108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 218

AN ACT

To amend title 18, United States Code, to exempt

concealed handguns.ficers from State laws prohibiting the carrying ofqualified current and former law enforcement of-

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 218

AN ACT

To amend title 18, United States Code, to exempt qualified

current and former law enforcement officers from State

laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed handguns.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Law Enforcement Offi3 cers Safety Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. EXEMPTION OF QUALIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OF5 FICERS FROM STATE LAWS PROHIBITING

6 THE CARRYING OF CONCEALED FIREARMS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United

8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 926A

9 the following:

10 ‘‘§ 926B. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified

11 law enforcement officers

12 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law

13 of any State or any political subdivision thereof, an indi14 vidual who is a qualified law enforcement officer and who

15 is carrying the identification required by subsection (d)

16 may carry a concealed firearm that has been shipped or

17 transported in interstate or foreign commerce, subject to

18 subsection (b).

19 ‘‘(b) This section shall not be construed to supersede

20 or limit the laws of any State that—

21 ‘‘(1) permit private persons or entities to pro22 hibit or restrict the possession of concealed firearms

23 on their property; or

24 ‘‘(2) prohibit or restrict the possession of fire25 arms on any State or local government property, in26 stallation, building, base, or park.
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1 ‘‘(c) As used in this section, the term ‘qualified law

2 enforcement officer’ means an employee of a governmental

3 agency who—

4 ‘‘(1) is authorized by law to engage in or super5 vise the prevention, detection, investigation, or pros6 ecution of, or the incarceration of any person for,

7 any violation of law, and has statutory powers of ar8 rest;

9 ‘‘(2) is authorized by the agency to carry a fire10 arm;

11 ‘‘(3) is not the subject of any disciplinary action

12 by the agency;

13 ‘‘(4) meets standards, if any, established by the

14 agency which require the employee to regularly qual15 ify in the use of a firearm;

16 ‘‘(5) is not under the influence of alcohol or an17 other intoxicating or hallucinatory drug or sub18 stance; and

19 ‘‘(6) is not prohibited by Federal law from re20 ceiving a firearm.

21 ‘‘(d) The identification required by this subsection is

22 the photographic identification issued by the governmental

23 agency for which the individual is employed as a law en24 forcement officer.
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1 ‘‘(e) As used in this section, the term ‘firearm’ does

2 not include—

3 ‘‘(1) any machinegun (as defined in section

4 5845 of the National Firearms Act);

5 ‘‘(2) any firearm silencer (as defined in section

6 921 of this title); and

7 ‘‘(3) any destructive device (as defined in sec8 tion 921 of this title).’’.

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

10 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item

11 relating to section 926A the following:

‘‘926B. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified law enforcement officers.’’.

12 SEC. 3. EXEMPTION OF QUALIFIED RETIRED LAW EN13 FORCEMENT OFFICERS FROM STATE LAWS

14 PROHIBITING THE CARRYING OF CON15 CEALED FIREARMS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United

17 States Code, is further amended by inserting after section

18 926B the following:

19 ‘‘§ 926C. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified

20 retired law enforcement officers

21 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law

22 of any State or any political subdivision thereof, an indi23 vidual who is a qualified retired law enforcement officer

24 and who is carrying the identification required by sub25 section (d) may carry a concealed firearm that has been
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1 shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce,

2 subject to subsection (b).

3 ‘‘(b) This section shall not be construed to supersede

4 or limit the laws of any State that—

5 ‘‘(1) permit private persons or entities to pro6 hibit or restrict the possession of concealed firearms

7 on their property; or

8 ‘‘(2) prohibit or restrict the possession of fire9 arms on any State or local government property, in10 stallation, building, base, or park.

11 ‘‘(c) As used in this section, the term ‘qualified re12 tired law enforcement officer’ means an individual who—

13 ‘‘(1) retired in good standing from service with

14 a public agency as a law enforcement officer, other

15 than for reasons of mental instability;

16 ‘‘(2) before such retirement, was authorized by

17 law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detec18 tion, investigation, or prosecution of, or the incarcer19 ation of any person for, any violation of law, and

20 had statutory powers of arrest;

21 ‘‘(3)(A) before such retirement, was regularly

22 employed as a law enforcement officer for an aggre23 gate of 15 years or more; or

24 ‘‘(B) retired from service with such agency,

25 after completing any applicable probationary period
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1 of such service, due to a service-connected disability,

2 as determined by such agency;

3 ‘‘(4) has a nonforfeitable right to benefits under

4 the retirement plan of the agency;

5 ‘‘(5) during the most recent 12-month period,

6 has met, at the expense of the individual, the State’s

7 standards for training and qualification for active

8 law enforcement officers to carry firearms;

9 ‘‘(6) is not under the influence of alcohol or an10 other intoxicating or hallucinatory drug or sub11 stance; and

12 ‘‘(7) is not prohibited by Federal law from re13 ceiving a firearm.

14 ‘‘(d) The identification required by this subsection

15 is—

16 ‘‘(1) a photographic identification issued by the

17 agency from which the individual retired from serv18 ice as a law enforcement officer that indicates that

19 the individual has, not less recently than one year

20 before the date the individual is carrying the con21 cealed firearm, been tested or otherwise found by the

22 agency to meet the standards established by the

23 agency for training and qualification for active law

24 enforcement officers to carry a firearm of the same

25 type as the concealed firearm; or
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1 ‘‘(2)(A) a photographic identification issued by

2 the agency from which the individual retired from

3 service as a law enforcement officer; and

4 ‘‘(B) a certification issued by the State in which

5 the individual resides that indicates that the indi6 vidual has, not less recently than one year before the

7 date the individual is carrying the concealed firearm,

8 been tested or otherwise found by the State to meet

9 the standards established by the State for training

10 and qualification for active law enforcement officers

11 to carry a firearm of the same type as the concealed

12 firearm.

13 ‘‘(e) As used in this section, the term ‘firearm’ does

14 not include—

15 ‘‘(1) any machinegun (as defined in section

16 5845 of the National Firearms Act);

17 ‘‘(2) any firearm silencer (as defined in section

18 921 of this title); and

19 ‘‘(3) a destructive device (as defined in section

20 921 of this title).’’.

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

22 for such chapter is further amended by inserting after the

23 item relating to section 926B the following:
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‘‘926C. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified retired law enforcement officers.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives June 23, 2004.

Attest:

Clerk.