I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4444
To prevent children from injuring themselves and others with firearms.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 6, 1998
Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Ms. FURSE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Ms. HOOLEY
of Oregon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To prevent children from injuring themselves and others
with 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 Firearm Access
Prevention Act’’.
SEC. 2. CHILDREN AND FIREARMS SAFETY.
(a) SECURE GUN STORAGE OR SAFETY DEVICE.—
Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(34) The term ‘secure gun storage or safety device’
means—
‘‘(A) a device that, when installed on a firearm,
prevents the firearm from being operated without
first deactivating or removing the device;
‘‘(B) a device incorporated into the design of
the firearm that prevents the operation of the fire-
arm by anyone not having access to the device; or
‘‘(C) a safe, gun safe, gun case, lock box, or
other device that is designed to be or can be used
to store a firearm and that can be unlocked only by
means of a key, a combination, or other similar
means.’’.
(b) PROHIBITION AND PENALTIES.—Section 922 of
title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following:
‘‘(y) PROHIBITION AGAINST GIVING JUVENILES AC-
CESS TO CERTAIN FIREARMS.—
‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF JUVENILE.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘juvenile’ means an individual who
has not attained the age of 18 years.
‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in
paragraph (3), any person that—
‘‘(A) keeps a loaded firearm, or an un-
loaded firearm and ammunition for the firearm,
any of which has been shipped or transported
in interstate or foreign commerce or otherwise
substantially affects interstate or foreign com-
merce, within any premise that is under the
custody or control of that person; and
‘‘(B) knows, or reasonably should know,
that a juvenile is capable of gaining access to
the firearm without the permission of the par-
ent or legal guardian of the juvenile;
shall, if a juvenile obtains access to the firearm and
thereby causes death or bodily injury to the juvenile
or to any other person, or exhibits the firearm either
in a public place, or in violation of subsection (q),
be imprisoned not more than 1 year, fined not more
than $10,000, or both.
‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (2) does not
apply if—
‘‘(A) the person uses a secure gun storage
or safety device for the firearm;
‘‘(B) the person is a peace officer, a mem-
ber of the Armed Forces, or a member of the
National Guard, and the juvenile obtains the
firearm during, or incidental to, the perform-
ance of the official duties of the person in that
capacity;
‘‘(C) the juvenile obtains, or obtains and
discharges, the firearm in a lawful act of self-
defense or defense of 1 or more other persons;
or
‘‘(D) the person has no reasonable expecta-
tion, 
based 
on 
objective 
facts 
and 
cir-
cumstances, that a juvenile is likely to be
present on the premises on which the firearm is
kept.’’.
(c) ROLE OF LICENSED FIREARMS DEALERS.—Sec-
tion 926 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
‘‘(d) The Secretary shall ensure that a copy of section
922(y) appears on the form required to be obtained by
a licensed dealer from a prospective transferee of a fire-
arm.’’.
(d) NO EFFECT ON STATE LAW.—Nothing in this
section or the amendments made by this section shall be
construed to preempt any provision of the law of any
State, the purpose of which is to prevent children from
injuring themselves or others with firearms.
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