Shall Not Be Infringed Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Shall Not Be Infringed Act of 2026 makes two federal law-enforcement grant streams conditional on state or local compliance with a requirement concerning gun-free zones. The Justice Department may reduce a noncompliant jurisdiction's Byrne Justice Assistance Grant or Community Oriented Policing Services funding by up to 99 percent.
The Byrne provision describes circumstances involving a person harmed with a firearm in a gun-free zone who was authorized to carry a firearm and might have mitigated the harm. However, the available text does not state what legal consequence, remedy, or policy the jurisdiction must enact for those circumstances. This analysis therefore does not infer a damages action, a right-to-carry rule, or any other missing operative requirement.
The first full fiscal year after enactment is a transition period for the Byrne condition. Byrne funds withheld from a state are reallocated among states that comply. The COPS condition contains the same funding-reduction ceiling but no stated reallocation rule in the available clause.
Who Benefits and How
States treated as compliant may receive reallocated Byrne funds withheld from other states. Byrne and COPS recipients deemed compliant retain access to their grants. Authorized firearm carriers are identified by the stated gun-free-zone circumstances, but the incomplete text does not establish a concrete benefit or remedy for them.
Who Bears the Burden and How
States, local governments, and law-enforcement agencies deemed noncompliant may lose up to 99 percent of Byrne or COPS grant funding. Justice Department grant administrators must determine compliance, calculate reductions, and reallocate withheld Byrne funds. Public-safety programs supported by reduced awards may have fewer resources. State and local legal staff must interpret a requirement whose operative consequence is absent from the available text.
Key Provisions
- Requires Byrne Justice Assistance Grant recipients to meet the stated compliance condition.
- Restricts Byrne awards by authorizing funding reductions of up to 99 percent.
- Provides withheld state Byrne funds to compliant states through reallocation.
- Establishes the first full fiscal year as a transition period for the Byrne condition.
- Extends a parallel condition to Community Oriented Policing Services funding.
- Restricts COPS awards by authorizing funding reductions of up to 99 percent.
- Defines the relevant gun-free-zone circumstances around harm to an authorized carrier.
- Provides no legal remedy or policy that jurisdictions must adopt in the available text.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Conditions Byrne Justice Assistance Grant and Community Oriented Policing Services funding on state and local compliance with a gun-free-zone requirement, allowing reductions of up to 99 percent, while the available bill text does not state the operative policy a jurisdiction must adopt.
Key Policy Areas
Federal Law Enforcement Grants, Firearms Policy, Gun-Free Zones, State and Local Government
Primary Purpose
Conditions Byrne Justice Assistance Grant and Community Oriented Policing Services funding on state and local compliance with a gun-free-zone requirement, allowing reductions of up to 99 percent, while the available bill text does not state the operative policy a jurisdiction must adopt.
Policy Domains
Section 3 COPS grant condition
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- COPS grant recipients deemed compliant
- Authorized firearm carriers identified by the clause
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- COPS grant recipients deemed noncompliant
- Community policing programs funded by COPS grants
- Justice Department COPS grant administrators
- Local government compliance staff
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Section 2 Byrne grant condition
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- States receiving reallocated Byrne funds
- Byrne grant recipients deemed compliant
- Authorized firearm carriers identified by the clause
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Byrne grant recipients deemed noncompliant
- Local justice programs funded by Byrne grants
- Justice Department Byrne grant administrators
- State legal compliance staff
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Mr. McGuire introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Byrne grant recipients deemed compliant, Byrne grant recipients deemed noncompliant, COPS grant recipients deemed compliant
Positive-direction: Byrne grant recipients deemed compliant, COPS grant recipients deemed compliant, States receiving reallocated Byrne funds
Negative-direction: Byrne grant recipients deemed noncompliant, COPS grant recipients deemed noncompliant, Local government compliance staff, State legal compliance staff
Community policing programs funded by COPS grants, Local justice programs funded by Byrne grants
Justice Department Byrne grant administrators, Justice Department COPS grant administrators
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "recipient"
- → State or local Byrne grant recipient
- "administrator"
- → Justice Department Byrne grant administrator
- "compliant_state"
- → State eligible for reallocated withheld Byrne funds
- "carrier"
- → Person authorized to carry a firearm under state law
- "recipient"
- → State or local COPS grant recipient
- "administrator"
- → Justice Department COPS grant administrator
Note: {'scope_ids': ['byrne_gun_free_zone_condition', 'cops_gun_free_zone_condition'], 'description': 'Both clauses impose grant consequences, but only the Byrne clause expressly reallocates withheld funds and provides a transition year.'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Up to 99 percent of an otherwise available Byrne or COPS award.
A federal grant condition tied to listed firearm-harm circumstances; the available text does not supply the policy or remedy a jurisdiction must adopt.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology