# Plain Language Summary: Preserving Safe Communities by Ending Swatting Act of 2025

This bill creates federal criminal penalties for "swatting"—a dangerous prank where someone makes a false emergency call to send armed police to someone's home or location. The bill makes swatting a federal crime and sets up serious punishments for people who do it, with even harsher penalties if the swatting results in someone getting hurt or killed.

Swatting has become a real problem, especially targeting streamers, content creators, and public figures. Someone might call 911 and falsely claim there's an active shooter, hostage situation, or bomb at a specific address—all to harass or humiliate the person living there. When police arrive with tactical gear and weapons ready, it creates an extremely dangerous situation where innocent people could be seriously injured or killed, and it wastes critical emergency resources.

Under this law, if you make a false emergency call that sends police to someone's location, you could face federal charges. If no one gets hurt, you could face up to 20 years in prison. If someone is injured as a result of your swatting call, the penalty increases. If someone dies because of the swatting, you could face life in prison or even the death penalty. The law also allows victims to sue people who swat them for damages.

This bill essentially says that swatting isn't just a local prank—it's a serious federal crime with major consequences. It's designed to deter people from making these dangerous false calls and to give law enforcement stronger tools to prosecute and punish those who do.

Preserving Safe Communities by Ending Swatting Act of 2025

Scott, Rick

Preserving Safe Communities by Ending Swatting Act of 2025This bill makes it a crime to intentionally convey false or misleading information in circumstances where the information may reasonably be expected to cause an emergency response and the information indicates the occurrence of criminal conduct or a threat to health or safety (commonly referred to as swatting).