The Firearms Safety and Violence Prevention Act

An Act to Regulate the Manufacture and Safety of Firearms

• Grants the Secretary of the Treasury authority to regulate the design, manufacture, and distribution of firearms and ammunition. The Act grants health and safety powers in addition to existing firearm law enforcement functions. The bill allows the Secretary to take the steps necessary to protect the public from unreasonable risk of injury resulting from the use of firearms or firearm products.
  

• Expands Treasury's jurisdiction to include firearm-related products (such as laser sights and trigger activators) and non-powder firearms.
  

• Establishes a Firearms Violence Information and Research Clearinghouse to collect, analyze, and make available to the public data regarding the firearms industry as well as firearm-related death and injury.
  

• Gives the Secretary the ability to set safety standards, issue recalls of defective firearms, and mandate warnings.
  

• Authorizes the Secretary to prohibit the manufacture and transfer of specific firearms, but only if its is determined that the exercise of other authority would be insufficient to prevent exposure of the public to unreasonable risk of injury.
  

• Allows emergency action to protect the public from "imminently hazardous" firearm products.
  

• Requires manufacturers to test firearms and firearm products to guarantee compliance with relevant standards. All firearms and firearm products must be labeled with the name and address of the manufacturer to ensure that defective guns can be identified and traced.
  

• Requires manufacturers to notify the Secretary of intent to manufacture new types of firearms.
  

• Sets penalties of up to $5,000 per violation for civil violations of the Act. Criminal penalties may include imprisonment for not more than two years and fines under the existing criminal statute.
  

• Establishes a private right of action for persons harmed by violations of the Act and allows for private enforcement of the provisions of the Act.