Federal gun ban expands to preschools, extending 1,000-foot firearm-free zones
H.R. 9205 — Protect Every Preschooler Act of 2026 · Filed by Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) · 10 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 8, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill expands the federal Gun Free School Zones Act to include preschools and early childhood education programs, not just K–12 schools. It amends the legal definition of 'school' under federal firearms law to add two new categories: programs meeting the Higher Education Act's definition of early childhood education, and eligible preschool programs. The effect is to extend the existing federal prohibition on carrying firearms within 1,000 feet of school grounds to these younger-age facilities.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to extend an existing federal firearms prohibition (the Gun Free School Zones Act) to preschools and early childhood programs. This is a straightforward public-safety expansion, not a tax provision, appropriation, or regulatory carve-out.
What the text implies
- The bill references definitions in the Higher Education Act (sections 103 and 428K(g)) without restating them; the actual scope of 'early childhood education program' and 'eligible preschool program' depends on those external statutory definitions, which may be broader or narrower than the bill's title suggests.
- The existing Gun Free School Zones Act applies a 1,000-foot radius around school grounds; extending this to preschools may create overlapping prohibition zones in urban or densely populated areas where multiple preschools operate near each other or near K–12 schools.
- Enforcement of the expanded prohibition will depend on how federal and state authorities identify and map preschool locations; inconsistent mapping or registration could create uneven legal exposure for citizens.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill increases firearm restrictions around preschools, which may reduce risk of armed violence in facilities serving very young children — a potential public safety benefit. However, it also expands a federal firearms prohibition that some citizens view as an infringement on Second Amendment rights, and it does so without legislative debate on whether the existing 1,000-foot radius is appropriate for preschool settings or whether enforcement mechanisms are adequate.
Named in the bill
Gun Free School Zones Act, 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(27), 18 U.S.C. § 922(q), Higher Education Act of 1965, Section 103 (Higher Education Act), Section 428K(g) (Higher Education Act)
Where it stands
10 cosponsors: 10 Democrats.
- Jun 8, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 8, 2026 — 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.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (645 characters) on Oct 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,580 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-26.
“Federal gun ban expands to preschools, extending 1,000-foot firearm-free zones” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr9205 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.