effect as of Jan9 uary 1, 1998), related to poison prevention packaging

10 standards.

11 (d) DEADLINE FOR ISSUANCE OF STANDARD.—With12 in 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,

13 the Secretary shall issue in final form the standard re14 quired by subsection (b).

15 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE OF STANDARD.—The standard

16 issued under subsection (b) shall take effect 6 months

17 after the date of issuance.

18 SEC. 4. ORDERS; INSPECTIONS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may issue an order

20 prohibiting the manufacture, sale, transfer, or delivery of

21 a handgun discharge protection product which the Sec22 retary finds has been designed, or has been or is intended

23 to be manufactured, transferred, or distributed in violation

24 of this Act or a regulation prescribed under this Act.
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1 (b) AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE THE RECALL, REPAIR,

2 OR REPLACEMENT OF, OR THE PROVISION OF RE3 FUNDS.—The Secretary may issue an order requiring the

4 manufacturer of, and any dealer in, a handgun discharge

5 protection product which the Secretary finds has been de6 signed, manufactured, transferred, or delivered in viola7 tion of this Act or a regulation prescribed under this Act,

8 to—

9 (1) provide notice of the risks associated with

10 the product, and of how to avoid or reduce the risks,

11 to—

12 (A) the public;

13 (B) in the case of the manufacturer of the

14 product, each dealer in the product; and

15 (C) in the case of a dealer in the product,

16 the manufacturer of the product and the other

17 persons known to the dealer as dealers in the

18 product;

19 (2) bring the product into conformity with the

20 regulations prescribed under this Act;

21 (3) repair the product;

22 (4) replace the product with a like or equivalent

23 product which is in compliance with such regula24 tions;
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1 (5) refund the purchase price of the product,

2 or, if the product is more than 1 year old, a lesser

3 amount based on the value of the product after rea4 sonable use;

5 (6) recall the product from the stream of com6 merce; or

7 (7) submit to the Secretary a satisfactory plan

8 for implementation of any action required under this

9 subsection.

10 (c) INSPECTIONS.—In order to ascertain compliance

11 with this Act and the regulations and orders issued under

12 this Act, the Secretary may, at reasonable times—

13 (1) enter any place in which handgun discharge

14 protection products are manufactured, stored, or

15 held, for distribution in commerce, and inspect those

16 areas where the products are manufactured, stored,

17 or held; and

18 (2) enter and inspect any conveyance being

19 used to transport for commercial purposes a hand20 gun discharge protection product.

21 SEC. 5. UNLAWFUL ACTS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 30 days after a final

23 standard issued under section 3(b) takes effect, it shall

24 be unlawful—
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1 (1) for any licensed manufacturer or licensed

2 importer to sell, transfer, or deliver to any person

3 any handgun without a handgun discharge protec4 tion product that meets the standard; and

5 (2) for any licensed dealer to sell, transfer, or

6 deliver to any person any handgun without the

7 handgun discharge protection product supplied to

8 the dealer by the licensed manufacturer or importer.

9 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to

10 the sale, transfer, or delivery of a handgun to a depart11 ment or agency of the Federal Government or of any State

12 government or political subdivision of a State.

13 SEC. 6. WARNING LABELS FOR HANDGUNS.

14 (a) INCLUSION OF WARNING LABELS IN HANDGUN

15 PACKAGING.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—A licensed manufacturer, li17 censed importer, or licensed dealer shall not sell,

18 transfer, or deliver a handgun with accompanying

19 packaging or other descriptive materials, unless the

20 warning label described in paragraph (2) is dis21 played on the principal display panel of the pack22 aging and on the materials.

23 (2) WARNING LABEL.—

24 (A) CONTENT.—The warning label re25 ferred to in paragraph (1) is a label that, in
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1 conspicuous and legible type, contains the fol2 lowing statement:

3 ‘‘Children are attracted to and can oper4 ate handguns, which can cause severe inju5 ries or death.

6 ‘‘Prevent child access by always keeping

7 handguns locked away and unloaded.’’.

8 (B) APPEARANCE.—The statement re9 quired by subparagraph (A) shall, by typog10 raphy, layout, or color, be in contrast with

11 other printed matter on the package or descrip12 tive materials, in a manner similar to that de13 scribed in section 1500.121 of title 16, Code of

14 Federal Regulations (in effect as of January 1,

15 1998).

16 (b) AFFIXATION OF WARNING LABEL TO HANDGUN

17 TRANSFERRED WITHOUT PACKAGING.—A licensed manu18 facturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer shall not

19 sell, transfer, or deliver a handgun without accompanying

20 packaging or other descriptive materials, unless the label

21 described in subsection (a)(2)(A) is affixed to the handgun

22 by a method to be prescribed by rule by the Secretary.
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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect

2 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

3 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

4 Each licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, and

5 licensed dealer shall report to the Secretary any informa6 tion obtained by the manufacturer, importer, or dealer

7 which reasonably supports the conclusion that—

8 (1) a child has suffered an unintentional or

9 self-inflicted gunshot wound inflicted through the

10 use of a handgun that was sold, transferred, or de11 livered by the manufacturer, importer, or dealer

12 after the effective date of this Act; and

13 (2) as a result, the individual died, suffered se14 rious injury, or was treated for an injury by a med15 ical professional.

16 SEC. 8. ENFORCEMENT.

17 (a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—The Secretary may assess a

18 civil money penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each viola19 tion of this Act.

20 (b) REVOCATION OF FEDERAL FIREARMS LI21 CENSE.—Section 923(e) of title 18, United States Code,

22 is amended by inserting after the 2nd sentence the fol23 lowing: ‘‘The Secretary may, after notice and opportunity

24 for hearing, revoke any license issued under this section

25 if the holder of the license violates any provision of the
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1 Child Handgun Injury Prevention Act or any rule or regu2 lation prescribed under such Act.’’.

3 (c) PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any person aggrieved by any

5 violation of this Act or of any regulation prescribed

6 or order issued under this Act by another person

7 may bring an action against such other person in

8 any United States district court for damages, includ9 ing consequential damages. In any action under this

10 subsection, the court, in its discretion, may award to

11 a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney’s fee as

12 part of the costs.

13 (2) RULE OF INTERPRETATION.—The remedy

14 provided for in paragraph (1) shall be in addition to

15 any other remedy provided by common law or under

16 Federal or State law.

17 (d) PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT OF THIS ACT.—Any in18 terested person may bring an action in any United States

19 district court to enforce this Act, or restrain any violation

20 of this Act or of any regulation prescribed or order issued

21 under this Act. In any action under this subsection, the

22 court, in its discretion, may award to a prevailing plaintiff

23 a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.

24 (e) EFFECT ON PRIVATE REMEDIES.—
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1 (1) IRRELEVANCY OF COMPLIANCE WITH THIS

2 ACT.—Compliance with this Act or any order issued

3 or regulation prescribed under this Act shall not re4 lieve any person from liability to any person under

5 common law or State statutory law.

6 (2) IRRELEVANCY OF FAILURE TO TAKE AC7 TION UNDER THIS ACT.—The failure of the Sec8 retary to take any action authorized under this Act

9 shall not be admissible in litigation relating to the

10 product under common law or State statutory law.

11 (f) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Any person who has re12 ceived from the Secretary a notice that the person has vio13 lated a provision of this Act or of a regulation prescribed

14 under this Act with respect to a handgun discharge protec15 tion product, and who subsequently knowingly violates

16 such provision with respect to the product shall be fined

17 under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more

18 than 2 years, or both.

19 SEC. 9. NO EFFECT ON STATE LAW.

20 This Act does not annul, alter, impair, or affect, or

21 exempt any person subject to the provisions of this Act

22 from complying with, any provision of the law of any State

23 or any political subdivision thereof, except to the extent

24 that such provisions of State law are inconsistent with any

25 provision of this Act, and then only to the extent of the
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1 inconsistency. A provision of State law is not inconsistent

2 with this Act if such provision affords greater protection

3 to children in respect of handguns than is afforded by this

4 Act.

5 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

6 In this Act:

7 (1) The term ‘‘handgun discharge protection

8 product’’ means any device (including a handgun)

9 that is designed, manufactured, or represented in

10 commerce, as useful in protecting children from in11 jury from the unintentional discharge of a handgun.

12 (2) The term ‘‘children’’ means individuals who

13 have not attained 18 years of age.

14 (3) The terms ‘‘licensed importer’’, ‘‘licensed

15 manufacturer’’, ‘‘licensed dealer’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and

16 ‘‘handgun’’ have the meanings given in paragraphs

17 (9), (10), (11), (18), and (29), respectively, of sec18 tion 921(a) of title 18, United States Code.

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