Mandatory safe storage to protect children from their leading cause of death
Support mandatory safe storage to protect children.
Occurrences
He promises to be "ferocious in supporting members who will vote for ... safe storage laws to protect kids"
Rep. Auchincloss, Jake [D-MA-4] | 08/22/2023
Protect Children Through Safe Gun Ownership Act
And we need to adopt the common-sense suite of Massachusetts measures to reduce gun violence: background checks, safe storage, red-flag laws, and more.
Evidence
Rep. Auchincloss, Jake [D-MA-4]* | 02/08/2022
This bill establishes certain requirements and education programs for the safe storage of firearms, including by establishing grants to provide parents with educational materials on gun safety and the importance of secure gun storage. Latest Action: House - 11/01/2022 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Rep. Auchincloss, Jake [D-MA-4] | 08/22/2023
He promises to be “ferocious in supporting members who will vote for an assault weapons ban, who will vote for background checks, who will vote for red flag laws, who will vote for safe storage laws to protect kids from their leading cause of death, and to defeat members who will vote against those things.”
The congressman’s current gun-violence issue page says he supports a package of gun-safety measures that includes safe storage, alongside background checks and red-flag laws.
His current 2026 sponsored-legislation list shows active cosponsorship of firearm-safety bills, including firearm-safety guidance for schools and safety-standards legislation for firearms, but no mandatory safe-storage law appears on the page.
Auchincloss announced he became an original co-sponsor of the Protect Children Through Safe Gun Ownership Act, which would require firearms to be secured in a gun storage or safety device and emphasize keeping guns secure from children.
Congress.gov text lists Auchincloss among the members introducing H.R.6639 and states the bill would require safe storage of firearms, including making it unlawful to store an unsecured firearm except when carried or close at hand.
Congress.gov shows H.R.6639’s latest action was referral to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security on November 1, 2022, and that the bill’s status was Introduced.
Congress.gov summarizes H.R.3687 as establishing federal requirements to regulate firearm storage on residential premises and generally requiring firearms there to be stored in a secure gun storage or safety device.
The H.R.3687 cosponsor page lists Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts as the bill’s one current cosponsor, dated August 22, 2023.
Congress.gov lists H.R.3687’s latest action as referral to the House Judiciary and Education and the Workforce committees on May 25, 2023, with status Introduced.
Auchincloss’s official issue page says the country should adopt Massachusetts-style gun-violence measures, including safe storage, background checks, and red-flag laws.
In a 2024 item on his official site, Auchincloss said he would support members who vote for safe-storage laws to protect children and oppose members voting against them.
Congress.gov says the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act became Public Law 117-159 and summarizes it as expanding background checks, broadening restrictions, creating offenses, and funding behavioral health, school safety, and community gun-violence programs.
The House Clerk’s roll-call page shows S.2938 passed 234-193 on June 24, 2022, and lists Auchincloss as voting Yea.
Assessments
Auchincloss materially supported the promised policy by serving as an original cosponsor of H.R.6639 in 2022, a bill that would have required secure firearm storage to protect children, and he continued similar advocacy in later terms, including cosponsoring H.R.3687 in 2023. However, the mandatory federal safe-storage legislation stalled in committee and did not become law, and the enacted Bipartisan Safer Communities Act did not include the specific mandatory safe-storage requirement. Because there was a serious legislative effort but the promised policy outcome was not delivered, this is not fulfilled, with an effort badge.
Auchincloss consistently backed mandatory safe-storage legislation, including as an original cosponsor of H.R. 6639 in the 117th Congress and again on a renewed bill in the 118th Congress, but the bill stalled in committee and did not become law. That is a serious legislative effort, not policy delivery. Continued support in later terms does not change the outcome because the promised mandatory safe-storage policy was never enacted.
Auchincloss made concrete legislative efforts to support mandatory safe storage, including original cosponsorship of H.R.6639 in the 117th Congress and later cosponsorship of H.R.3687 in the 118th Congress. However, the cited safe-storage bill stalled in committee and did not become law, so the promised policy outcome was not delivered. Because there was a serious legislative attempt but no enacted mandatory safe-storage policy, the correct outcome is never with an effort badge.