II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2129

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

of a child safety device in connection with the transfer of a handgun 

and to provide safety standards for child safety devices. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2004

Mrs. BOXER 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 provision of a child safety device in connection with the transfer of a handgun and to provide 

safety standards for child safety devices.

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 Safety Device 

5 Act of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF CHILD HANDGUN SAFETY DE2 VICES. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(36) The term ‘locking device’ means a device 

7 or locking mechanism that is approved by a licensed 

8 firearms manufacturer for use on the handgun with 

9 which the device or locking mechanism is sold, deliv10 ered, or transferred and that—

11 ‘‘(A) if installed on a firearm and secured 

12 by means of a key or a mechanically, electroni13 cally, or electromechanically operated combina14 tion lock, is designed to prevent the firearm 

15 from being discharged without first deactivating 

16 or removing the device by means of a key or 

17 mechanically, electronically, or electromechani18 cally operated combination lock; 

19 ‘‘(B) if incorporated into the design of a 

20 firearm, is designed to prevent discharge of the 

21 firearm by any person who does not have access 

22 to the key or other device designed to unlock 

23 the mechanism and thereby allow discharge of 

24 the firearm; or 

25 ‘‘(C) is a safe, gun safe, gun case, lock 

26 box, or other device that is designed to store a 
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1 firearm and that is designed to be unlocked 

2 only by means of a key, a combination, or other 

3 similar means.’’. 

4 (b) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, 

6 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘(z) LOCKING DEVICES.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 

10 paragraph (2), it shall be unlawful for any licensed 

11 importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer 

12 to sell, deliver, or transfer any handgun to any per13 son other than a licensed importer, licensed manu14 facturer, or licensed dealer, unless the transferee is 

15 provided with a locking device for that handgun. 

16 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

17 apply to—

18 ‘‘(A) the manufacture for, transfer to, or 

19 possession by, the United States, a department 

20 or agency of the United States, a State, or a 

21 department, agency, or political subdivision of a 

22 State, of a firearm; 

23 ‘‘(B) transfer to, or possession by, a law 

24 enforcement officer employed by an entity re25 ferred to in subparagraph (A) of a firearm for 
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1 law enforcement purposes (whether on or off 

2 duty); or 

3 ‘‘(C) the transfer to, or possession by, a 

4 rail police officer employed by a rail carrier and 

5 certified or commissioned as a police officer 

6 under State law of a firearm for purposes of 

7 law enforcement (whether on or off duty).’’. 

8 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 922(z) of title 

9 18, United States Code, as added by this subsection, 

10 shall take effect on the date which is 180 days after 

11 the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 (c) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 924 of title 18, 

13 United States Code, is amended—

14 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘or (f)’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘(f), or (p)’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(p) PENALTIES RELATING TO LOCKING DEVICES.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

19 ‘‘(A) SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF LI20 CENSE; CIVIL PENALTIES.—With respect to 

21 each violation of section 922(z)(1) by a licensee, 

22 the Attorney General shall, after notice and op23 portunity for hearing—

24 ‘‘(i) suspend or revoke any license 

25 issued to the licensee under this chapter; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) subject the licensee to a civil 

2 penalty of not more than $15,000; or 

3 ‘‘(iii) impose the penalties described in 

4 clauses (i) and (ii). 

5 ‘‘(B) REVIEW.—An action by the Attorney 

6 General under this paragraph may be reviewed 

7 only as provided under section 923(f). 

8 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES.—The sus9 pension or revocation of a license or the imposition 

10 of a civil penalty under paragraph (1) does not pre11 clude any administrative remedy that is otherwise 

12 available to the Attorney General.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

14 ACT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Consumer Product Safety 

16 Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq.), is amended by adding at 

17 the end the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 39. CHILD HANDGUN SAFETY DEVICES. 

19 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARD.—

20 ‘‘(1) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—

21 ‘‘(A) INITIATION OF RULEMAKING.—Not22 withstanding section 3(a)(1)(E), the Commis23 sion shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding

24 under section 553 of title 5, United States 

25 Code, not later than 90 days after the date of 
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1 enactment of the Child Safety Device Act of 

2 2004 to establish a consumer product safety 

3 standard for locking devices. The Commission 

4 may extend this 90-day period for good cause. 

5 ‘‘(B) FINAL RULE.—Notwithstanding any 

6 other provision of law, the Commission shall 

7 promulgate a final consumer product safety 

8 standard under this paragraph not later than 

9 12 months after the date on which the Commis10 sion initiated the rulemaking proceeding under 

11 subparagraph (A). The Commission may extend 

12 this 12-month period for good cause. 

13 ‘‘(C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The consumer 

14 product safety standard promulgated under this 

15 paragraph shall take effect on the date which is 

16 6 months after the date on which the final 

17 standard is promulgated. 

18 ‘‘(D) STANDARD REQUIREMENTS.—The 

19 standard promulgated under this paragraph 

20 shall require locking devices that—

21 ‘‘(i) are sufficiently difficult for chil22 dren to de-activate or remove; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) prevent the discharge of the 

24 handgun unless the locking device has been 

25 de-activated or removed. 
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1 ‘‘(2) INAPPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—

2 ‘‘(A) PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT.—Sections 

3 7, 9, and 30(d) shall not apply to the rule4 making proceeding described under paragraph 

5 (1). Section 11 shall not apply to any consumer 

6 product safety standard promulgated under 

7 paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(B) CHAPTER 5 OF TITLE 5.—Chapter 5 

9 of title 5, United States Code, except for sec10 tion 553 of that title, shall not apply to this 

11 section. 

12 ‘‘(C) CHAPTER 6 OF TITLE 5.—Chapter 6 

13 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply 

14 to this section. 

15 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT.—Notwithstanding subsection 

16 (a)(2)(A), the consumer product safety standard promul17 gated by the Commission pursuant to subsection (a) shall 

18 be enforced under this Act as if it were a consumer prod19 uct safety standard described under section 7(a). 

20 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

21 definitions shall apply: 

22 ‘‘(1) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi23 vidual who has not attained the age of 13 years. 

24 ‘‘(2) LOCKING DEVICE.—The term ‘locking de25 vice’ has the meaning given that term in clauses (i) 
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1 and (iii) of section 921(a)(36) of title 18, United 

2 States Code.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1 of the 

4 Consumer Product Safety Act is amended by adding at 

5 the end of the table of contents the following:

‘‘Sec. 39. Child handgun safety devices.’’.

6 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

8 appropriated to the Consumer Product Safety Com9 mission $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 

10 through 2007 to carry out the provisions of section 

11 39 of the Consumer Product Safety Act, as added 

12 by this section. 

13 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any amounts 

14 appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain 

15 available until expended.

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