VA offers free gun safes to veterans as suicide prevention tool

What it does

This bill directs the VA to offer free secure gun storage devices (lockboxes) to veterans and certain former service members who request them, along with information about safe storage. The program is funded at $5 million per year through 2036. The bill explicitly prohibits the VA from tracking gun ownership, requiring registration, mandating storage, or creating lists of participants—it is purely voluntary and designed as a suicide-prevention measure.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a voluntary public health intervention—distributing secure storage devices to reduce firearm access during suicidal crises. This is a direct suicide-prevention measure, not a gun-control bill, and is framed transparently as such.

What the text implies

• Manufacturers of compliant lockboxes (meeting ASTM F2456–20 standard, US-made, non-resalable) will see demand from VA contracts; the bill does not name specific vendors but creates a procurement pathway for a niche product category.
• The 'non-resalable' requirement in the definition of 'covered item' prevents secondary markets and ensures devices remain in veteran hands, reducing commercial upside but also preventing diversion.
• Annual reporting requirement creates a public record of program uptake, which may inform future suicide-prevention policy and could be used to advocate for expansion or replication in other federal agencies.

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

Who it affects

Veterans gain access to a low-cost suicide-prevention tool without any loss of rights or privacy. The bill explicitly prohibits tracking, registration, or mandatory storage, preserving Second Amendment rights while offering a voluntary harm-reduction option. No restrictions on citizens; only expansion of a public health service.

Who stands to gain

• US manufacturers of secure firearm storage devices (lockboxes meeting ASTM F2456–20 standard)

Named in the bill

Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House Committee on Appropriations, Senate Committee on Appropriations, American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM F2456–20 standard), Title 38 United States Code, Section 1720M (new), Section 1720I, Section 922 Title 18 United States Code

Where it stands

30 cosponsors: 26 Democrats, 4 Republicans.

• Mar 10, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Mar 10, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs”

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

Money around this bill

15 lobbying clients named this bill on 22 disclosure filings across 4 quarters, Sep 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $7,719,816 in lobbying spend. A filing names 28 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 95% of bills with at least one filing.

Chris Deluzio, the sponsor, reported $524,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• National Shooting Sports Foundation — $1,990,000 on 1 filing
• Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund — $1,920,000 on 2 filings
• United Steel Paper & Forestry Rubber Manufacturing Energy — $1,600,000 on 3 filings
• American Psychiatric Association — $529,365 on 2 filings
• Johns Hopkins University — $350,000 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.