To restore second amendment rights in the District of Columbia.

Summary: District of Columbia Personal Protection Act - (Sec. 3) Amends the District of Columbia Code to provide that the D.C. Council's regulatory authority regarding firearms, explosives, and weapons in the District shall not be construed to permit the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or regulatory authority of the District to prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons otherwise permitted to possess firearms under Federal law from acquiring, possessing in their homes or businesses, or using for sporting, self-protection or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited by Federal law nor regulated by the National Firearms Act. Denies the District any authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms.

(Sec. 4) Amends the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 to repeal the portion of the definition of a machine gun that specifies any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading. (Thus repeals the ban on semiautomatic weapons. Retains the ban on automatic weapons.)

(Sec. 5) Repeals the District's: (1) registration requirement for possession of firearms; (2) prohibition on registration of pistols (handguns); (3) prohibition on possession of handgun ammunition; (4) requirement that, under certain conditions, firearms in the possession of certain individuals must be kept unloaded, disassembled, or with the trigger locked; and (5) related firearm registration requirements, such as those for applicant qualifications and filing deadline.

Maintains the current ban on the possession and control of a sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, or short-barreled rifle.

(Sec. 9) Eliminates criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm.

(Sec. 10) Amends the District of Columbia Code to eliminate criminal penalties of a fine of up to $5,000 or five years imprisonment, or both, for carrying a firearm (currently, carrying a pistol) whether loaded or unloaded outside one's dwelling house, place of business, or on other land possessed by such person. (Retains the criminal penalties for the basic offense of carrying a concealed weapon of a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both, for a first offense, as well as a fine of up to $10,000 or ten years imprisonment, or both, for a repeat offense.)

Replaces pistol with firearm regarding the exceptions to criminal penalties for a person carrying such weapon either openly or concealed within the District without a license issued pursuant to D.C. law.

Modifies the exception to the prohibition against carrying concealed weapons to include: (1) persons carrying or transporting a firearm used in connection with an organized military activity, a target shoot, formal or informal target practice, sport shooting event, hunting, a firearms or hunter safety class, trapping, or a dog obedience training class or show; (2) the moving by a bona fide gun collector of part or all of the collector's gun collection from place to place for public or private exhibition while the person is engaged in, on the way to, or returning from that activity if each firearm is unloaded and carried in an enclosed case or an enclosed holster; or (3) persons carrying or transporting a firearm in compliance with the Federal criminal code.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``District of Columbia Personal 
Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution 
        provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms 
        shall not be infringed.
            (2) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution 
        protects the rights of individuals, including those who are not 
        members of a militia or engaged in military service or 
        training, to keep and bear arms.
            (3) The law-abiding citizens of the District of Columbia 
        are deprived by local laws of handguns, rifles, and shotguns 
        that are commonly kept by law-abiding persons throughout the 
        rest of the United States for sporting use and for lawful 
        defense of persons, homes, and families.
            (4) The District of Columbia has the highest per capita 
        murder rate in the Nation, which may be attributed in part to 
        local laws prohibiting possession of firearms by law-abiding 
        persons who would otherwise be able to defend themselves and 
        their loved ones in their own homes and businesses.
            (5) The Federal Gun Control Act of 1968, as amended by the 
        Firearms Owners' Protection Act of 1986, and the Brady Handgun 
        Violence Prevention Act of 1993, provide comprehensive Federal 
        regulations applicable in the District of Columbia as 
        elsewhere. In addition, existing District of Columbia criminal 
        laws punish possession and illegal use of firearms by violent 
        criminals and felons. Consequently, there is no need for local 
        laws which only disarm law-abiding citizens.
            (6) Legislation is required to correct the District of 
        Columbia's law in order to restore the rights of its citizens 
        under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution 
        and thereby enhance public safety.

SEC. 3. REFORM D.C. COUNCIL'S AUTHORITY TO RESTRICT FIREARMS.

    Section 4 of the Act entitled ``An Act to prohibit the killing of 
wild birds and wild animals in the District of Columbia'', approved 
June 30, 1906 (34 Stat. 809; sec. 1-303.43, D.C. Official Code) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ``This section shall not be 
construed to permit the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or 
regulatory authority of the District of Columbia to prohibit, 
constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons 
otherwise permitted to possess firearms under Federal law from 
acquiring, possessing in their homes or businesses, or using for 
sporting, self-protection or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither 
prohibited by Federal law nor regulated by the National Firearms Act. 
The District of Columbia shall not have authority to enact laws or 
regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use 
of firearms.''.

SEC. 4. REPEAL D.C. SEMIAUTOMATIC BAN.

    Section 101(10) of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 
(sec. 7-2501.01(10), D.C. Official Code) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(10) Machine gun means any firearm which shoots, is 
        designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to 
        shoot automatically, more than 1 shot by a single function of 
        the trigger.''.

SEC. 5. REPEAL REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 201(a) of the Firearms Control Regulations 
Act of 1975 (sec. 7-2502.01(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended by 
striking ``any firearm, unless'' and all that follows through paragraph 
(3) and inserting the following: ``any firearm described in subsection 
(c).''.
    (b) Description of Firearms Remaining Illegal.--Section 201 of such 
Act (sec. 7-2502.01, D.C. Official Code) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) A firearm described in this subsection is any of the 
following:
            ``(1) A sawed-off shotgun.
            ``(2) A machine gun.
            ``(3) A short-barreled rifle.''.

SEC. 6. REPEAL HANDGUN AMMUNITION BAN.

    Section 601 of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 (sec. 
7-2506.01, D.C. Official Code) is repealed.

SEC. 7. RESTORE RIGHT OF SELF DEFENSE IN THE HOME.

    Section 702 of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 (sec. 
7-2507.02, D.C. Official Code) is repealed.

SEC. 8. ADDITIONAL REPEALS.

    Sections 202 through 211 of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 
1975 (secs. 7-2502.02 through 7-2502.11, D.C. Official Code) are 
repealed.

SEC. 9. REMOVE CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR POSSESSION OF UNREGISTERED 
              FIREARMS.

    (a) In General.--Section 706 of the Firearms Control Regulations 
Act of 1975 (sec. 7-2507.06, D.C. Official Code) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``that:'' and all that follows through 
        ``(1) A'' and inserting ``that a''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (2).
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to violations occurring after the 60-day period 
which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 10. REMOVE CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CARRYING A FIREARM IN ONE'S 
              DWELLING OR OTHER PREMISES.

    (a) In General.--Section 4(a) of the Act of July 8, 1932 (47 Stat. 
651; sec. 22--4504(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended--
            (1) in the matter before paragraph (1), by striking ``a 
        pistol,'' and inserting the following: ``except in his dwelling 
        house or place of business or on other land possessed by that 
        person, whether loaded or unloaded, a firearm,''; and
            (2) by striking ``except that:'' and all that follows 
        through ``(2) If the violation'' and inserting ``except that if 
        the violation''.
    (b) Treatment of Certain Exceptions.--Section 5(a) of such Act (47 
Stat. 651; sec. 22--4505(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``pistol'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``firearm''; and
            (2) by striking the period at the end and inserting the 
        following: ``, or to any person while carrying or transporting 
        a firearm used in connection with an organized military 
        activity, a target shoot, formal or informal target practice, 
        sport shooting event, hunting, a firearms or hunter safety 
        class, trapping, or a dog obedience training class or show, or 
        the moving by a bona fide gun collector of part or all of the 
        collector's gun collection from place to place for public or 
        private exhibition while the person is engaged in, on the way 
        to, or returning from that activity if each firearm is unloaded 
        and carried in an enclosed case or an enclosed holster, or to 
        any person carrying or transporting a firearm in compliance 
        with sections 926A, 926B or 926C of title 18, United States 
        Code.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to violations occurring after the 60-day period 
which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 29, 2004.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.