This bill amends federal firearms law to make it unlawful for a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer (FFL) to sell, deliver, or transfer a firearm to a non‑licensed buyer unless that buyer is provided with secure‑storage information prescribed by the Attorney General. It also requires certain FFLs to have a variety of secure storage or safety devices available for purchase in their stores.
Separately, the bill inserts a new Internal Revenue Code section that provides an individual tax credit for purchases of a ‘qualified gun safe’ — with an effective ceiling that functions as a $500 lifetime subsidy per taxpayer — and includes basis‑reduction and anti‑double‑benefit language. Together the disclosure, stocking duty, and subsidy aim to change retail practice and lower barriers to secure firearm storage.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill inserts a new requirement into 18 U.S.C. 922: FFLs may not transfer a firearm to an unlicensed purchaser unless the transferee receives Attorney General‑prescribed secure‑storage information. The Attorney General must issue those regulations within 6 months. The bill also amends 18 U.S.C. 923 to require FFLs to offer a variety of storage devices for sale, and it creates IRC section 25F to provide a credit for qualified gun safes.
Who It Affects
Primary compliance duties fall on licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers (FFLs). Secondary effects touch gun‑safe and lock manufacturers and retail supply chains, the Department of Justice/ATF (rulemaking and oversight), and the IRS and Treasury (implementing a new tax credit). Individual taxpayers who buy safes are the intended beneficiaries of the subsidy.
Why It Matters
This is among the first federal measures to mandate point‑of‑sale secure‑storage counseling by FFLs and to pair that behavioral nudging with a fiscal incentive for purchasing locking devices. For compliance officers and retailers it creates new point‑of‑sale obligations; for tax professionals it creates a new, limited credit with basis and deduction interactions to implement.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill works on two tracks: retail practice and taxpayer incentives. On the retail side, it modifies the transfer provisions in title 18 to make it unlawful for a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to complete a transfer to an ordinary (non‑licensed) buyer unless the buyer is provided with information about secure firearm storage in the form the Attorney General prescribes.
The change is placed into the existing statutory structure of 18 U.S.C. 922(z), inserted as a distinct requirement alongside existing mandates tied to specific devices provided with handguns.
The Attorney General has a six‑month clock to issue regulations spelling out what counts as the required secure‑storage information. The bill lists four substantive topics the regulations must include: storing firearms unloaded and separate from ammunition; using a locking device; communicating the public‑health risks of unsecured firearms with data on suicide, homicide, school violence, unintentional shootings, and theft; and guidance that distinguishes types of devices (noting advantages of safes and lock boxes over trigger and cable locks).
The statute also amends 18 U.S.C. 923 to require covered FFLs to carry a variety of storage or safety devices — the text enumerates full‑size gun safes, lock boxes and lockers, gun cases, and cable and trigger locks — but it does not specify minimum quantities, price points, or placement in stores.On the tax side, the bill adds new Internal Revenue Code section 25F, which allows an individual taxpayer a credit equal to amounts paid for a ‘qualified gun safe,’ subject to a limitation that effectively caps credits at $500 over the taxpayer’s lifetime (the credit in any year cannot exceed the excess of $500 over the sum of prior credits). The statute defines ‘qualified gun safe’ broadly to include safes, lock boxes, cases and other devices designed to store firearms securely and unlocked only by authorized users via key, combination, biometric means, or similar.
The credit reduces the basis of the property to prevent a double benefit, and the bill also reduces related deductions by the credit amount.Implementation details matter: sections imposing the FFL duties take effect six months after enactment; the tax provisions apply to taxable years beginning after enactment. The bill leaves open several operational questions—how the required information must be delivered at point of sale, how ATF will enforce the new ‘unlawful’ transfer language, how FFLs should manage inventory and point‑of‑sale workflows, and how the IRS will verify that a purchased device meets the ‘qualified’ definition for credit purposes.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The amendment to 18 U.S.C. 922 makes it unlawful for a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer a firearm to an unlicensed person unless the transferee is provided with secure‑storage information prescribed by the Attorney General.
The Attorney General must issue regulations within 6 months specifying required content; the bill explicitly requires the guidance to cover unloaded storage separate from ammunition, use of locking devices, public‑health data on risks and benefits, and device‑type guidance that highlights safes/lock boxes over trigger/cable locks.
Section 923 is amended to require certain FFLs to offer for sale a variety of storage devices, with the statutory list including full‑size gun safes, lock boxes and lockers, gun cases, and cable and trigger locks.
The new Internal Revenue Code section 25F provides a credit for individuals that equals amounts paid for a ‘qualified gun safe’ and restricts lifetime credits to an aggregate ceiling that operates as a $500 cap per taxpayer (the credit in a year cannot exceed the excess of $500 over prior credits).
The tax credit reduces the purchaser’s tax basis in the property and requires a reduction of any related deduction (the bill includes anti‑double‑benefit language); the credit applies to taxable years beginning after enactment.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title
States the Act’s short title: the Secure Storage Information Act of 2025. This is a housekeeping provision that signals the bill’s dual focus on storage information and financial incentives.
Makes transfer unlawful without secure‑storage information
Inserts a new paragraph (1)(B) into 18 U.S.C. 922(z) that bars licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers from selling, delivering, or transferring a firearm to an unlicensed buyer unless the transferee receives secure‑storage information ‘as the Attorney General shall prescribe.’ Practically, that converts a point‑of‑sale education goal into a statutory precondition for lawful transfer; the text does not itself enumerate penalties or enforcement mechanisms beyond labeling the conduct ‘unlawful.’
Attorney General rulemaking and required content
Directs the Attorney General to issue regulations within six months prescribing the required secure‑storage information and lists four mandatory components: that firearms be stored unloaded and separate from ammunition; that stored firearms be secured with a locking device; inclusion of data on risks/benefits (suicide, homicide, school violence, unintentional shootings, theft); and guidance distinguishing device security (noting safes/lock boxes as preferable to trigger and cable locks). This places a short regulatory deadline on DOJ/ATF to determine format, distribution method, and any ancillary requirements.
FFL stocking requirement: variety of secure storage devices
Amends subsections 923(d)(1)(G) and (e) to replace the generic reference to ‘secure gun storage or safety devices’ with a requirement that FFLs have a variety of such devices available for purchase, explicitly listing full‑size safes, lock boxes and lockers, gun cases, and cable and trigger locks. The text mandates product availability as part of FFL operations but leaves specifics like stock levels and price points to practice or later regulation.
Effective date for FFL duties
States that the amendments made by Sections 2 and 3 take effect six months after enactment. That gives DOJ/ATF a narrow window to complete the rulemaking required under Section 2(b) before the statutory transfer condition becomes enforceable.
Gun safe tax credit and tax‑law adjustments
Adds Internal Revenue Code section 25F allowing an individual tax credit for amounts paid for a ‘qualified gun safe,’ defines qualified devices (original use with taxpayer, acquired to store firearms, designed for secure containing of firearms, and unlocked only by key/combination/biometric or similar), caps aggregate credits so the taxpayer cannot receive more than $500 in credit over time, reduces the depreciable basis of property by the credit amount, and removes duplicative deductions. The section applies to taxable years beginning after enactment and includes conforming amendments to section 1016 and the subpart table of sections.
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Who Benefits
- Individual taxpayers who purchase qualified gun safes — they receive a dollar‑for‑dollar credit for purchases up to an effective $500 lifetime cap, lowering net cost of a safe and improving affordability for purchasers who can use the credit.
- Households with children, teenagers, or individuals at risk of suicide — the pairing of required point‑of‑sale information and wider retail availability of locking devices is designed to increase the likelihood that firearms will be stored securely in these higher‑risk homes.
- Gun safe and secure‑storage manufacturers and distributors — the statutory requirement that FFLs offer a variety of devices creates a guaranteed retail channel and could increase wholesale demand for full‑size safes, lock boxes, and related products.
- Policy analysts and public‑health researchers — the statute’s required, standardized messaging and mandated availability create a more consistent intervention to evaluate; if ATF publishes the guidance, researchers gain a uniform point of comparison across jurisdictions.
Who Bears the Cost
- Licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers (FFLs) — must change point‑of‑sale procedures to provide the prescribed information and may need to hold inventory of a variety of storage devices, increasing compliance, inventory, and space costs.
- Department of Justice/ATF and IRS/Treasury — DOJ/ATF must complete a rulemaking on a six‑month timeline and incorporate oversight of the new transfer condition; IRS must build administrative processes to verify credits and adjust basis/deduction handling.
- Federal budget / taxpayers broadly — the credit represents foregone revenue (subject to uptake), and administration/enforcement costs will fall to federal agencies unless funded separately.
- Lower‑income households without federal tax liability — because the statute creates a non‑refundable credit (it does not authorize refunds), individuals with little or no income tax liability may not be able to use the credit fully, reducing the subsidy’s equity for those least able to afford a safe.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is whether to prioritize broad, low‑burden measures that nudge safer behavior (information at point of sale plus a modest subsidy) or to adopt stricter, enforceable mandates that carry higher compliance and fiscal costs; the bill chooses the former in form but creates legal obligations without clear enforcement mechanics, producing a trade‑off between actionable public‑health messaging and concrete, enforceable compliance.
The bill converts secure‑storage education into a statutory precondition for lawful transfer but leaves key enforcement and delivery questions unresolved. The statute declares transfers unlawful absent provision of AG‑prescribed information, yet it does not specify the penalty framework, civil remedies, or evidentiary standards for proving whether information was provided.
That gap raises operational questions for ATF enforcement and for FFLs trying to design compliant point‑of‑sale workflows: is a printed handout sufficient, does a digital receipt or link qualify, and what records must a dealer retain?
The requirement that FFLs ‘have a variety’ of devices available lists device types but sets no minimum stock levels, no price or product specifications, and no accommodations for small or remote dealers with constrained retail space. The six‑month rulemaking deadline for the Attorney General compresses ATF’s timeline to define the form and scope of required information.
On the tax side, the credit’s structure introduces verification and equity challenges: the statute defines ‘qualified gun safe’ in functional terms, which will require IRS guidance or rules to prevent misuse (e.g., claims for low‑security products), and the credit’s ceiling and basis‑reduction rule complicate bookkeeping. Finally, because the credit is structured as a nonrefundable, basis‑reducing credit, low‑income taxpayers who could most benefit from subsidized safes may be least able to use the incentive — a design choice with distributional consequences.
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