Rep. Barbara Hernandez Helps Pass First-of-its-Kind Safe Gun Storage Measure

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, is fighting to keep guns out of the wrong hands, protect children from accidental shootings and track lost and stolen firearms by passing a new ‘safe storage’ bill through the House and Senate.

“Keeping firearms safely secured away from people unfit to carry them has support not simply from gun-safety advocates, but from many gun owners as well,” Hernandez said. “Most gun owners are very careful with their guns, and this is a commonsense safety measure that requires everyone to live up to the standards often met already.”

Hernandez supported Senate Bill 8, known as the Safe Gun Storage Act, which will enhance gun storage safety and address stolen firearm requirements with the ultimate goal to prevent access to firearms by minors, at-risk individuals, and those prohibited from possessing them. The bill would require firearm owners to secure their weapons in a locked container, rendering them inaccessible and unusable to anyone except the owner or an authorized user.

Additional provisions in House Bill 850 will tighten lost and stolen gun reporting requirements.

“So many preventable deaths are coming as a result of people getting their hands on guns who shouldn’t have them, and that should be proof enough that this measure is necessary,” Hernandez. “By simply codifying an already common practice, this measure will save lives and make our community safer.”

Senate Bill 8 passed out of the Senate chamber last month. Hernandez recently helped pass the measure through the House and it now awaits the governor’s signature for final consideration.