HR-9399-119
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsored by Sean Casten (D-IL)
What it does
This bill would amend federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922) to create two new federal crimes. First, it would make it unlawful for an adult to knowingly provide a firearm (other than a handgun) to a juvenile knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the juvenile intends to use it for self-harm or to commit a crime. Second, it would make it unlawful for an adult to store or keep a firearm in a way that allows a juvenile to gain unauthorized access, if that juvenile then uses the firearm to commit a crime or causes injury or death. Penalties would range from up to 1 year in prison for a basic violation up to 10 years if the juvenile causes injury or death. Safe storage practices — such as using a gun lock or keeping the firearm on one's person — would serve as a legal defense to the storage offense.
Who benefits
Children and teenagers who may be protected from accessing unsecured firearms. Families and communities affected by juvenile gun violence, including school shooting victims and their families. Survivors of juvenile suicide by firearm. Law enforcement agencies that gain an additional prosecutorial tool. Mental health professionals and school administrators whose prior warnings about a juvenile's behavior could be used as evidence of an adult's "reasonable cause to know." Pediatric healthcare providers who advocate for firearm injury prevention.
Who is hurt
Gun owners — particularly parents and other adults living with juveniles — who would face new federal criminal liability for storage practices. Rural households where long guns (rifles, shotguns) are commonly stored for hunting or agricultural use and may be less consistently secured. Adults who receive warnings about a juvenile's mental health and may not fully understand their new legal exposure. Firearms retailers and manufacturers of non-handgun firearms, who may face reduced demand if owners become more cautious. Adults who are prosecuted under the law even when a juvenile's access was not reasonably foreseeable, depending on how courts interpret the "reasonably should know" standard.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that unsecured firearms in the home are a leading cause of juvenile gun deaths — the CDC reports that firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States, and studies show the majority of school shooters obtained their weapons from home. They contend that creating federal criminal accountability for adults who knowingly arm dangerous juveniles or negligently store firearms fills a gap in existing law, and that the bill's safe-harbor provisions for properly secured firearms protect responsible gun owners while targeting genuinely reckless behavior. They further argue that the bill's graduated penalty structure — with the harshest penalties reserved for cases resulting in injury or death — ensures proportionate consequences.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that the bill's "reasonably should know" standard for the storage offense is vague and could expose law-abiding gun owners to federal prosecution based on hindsight, even when they took precautions a reasonable person would consider adequate. They contend that safe storage mandates are already enacted in many states, making a new federal layer redundant and potentially inconsistent with state law, and that the Commerce Clause hook — requiring only that the firearm "has moved in" interstate commerce — is so broad it would cover virtually every privately owned firearm in the country. They also argue that criminalizing storage practices may deter lawful firearm ownership and that the bill does not address the underlying mental health and social factors that drive juvenile violence.
Constitutional context
The bill's storage offense relies on the Commerce Clause by requiring only that the firearm "has moved in, or has otherwise affected, interstate or foreign commerce" — a standard broad enough to cover nearly all privately owned firearms. Post-Bruen (2022), any federal firearms regulation must also be consistent with the historical tradition of firearms regulation; the constitutionality of safe-storage mandates under the text-history-tradition framework is actively contested in lower courts. Additionally, the "reasonably should know" mens rea standard in the storage provision could raise Fifth Amendment due process concerns about fair notice of criminal liability.
Checks and balances
Congress would expand federal criminal jurisdiction over firearm storage; the Executive Branch (DOJ/ATF) would gain new prosecutorial authority; federal courts would serve as a check by interpreting the "reasonably should know" standard and reviewing constitutional challenges under the Bruen framework.
Historical precedent
Several states — including Michigan, following the 2021 Oxford High School shooting — have enacted child access prevention (CAP) laws that impose criminal liability on adults for juveniles' unauthorized access to firearms, though no comparable federal statute currently exists.