Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB726 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 726
5	5	To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to require the safe
6	6	storage of firearms, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	FEBRUARY25, 2025
9	9	Mr. B
10	10	LUMENTHAL(for himself, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SANDERS, Mr.
11	11	P
12	12	ADILLA, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN,
13	13	Mrs. G
14	14	ILLIBRAND, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. VANHOLLEN, Mr.
15	15	C
16	16	OONS, Ms. ROSEN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. HICKENLOOPER,
17	17	Mr. M
18	18	ARKEY, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. REED, Mr. WYDEN, Mr.
19	19	K
20	20	ELLY, Ms. WARREN, Mr. KING, Mr. FETTERMAN, Ms. DUCKWORTH,
21	21	Mr. B
22	22	ENNET, Mr. KAINE, Mr. WELCH, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced
23	23	the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
24	24	on the Judiciary
25	25	A BILL
26	26	To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to
27	27	require the safe storage of firearms, and for other purposes.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
29	29	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
30	30	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
31	31	This Act may be cited as ‘‘Ethan’s Law’’. 4
32	32	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5
33	33	Congress find the following: 6
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37	37	(1) An estimated 4,600,000 minors in the 1
38	38	United States live in homes with at least 1 unse-2
39	39	cured firearm. 3
40	40	(2) Seventy-three percent of children under the 4
41	41	age of 10 living in homes with firearms reported 5
42	42	knowing the location of their parents’ firearms. 6
43	43	Thirty-six percent of those children reported han-7
44	44	dling their parents’ unsecured firearms. 8
45	45	(3) The presence of unsecured firearms in the 9
46	46	home increases the risk of unintentional and inten-10
47	47	tional shootings. Over 75 percent of firearms used in 11
48	48	youth suicide attempts and unintentional firearm in-12
49	49	juries were stored in the residence of the victim, a 13
50	50	relative, or a friend. 14
51	51	(4) The United States Secret Service and the 15
52	52	Department of Education report that in 65 percent 16
53	53	of deadly school shootings, the attacker obtained the 17
54	54	firearm from his or her own home or that of a rel-18
55	55	ative. 19
56	56	(5) In the last decade, nearly 2,000,000 fire-20
57	57	arms have been reported stolen. In 2016 alone, 21
58	58	238,000 firearms were reported stolen in the United 22
59	59	States. Between 2010 and 2016, police recovered 23
60	60	more than 23,000 stolen firearms across jurisdic-24
61	61	tions that were used to commit kidnappings, armed 25
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65	65	robberies, sexual assaults, murders, and other vio-1
66	66	lent crimes. 2
67	67	(6) Higher levels of neighborhood gun violence 3
68	68	drive depopulation, discourage commercial activity, 4
69	69	and decrease property values, resulting in fewer 5
70	70	business establishments, fewer jobs, lower home val-6
71	71	ues, and lower home ownership rates. 7
72	72	(7) The negative economic impact of gun vio-8
73	73	lence in communities is tied directly to the national 9
74	74	economy and interstate commerce. 10
75	75	(8) Congress has the power under the interstate 11
76	76	commerce clause and other provisions of the Con-12
77	77	stitution of the United States to enact measures en-13
78	78	suring firearms are securely stored. 14
79	79	SEC. 3. SECURE GUN STORAGE OR SAFETY DEVICE. 15
80	80	Section 922(z) of title 18, United States Code, is 16
81	81	amended by adding at the end the following: 17
82	82	‘‘(4) S
83	83	ECURE GUN STORAGE BY OWNERS .— 18
84	84	‘‘(A) O
85	85	FFENSE.— 19
86	86	‘‘(i) I
87	87	N GENERAL.—Except as pro-20
88	88	vided in clause (ii), it shall be unlawful for 21
89	89	a person to store or keep any firearm that 22
90	90	has moved in, or that has otherwise af-23
91	91	fected, interstate or foreign commerce on 24
92	92	the premises of a residence under the con-25
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96	96	trol of the person if the person knows, or 1
97	97	reasonably should know, that— 2
98	98	‘‘(I) a minor is likely to gain ac-3
99	99	cess to the firearm without the per-4
100	100	mission of the parent or guardian of 5
101	101	the minor; or 6
102	102	‘‘(II) a resident of the residence 7
103	103	is ineligible to possess a firearm under 8
104	104	Federal, State, or local law. 9
105	105	‘‘(ii) E
106	106	XCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall 10
107	107	not apply to a person if the person— 11
108	108	‘‘(I) keeps the firearm— 12
109	109	‘‘(aa) secure using a secure 13
110	110	gun storage or safety device; or 14
111	111	‘‘(bb) in a location that a 15
112	112	reasonable person would believe 16
113	113	to be secure; or 17
114	114	‘‘(II) carries the firearm on his 18
115	115	or her person or within such close 19
116	116	proximity thereto that the person can 20
117	117	readily retrieve and use the firearm as 21
118	118	if the person carried the firearm on 22
119	119	his or her person. 23
120	120	‘‘(B) P
121	121	ENALTY.— 24
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125	125	‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any person who 1
126	126	violates subparagraph (A) shall be fined 2
127	127	$500 per violation. 3
128	128	‘‘(ii) E
129	129	NHANCED PENALTY .—If a per-4
130	130	son violates subparagraph (A) and a minor 5
131	131	or a resident who is ineligible to possess a 6
132	132	firearm under Federal, State, or local law 7
133	133	obtains the firearm and causes injury or 8
134	134	death to such minor or resident, or to any 9
135	135	other individual, the person shall be fined 10
136	136	under this title, imprisoned for not more 11
137	137	than 5 years, or both. 12
138	138	‘‘(iii) F
139	139	ORFEITURE OF IMPROPERLY 13
140	140	STORED FIREARM.—Any firearm stored in 14
141	141	violation of subparagraph (A) shall be sub-15
142	142	ject to seizure and forfeiture in accordance 16
143	143	with the procedures described in section 17
144	144	924(d). 18
145	145	‘‘(C) M
146	146	INOR DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 19
147	147	the term ‘minor’ means an individual who is 20
148	148	less than 18 years of age.’’. 21
149	149	SEC. 4. FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM. 22
150	150	Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 23
151	151	Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 24
152	152	by adding at the end the following: 25
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156	156	‘‘PART PP—FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM 1
157	157	‘‘SEC. 3061. FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM. 2
158	158	‘‘(a) I
159	159	NGENERAL.—The Assistant Attorney General 3
160	160	shall make grants to an eligible State or Indian Tribe to 4
161	161	assist the State or Indian Tribe in carrying out the provi-5
162	162	sions of any State or Tribal law that is functionally iden-6
163	163	tical to section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States Code. 7
164	164	‘‘(b) E
165	165	LIGIBLESTATE ORINDIANTRIBE.— 8
166	166	‘‘(1) I
167	167	N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-9
168	168	graph (2), a State or Indian Tribe shall be eligible 10
169	169	to receive grants under this section on and after the 11
170	170	earliest date as of which— 12
171	171	‘‘(A) the State or Indian Tribe has enacted 13
172	172	a law that is functionally identical to section 14
173	173	922(z)(4) of title 18, United States Code; and 15
174	174	‘‘(B) the attorney general of the State (or 16
175	175	comparable Tribal official) has submitted a 17
176	176	written certification to the Assistant Attorney 18
177	177	General stating that the law of the State or In-19
178	178	dian Tribe reflects the sense of Congress in sec-20
179	179	tion 922(z)(4)(D) of such title 18. 21
180	180	‘‘(2) F
181	181	IRST YEAR ELIGIBILITY EXCEPTION .— 22
182	182	‘‘(A) I
183	183	N GENERAL.—A covered State or In-23
184	184	dian Tribe shall be eligible to receive a grant 24
185	185	under this section during the 1-year period be-25
186	186	ginning on the date of enactment of this part. 26
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190	190	‘‘(B) COVERED STATE OR INDIAN TRIBE .— 1
191	191	In this paragraph, the term ‘covered State or 2
192	192	Indian Tribe’ means a State or Indian Tribe 3
193	193	that, before the date of enactment of this part, 4
194	194	enacted a law— 5
195	195	‘‘(i) that is functionally identical to 6
196	196	section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States 7
197	197	Code; and 8
198	198	‘‘(ii) for which the attorney general of 9
199	199	the State (or comparable Tribal official) 10
200	200	submits a written certification to the As-11
201	201	sistant Attorney General stating that the 12
202	202	law of the State or Indian Tribe reflects 13
203	203	the sense of Congress in section 14
204	204	922(z)(4)(D) of such title 18. 15
205	205	‘‘(c) U
206	206	SE OFFUNDS.—Funds awarded under this 16
207	207	section may be used by a State or Indian Tribe to assist 17
208	208	law enforcement agencies or the courts of the State or In-18
209	209	dian Tribe in enforcing and otherwise facilitating compli-19
210	210	ance with any State or Tribal law functionally identical 20
211	211	to section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States Code. 21
212	212	‘‘(d) A
213	213	PPLICATION.—An eligible State or Indian 22
214	214	Tribe desiring a grant under this section shall submit to 23
215	215	the Assistant Attorney General an application at such 24
216	216	time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied by 25
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220	220	such information, as the Assistant Attorney General may 1
221	221	reasonably require. 2
222	222	‘‘(e) I
223	223	NCENTIVES.—For each of fiscal years 2025 3
224	224	through 2029, the Attorney General shall give affirmative 4
225	225	preference to all Bureau of Justice Assistance discre-5
226	226	tionary grant applications of a State or Indian Tribe that 6
227	227	has enacted a law— 7
228	228	‘‘(1) functionally identical to section 922(z)(4) 8
229	229	of title 18, United States Code; and 9
230	230	‘‘(2) for which the attorney general of the State 10
231	231	(or comparable Tribal official) submits a written cer-11
232	232	tification to the Assistant Attorney General stating 12
233	233	that the law of the State or Indian Tribe reflects the 13
234	234	sense of Congress in section 922(z)(4)(D) of such 14
235	235	title 18.’’. 15
236	236	SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 16
237	237	Paragraph (4) of section 922(z) of title 18, United 17
238	238	States Code, as added by section 3, is amended by adding 18
239	239	at the end the following: 19
240	240	‘‘(D) S
241	241	ENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO 20
242	242	LIABILITY.—It is the sense of Congress that— 21
243	243	‘‘(i) failure to comply with subpara-22
244	244	graph (A) constitutes negligence under any 23
245	245	relevant statute or common law rule; and 24
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249	249	‘‘(ii) when a violation of subparagraph 1
250	250	(A) is the but-for cause of a harm caused 2
251	251	by the discharge of a firearm, such viola-3
252	252	tion should be deemed to be the legal or 4
253	253	proximate cause of such harm, regardless 5
254	254	of whether such harm was also the result 6
255	255	of an intentional tort.’’. 7
256	256	SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 8
257	257	If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made 9
258	258	by this Act, or the application of such provision to any 10
259	259	person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remain-11
260	260	der of this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, or 12
261	261	the application of such provision to other persons or cir-13
262	262	cumstances, shall not be affected. 14
263	263	Æ
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