From the Office of Senator Kerry

Wednesday, February 28, 2001

Washington, D.C. – Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) today introduced gun safety lock legislation that would require the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to create basic safety standards for gun safety locks and ensure that only safe trigger locks are available for purchase by consumers.

Earlier this month the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the National Sport Shooting Foundation announced a voluntary recall of 400,000 gun safety locks that had been distributed by Project HomeSafe, a nationwide program whose purpose is to promote safe firearms handling and storage practices through distribution of gun locks and safety education messages. The gun locks recalled could be easily opened with paper clips, tweezers, or by banging them on a table. When testing gun locks to replace the recalled locks, the CPSC found that all but two of the 32 locks tested could be opened without a key.

Senator Kerry said, "It's popular to talk about gun trigger locks as one of the solutions to gun violence -- but unless we can count on gun locks to be safe and secure we are missing the point -- keeping our kids safe. This legislation puts into place basic standards of gun safety just as we did with safe child seats and childproof caps on pill bottles. The lessons are all around us -- earlier this month 400,000 gun locks were recalled which could be opened just by banging the lock on a table. Now is the time for Congress to come together in a bipartisan way to pass common-sense legislation that puts children's safety ahead of politics and makes our country safer."

"As more and more gun owners and lawmakers respond to the relationship between children and loaded, accessible firearms, by purchasing and requiring firearm safety devices," said Senator DeWine, "it is essential that we ensure safety devices fulfill their intended purposes. Trigger locks that not work should not be on store shelves. Common-sense standards for firearm safety devices will provide peace of mind for parents and prevent accidental shoot tragedies in homes."

The Kerry-DeWine legislation would empower the CPSC to create basic safety standards and empower consumers to purchase trigger locks that deliver real peace of mind and protect against accidental misuse and misfiring. This standard would require that gun safety locks are sufficiently difficult for children to deactivate or remove and that gun safety locks prevent the discharge of the handgun unless the gun safety lock has been deactivated or removed. This legislation seeks only to ensure that the gun safety locks purchased by consumers will function as intended. The CPSC currently does not have the authority to regulate guns.

The use of gun safety locks is increasing in the United States. In some states, like Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, and New Jersey, gun locks are required at the time handguns are purchased. Seventeen states have Child Firearm Access Prevention (CAP) laws that permit prosecution of adults if their firearm is left unsecured and a child uses that firearm to harm themself or others. Despite this growing use of gun safety locks, trigger locks are not subject to even minimal safety standards.