Federal gun-storage mandate: $500 fine, up to 5 years prison for unsafe storage

What it does

This bill makes it a federal crime to store firearms unsecured in a home where a minor or legally prohibited person could access them. Violations carry a $500 fine; if a minor or ineligible person obtains the gun and causes injury or death, penalties rise to up to 5 years in prison. The bill also creates federal grants to states and tribes that pass identical safe-storage laws and expresses Congress's intent that unsafe storage constitutes negligence and legal causation for resulting harm.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a criminal prohibition on unsafe firearm storage in homes, paired with federal grants to enforce state-level equivalents. This is straightforward public-health legislation addressing documented risks to minors and the general public.

What the text implies

• The 'sense of Congress' language on negligence and legal causation (Section 5) may significantly expand civil liability for gun owners beyond the criminal penalties, potentially opening a new category of lawsuits by injured parties or families against negligent gun owners.
• The bill's interstate-commerce framing (findings cite commerce-clause authority) establishes federal jurisdiction over what has traditionally been state/local firearm regulation, potentially preempting weaker state storage laws.
• Grant incentives to states (Section 4) create financial pressure on states to adopt identical federal standards, effectively federalizing gun-storage policy across jurisdictions with varying political preferences.
• The 'reasonably should know' standard for criminal liability is subjective and may create enforcement disparities depending on local law-enforcement priorities and resources.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill directly addresses a documented public-health harm: unsecured firearms in homes are the source of most youth suicides, unintentional injuries, and school shootings. Requiring secure storage protects minors and reduces firearm theft and misuse. The civil-liability provision (sense of Congress) may increase costs for negligent gun owners but aligns liability with actual causation of harm, benefiting injured parties and their families.

Who stands to gain

• Safe gun storage device manufacturers
• Law enforcement agencies (grant recipients for enforcement)
• State attorneys general offices (grant recipients for compliance facilitation)

Named in the bill

U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General, Bureau of Justice Assistance, State attorneys general, Indian Tribes, U.S. Secret Service, Department of Education

Where it stands

201 cosponsors: 201 Democrats.

• Feb 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 25, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $979,548 in lobbying spend. A filing names 88 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 72% of bills with at least one filing.

Rosa DeLauro, the sponsor, reported $648,963 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• National Association for Gun Rights — $429,548 on 2 filings
• American Federation of Teachers — $410,000 on 1 filing
• Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence — $80,000 on 2 filings
• Giffords — $60,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.