I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5323
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a nonrefundable 
tax credit against income tax for individuals who purchase a residential 
safe storage device for the safe storage of firearms. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 8, 2004
Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
for a nonrefundable tax credit against income tax for 
individuals who purchase a residential safe storage device 
for the safe storage of firearms.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Protection and 
Home Safety Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR RESIDENTIAL GUN SAFE PURCHASES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is 
amended by inserting after section 25B the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 25C. PURCHASE OF RESIDENTIAL GUN SAFES. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in-
dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 
imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an amount 
equal to 25 percent of the amount paid or incurred by 
the taxpayer during such taxable year for the purchase 
of a qualified residential gun safe. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—
‘‘(1) MAXIMUM
CREDIT.—The credit allowed 
under subsection (a) with respect to any qualified 
residential gun safe shall not exceed $250. 
‘‘(2) CARRYFORWARD OF UNUSED CREDIT.—If 
the credit allowable under subsection (a) for any tax-
able year exceeds the limitation imposed by section 
26(a) for such taxable year reduced by the sum of 
the credits allowable under this subpart (other than 
this section and section 23), such excess shall be 
carried to the succeeding taxable year and added to 
the credit allowable under subsection (a) for such 
taxable year. No credit may be carried forward 
under this subsection to any taxable year following 
the third taxable year after the taxable year in which
the purchase or purchases are made. For purposes 
of the preceding sentence, credits shall be treated as 
used on a first-in first-out basis. 
‘‘(c) QUALIFIED RESIDENTIAL GUN SAFE.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘qualified residential gun 
safe’ means a container not intended for the display of 
firearms which is specifically designed to store or safe-
guard firearms from unauthorized access and which meets 
a performance standard for an adequate security level es-
tablished by objective testing. 
‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.—
‘‘(1) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduc-
tion shall be allowed under this chapter with respect 
to any expense which is taken into account in deter-
mining the credit under this section. 
‘‘(2) MARRIED COUPLES MUST FILE JOINT RE-
TURN.—If the taxpayer is married at the close of 
the taxable year, the credit shall be allowed under 
subsection (a) only if the taxpayer and taxpayer’s 
spouse file a joint return for the taxable year. 
‘‘(3) MARITAL STATUS.—Marital status shall be 
determined in accordance with section 7703. 
‘‘(e) ELECTION TO HAVE CREDIT NOT APPLY.—A 
taxpayer may elect to have this section not apply for any 
taxable year.
‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 
such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that resi-
dential gun safes qualifying for the credit meet design and 
performance standards sufficient to ensure the provisions 
of this section are carried out. 
‘‘(g) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION; EVIDENCE; USE 
OF INFORMATION.—
‘‘(1) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this section shall be construed—
‘‘(A) as creating a cause of action against 
any firearms dealer or any other person for any 
civil liability, or 
‘‘(B) as establishing any standard of care. 
‘‘(2) EVIDENCE.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, evidence regarding the use or non-
use by a taxpayer of the tax credit under this section 
shall not be admissible as evidence in any proceeding 
of any court, agency, board, or other entity for the 
purposes of establishing liability based on a civil ac-
tion brought on any theory for harm caused by a 
product or by negligence, or for purposes of drawing 
an inference that the taxpayer owns a firearm. 
‘‘(3) USE
OF
INFORMATION.—No database 
identifying gun owners may be created using infor-
mation from tax returns on which the credit under 
this section is claimed.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 6501(m) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by insert-
ing ‘‘25C(e),’’ before ‘‘30(d)(4),’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter I 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in-
serting after the item relating to section 25B the following 
new item:
‘‘Sec. 25C. Purchase of residential gun safes.’’.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2003.
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