05.26.21

Durbin, Duckworth, Colleagues Introduce Safe Gun Storage Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) to introduce legislation directing the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to establish safety standards for firearm locks and firearm safes.

“Too many families and friends have mourned a loved one lost to gun violence. Congress must step up and finally address this issue for what it is – an epidemic,” said Durbin. “With this legislation, we can help ensure guns will be safely stored, especially in homes with children, to help prevent accidental shootings and reduce gun deaths.” 

“It’s just common sense that firearms should be stored safely to prevent them from ending up in the wrong hands – or in the hands of children,” Duckworth said. “In the wake of so many tragedies, it’s past time Congress passes public safety measures to help reduce accidental shootings and keep Americans safe, and I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing the Safe Gun Storage Act.”

Under this bill, gun owners would be required to secure their firearms in a “secure gun storage or safety device” if a minor is likely to gain access to the firearm without permission, or if a resident of the dwelling cannot legally possess a firearm. The bill also includes incentives for states to pass, and enforce compliance of, their own safe gun storage laws. The bill is named for Ethan Song, a teenager from Guilford, Connecticut, who was tragically killed in 2018 after accidentally shooting himself with a gun that had been stored at a friend’s home.

An estimated 4.6 million American minors live in a household with a firearm. According to a 2018 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health survey, 54 percent of gun owners report storing their firearms in an unsafe manner. Eighteen percent of all gun injuries in our nation occur because of this high rate of improperly stored firearms in homes.

Along with Durbin, Duckworth, Blumenthal, and Murphy, the Safe Gun Storage Act is co-sponsored by Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Bob Casey (D-PA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Tom Carper (D-DE), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Patty Murray (D-WA).

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