Why the Consumer Product Safety Act Should be Modified to Include Firearms

Firearms are one of the few products that are not regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA).[1] This legislation, originally enacted in 1972, is focused on protecting the public from unreasonable risk of serious injury or death from consumer products, including products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children.[2] The CPSA has the authority to establish safety standards, seek the recall of and potentially ban products that are unreasonably dangerous or present significant risk to consumers.[3] Some recent bans include infant sleep positioners that have been associated with suffocation deaths.[4]

Currently, firearms are not included in the CPSA and are not subject to product regulation. Firearms sales and retailers are regulated through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which primarily addresses sales and transfer guidelines, but not specifically product manufacturing issues. However, there have been numerous instances of firearms misfiring or malfunctioning, resulting in injury or — in the worst cases — death. Therefore regulating firearms under the CPSA — just like any other consumer product — could improve the overall safety profile of the firearm for the consumer. Specifically, by creating a system for reporting misfirings or malfunctioning devices and mandating that a safety device and safety information be distributed with every firearm sale, the CPSA could make substantial strides in making firearms safer.

Vulnerable Populations are at Heightened Risk of Firearm-related Injury and Death

Firearm-related injuries are a leading cause of death among U.S. children, surpassing motor vehicle accidents.[5] Over one-third of the suicide deaths among adolescents are by firearm,[6] and approximately 800 children are unintentionally injured by shootings annually.[7] Approximately 45% of U.S. households contain firearms.[8] In 2015, it was estimated that almost 5 million children live in a home with at least one unlocked or loaded firearm,[9] and with the nationwide escalation in firearm sales during the pandemic, the actual number is likely even higher.[10]

Another concerning issue related to firearm access is suicide. Suicide is a leading cause of injury-related death in the United States,[11] with some groups at higher risk, including children and veterans. Firearms are used in over one-third of the suicide deaths among children and adolescents ages 10-19 years.[12] The mere presence of a firearm in the home increases the risk of adolescent suicide four-fold.[13] Veterans are twice as likely to die by suicide compared with nonveterans,[14] and in 2019, 68.2% of veterans who died by suicide used a firearm, compared to 48.2% of nonveterans.[15]

Current Firearm Regulations are Insufficient

Current regulations include the provision of safety information and safety devices with each handgun sale.[16] However, this does not apply to all firearms such as long guns. Ensuring each firearm is properly secured is an essential first step in enhancing the safety of the population.

There have also been numerous instances of firearms malfunctioning and resulting in harm to the consumer. For example, a recent investigation revealed that at least 100 people reported that their SIG Sauer P320 handgun fired when they did not pull the trigger, resulting in more than 80 injuries.[17] There is ongoing litigation regarding this, but at this time the company has not been found liable of any wrongdoing.

Other potential dangers occur if firearms are accidently dropped and fire, which has occurred in the past with certain firearm types. This typically results in a firearm being voluntarily recalled or upgraded by the manufacturer.[18] It is critical to investigate unintentional discharges in order to determine the origin of the issue, especially given the deadly nature of the problem. However, because firearms are not a product under oversight by the CPSA, they are not subject to investigation when these types of consumer complaints are made. Thus one has to rely on the manufacturer to evaluate and issue a recall if necessary.

Regulating Firearms Under the CPSA Can Enhance Consumer Safety

With the rising number of firearm injuries and deaths across the nation, all avenues to promote safety should be considered — and regulating firearms under the CPSA could be a key way to ensure public safety.

The CPSA can investigate and track firearm malfunction. Examining opportunities to reduce injury through firearm malfunction is a crucial step the CPSA could enforce. Currently, there is no way to know exactly how often malfunctions happen, as there is no oversight through the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). However, if the CPSC were to oversee firearms, unintentional injury could be reduced by requiring firearm owners to report misfires and malfunctions. With this information, regulators could develop new mechanisms to promote the overall safety of firearm ownership.

It is also crucial to have a neutral third party like the CPSC investigate these claims in order to put the consumers’ concerns first and determine if there is indeed a threat to the general population. It is not unreasonable to expect some oversight of products like firearms, and it is also not unreasonable to expect that on occasion such products will have defects.

The CPSA can mandate the distribution of safety materials. Secure firearm storage should also be prioritized at the point of manufacturing and sale with diversified options for safety, as well as improved options for secure storage for the consumer. Both unintentional injury and suicide by firearm could be prevented with secure storage. This should be a priority with the current rates of firearm suicide in vulnerable populations, particularly veterans and adolescents.[19]

Securely locking household firearms, especially when “triple-safe” (locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition), has been proven to be a meaningful intervention to prevent up to a third of firearm deaths in children from these causes.[20] Wide-spread safe storage practices are not as common with at-risk populations. Since nearly one-third of veterans report storing their firearms as loaded and unlocked,[21] and more than a third of adolescents nationwide report that they can access a loaded firearm within five minutes,[22] it is imperative to focus on safe storage for these vulnerable groups.

Prioritizing secure firearm storage can also drive innovation in the marketplace as well as among consumers. We have seen similar trends in the car manufacturing industry, with innovation in safety soaring in the last decade with safety features such as airbags, blind spot detectors, and back-up cameras. In a similar way, new safety standards for firearms could have a positive effect in reducing injury and death.

The CPSA has an established mechanism to communicate with the public when a product is deemed unsafe. Another benefit of utilizing the CPSA to regulate firearms is that the CPSA has a mechanism for disseminating information to the public about an unsafe product or a product with a recall or upgrade that’s been issued. The goal of oversight is safety, and the well-established structure of the Consumer Product Safety Commission can assist in providing neutral, thorough oversight when necessary to keep safety as the top priority.

Policy Recommendations

Firearm injury prevention should be a policy priority in order to reduce injury and death, especially among vulnerable populations like children and veterans. It is imperative to promote safety through the promotion of enhanced regulatory processes as well as secure firearm storage. Policy priorities should include:

1. Modifying the Consumer Product Safety Act to include the provision of firearms and to create a mechanism of reporting misfirings or malfunctioning devices. This will promote enhanced protection for the consumer by providing a route to identify potential firearm defects or safety hazards and by alerting the consumer to adjust practices to promote safety.
2. Including within firearm regulations the requirement that a safety device and safety information be distributed with every firearm sale, regardless of firearm type. Currently this provision is only for handguns, but expanding it to include all firearms will ensure that each firearm owner is receiving enhanced educational opportunities on secure firearm storage, which is crucial for a new firearm owner. Additionally, the provision of a safety device for every firearm is an essential step to prevent the firearm from being utilized by someone who should not have access to it, such as a young child. Adding this provision can drive market innovations that prioritize safety. Furthermore, oversight from the CPSA can ensure that each safety device is effective in providing secure firearm storage.

Endnotes

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[1] David Carpenter, “The Consumer Product Safety Act: A Legal Analysis,” Congressional Research Service R45174, April 24, 2018, https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R45174.pdf. 

[2] David Carpenter, “The Consumer Product Safety Act: A Legal Analysis.”  

[3] David Carpenter, “The Consumer Product Safety Act: A Legal Analysis.”

[4] CPSC (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission), “The Boppy Company Recalls Over 3 Million Original Newborn Loungers, Boppy Preferred Newborn Loungers and Pottery Barn Kids Boppy Newborn Loungers After 8 Infant Deaths; Suffocation Risk,” September 23, 2021, https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2021/The-Boppy-Company-Recalls-Over-3-Million-Original-Newborn-Loungers-Boppy-Preferred-Newborn-Loungers-and-Pottery-Barn-Kids-Boppy-Newborn-Loungers-After-8-Infant-Deaths-Suffocation-Risk.

[5] National Center for Health Statistics, “NVSS Mortality Dashboard: Firearm-related injury,” accessed January 7, 2023, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/mortality-dashboard.htm#; Jason E. Goldstick, Rebecca M. Cunningham, and Patrick M. Carter, “Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States,” New England Journal of Medicine 386, no. 20 (2022): 1955-1956, https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmc2201761.   

[6] Patricia G. Schnitzer, Heather K. Dykstra, Theodore E. Trigylidas, Richard Lichenstein, “Firearm suicide among youth in the United States, 2004-2015,” Journal of Behavioral Medicine 42, no.4 (2019): 584-590, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31367924/. 

[7] Kavita Parikh et al., “Pediatric Firearm-Related Injuries in the United States,” Hospital Pediatrics 7, no. 6 (2017): 303-312, https://doi.org/10.1542/hpeds.2016-0146. 

[8] “Percentage of households in the United States owning one or more firearms from 1972 to 2022,” Statista, accessed January 7, 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/249740/percentage-of-households-in-the-united-states-owning-a-firearm/.

[9] Deborah Azrael, Joanna Cohen, Carmel Salhi, and Matthew Miller, “Firearm storage in gun-owning households with children: results of a 2015 national survey,” Journal of Urban Health 95, no. 3 (2018):295-304, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-018-0261-7. 

[10] Julia P. Schleimer et al. “Firearm purchasing and firearm violence during the coronavirus pandemic in the United States: a cross-sectional study,” Injury Epidemiology 8, no. 43 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-021-00339-5.

[11] National Center for Health Statistics, “NVSS Mortality Dashboard: Firearm-related injury,” accessed January 7, 2023, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/mortality-dashboard.htm#.

[12] Schnitzer, Dykstra, Trigylidas, and Lichenstein, “Firearm suicide among youth in the United States, 2004-2015.”

[13] David A. Brent et al., “Firearms and adolescent suicide: A community case-control study,” American Journal of Diseases in Children 147, no. 10 (1993): 1066–71, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/516891.

[14] Janet M. McCarten, Claire A. Hoffmire, and Robert M. Bossarte, “Changes in overall and firearm veteran suicide rates by gender, 2001-2010,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine 48, no. (2015):360–364, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2014.10.013.   

[15] Rajeev Ramchand, “Suicide Among Veterans: Veterans' Issues in Focus,” RAND Corporation, 2021, https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA1363-1.html.

[16] Sandra McKay et al., "Temporary Firearm Storage and Safe Firearm Storage Counseling at Gun Retailers and Ranges in the Greater Houston Area: A Potential New Partner in Addressing Child and Youth Firearm Injury?" Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk 12, no. 2, article 6 (2021), https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol12/iss2/6/. 

[17] Champe Barton and Tom Jackman, “One of America’s Favorite Handguns Is Allegedly Firing On Its Owners,” The Trace, April 11, 2023, https://www.thetrace.org/2023/04/sig-sauer-p320-upgrade-safety/; Champe Barton, “Lawmakers Push for Guns to be Regulated Like Other Products,” The Trace, April 27, 2023, https://www.thetrace.org/2023/04/congress-gun-safety-bills-cpsc-sig-sauer/; Champe Barton and Tom Jackman, “Popular Handgun Fires Without Anyone Pulling the Trigger, Victims Say,” The Washington Post, April 11, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/11/sig-sauer-p320-fires-on-own/.

[18] Barton, “Lawmakers Push for Guns to be Regulated Like Other Products”; Barton and Jackman “Popular Handgun Fires Without Anyone Pulling the Trigger, Victims Say.”

[19] Michael C. Monuteaux, Deborah Azrael, and Matthew Miller, “Association of Increased Safe Household Firearm Storage With Firearm Suicide and Unintentional Death Among US Youths,” JAMA Pediatrics 173, no. 7 (2019): 657-662, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2733158; Joseph A. Simonetti, Deborah Azrael, and Matthew Miller, “Firearm storage practices and risk perceptions among a nationally representative sample of US veterans with and without self‐harm risk factors,” Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior 49, no. 3 (2018): 653-664, https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12463; Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Joseph A. Simonetti, and Frederick P. Rivara, “Effectiveness of interventions to promote safe firearm storage,” Epidemiologic Reviews 38, no. 1 (2016): 111-124, https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxv006; David C. Grossman, et al., “Gun storage practices and risk of youth suicide and unintentional firearm injuries,” JAMA 293, no. 6 (2005): 707-714, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/200330. 

[20] Monuteaux, Azrael, and Miller, “Association of Increased Safe Household Firearm Storage With Firearm Suicide and Unintentional Death Among US Youths.”

[21] Monuteaux, Azrael, and Miller, “Association of Increased Safe Household Firearm Storage With Firearm Suicide and Unintentional Death Among US Youths”; Joseph A. Simonetti, Deborah Azrael, Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, and Matthew Miller, “Firearm storage practices among American veterans,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine 55, no. 4 (2018): 445-54, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.04.014; Tim Bullman and Aaron Schneiderman, “Risk of suicide among U.S. veterans who deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn,” Injury Epidemiology 8, no. 1 (2012): 40, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-021-00332-y.

[22] Carmel Salhi, Deborah Azrael, and Matthew Miller, “Parent and Adolescent Reports of Adolescent Access to Household Firearms,” JAMA Network Open 4, no. 3 (2021): e210989, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2777216. 

 

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