Booker Leads Colleagues in Renewed Push to Establish Safety Standards for Firearms in Effort to Save Lives | U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey
Position: Senator Booker and colleagues support legislation that would remove the CPSC exemption for firearms, allowing the agency to establish safety standards for firearms and ammunition comparable to other consumer products, including mandatory recalls for defective weapons.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is leading a renewed effort to confront the gun violence epidemic plaguing communities across the United States. In a push to address this public health crisis—now the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States—Booker, along with Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Alex Padilla (D-CA), reintroduced legislation that would empower the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) with the authority to establish safetystandards for firearms and ammunition. This legislation would remove a decades-old exemption that prohibits the CPSC from exercising jurisdiction over firearms, allowing the agency to address risks the same way it does for all other consumer products. “Every year, hundreds of Americans lose their lives because of defective firearms, yet there is still no comprehensive system to recall weapons with known hazards,” said Senator Cory Booker. “Decades ago, firearms became the only consumer product in the country exempt from federal safety oversight, and today they are the leading cause of death for children and teens. This is long overdue. Congress has a responsibility to put public safety first and finally close this loophole so firearms are treated like every other consumer product.” “This makes no sense. After decades of lobbying by gun manufacturers, toy guns are subject to stricter safety standards than real ones. It’s long past time to stop the special favors and stand up to the gun lobby to protect Americans,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren. “As we continue working to end the scourge of gun violence in this country and better protect our communities, we must address the safety standards to which firearms are held to,” said Senator Mazie Hirono. “Firearms and their manufacturers should not be excluded from critical standards that help to protect consumers from dangerous and defective products. This commonsense legislation will help to protect our communities by establishing safety standards to monitor firearms for safety risks, enable the collection of data on gun-related incidents, require warnings, and recall defective firearms.” “There is a gun violence epidemic in this country, but the powerful firearm lobby continues to shield gun manufacturers from CPSC‘s regulatory authority. It is high time Congress allows CPSC to set minimum safety standards for firearms,” said Senator Dick Durbin. “I am joining Senator Booker in introducing the Firearm Safety Act of 2026 to strengthen our gun safety regulations and prevent the incalculable harm caused each year from gun violence.” “Gun manufacturers are the only industry in America exempt from even minimal federal consumer safety oversight, free to sell defective products with no mandatory recall requirements and no federal accountability. The Firearm Safety Act would finally close this loophole, giving the Consumer Product Safety Commission the authority to set safety standards and recall dangerous firearms — the same basic protections Americans already expect from their cars, cribs, and lawn mowers,” said Senator Alex Padilla. The Firearm Safety Act would correct a gap created when the Consumer Product Safety Act was first passed in 1972 and firearms were excluded from the commission's authority. By eliminating that exemption, the bill would allow the CPSC to apply the same oversight to firearms that it already uses for other consumer products, with the goal of reducing preventable injuries and deaths. By allowing the CPSC to regulate firearms, they will be able to: The Firearm Safety Act is endorsed by Brady United, Everytown, GIFFORDS, Newtown Action Alliance, and Community Justice. “For over 50 years, the CPSC has been tasked with regulating and addressing unreasonable risks of injury and death associated with consumer products. Yet, the firearms industry has successfully kept American-made firearms out of their purview, making guns the only consumer product in the country that is not subject to federal health and safety regulations. The Firearm Safety Act will allow the CPSC to create safety standards for gun industry products, monitor firearms for safety risks, and oversee product recalls — protecting consumers from dangerous and defective products. Brady is grateful to Senator Booker and Representative Kelly for championing this commonsense legislation and for their leadership in the fight against gun violence,” said Mark Collins, Director of Federal Policy, Brady. "It is long past time for gun manufacturers to take accountability for the products they produce. At the very least, they should be held to the same standard of safety as other consumer products and be liable for recall. The lack of this requirement takes a dangerous weapon and only escalates its hazard. I commend Senator Booker for his legislation, and look forward to seeing it passed," said Vanessa Gonzalez, Vice President of Government and Political Affairs, GIFFORDS.