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[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 24 Introduced in House (IH)]

108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 24

 To require ballistics testing of firearms manufactured in or imported 
 into the United States, and to provide for the compilation, use, and 
 availability of ballistics information for the purpose of curbing the 
                       use of firearms in crime.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 2003

 Mr. Becerra introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To require ballistics testing of firearms manufactured in or imported 
 into the United States, and to provide for the compilation, use, and 
 availability of ballistics information for the purpose of curbing the 
                       use of firearms in crime.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bullet Tracing Act To Reduce Gun 
Violence''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER OF FIREARM BY LICENSED FIREARMS 
              MANUFACTURER OR LICENSED FIREARMS IMPORTER BEFORE TEST 
              FIRING AND TRANSMISSION OF BALLISTICS RECORDS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 931. Test firing and transmission of ballistics records
    ``(a) A licensed manufacturer or licensed importer shall not 
transfer a firearm to any person before--
            ``(1) test firing the firearm;
            ``(2) preparing ballistics records of the fired bullet and 
        cartridge casings from the test fire; and
            ``(3) transmitting the records to the Attorney General.
    ``(b)(1)(A) With respect to each violation of subsection (a) by a 
licensee, the Attorney General may, after notice and opportunity for 
hearing, suspend for not more than 5 years or revoke the license of the 
licensee, impose on the licensee a civil fine of not more than $20,000, 
or both.
    ``(B) An action of the Attorney General under this paragraph may be 
reviewed only as provided in section 923(f).
    ``(2) The suspension or revocation of a license or the imposition 
of a civil fine under paragraph (1) shall not preclude any 
administrative remedy that is available to the Attorney General under 
other law.
    ``(3) Whoever knowingly violates subsection (a) shall be fined 
under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.''.
    (b) Definition of Ballistics.--Section 921(a) of such title is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(35) The term `ballistics' means a comparative analysis of fired 
bullets or cartridge casings to identify the firearm from which the 
bullets or cartridge casings were discharged, through the 
identification of the unique characteristics that each firearm imprints 
on bullets and cartridge casings.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such chapter is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``931. Test firing and automated storage of ballistics records.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. COMPILATION, USE, AND AVAILABILITY OF BALLISTICS INFORMATION.

    (a) Compilation of Information.--The Attorney General shall 
compile, in electronic form, the ballistics records transmitted 
pursuant to section 931(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code, and 
shall make the compilation available for use in Federal, State, and 
local criminal investigations, arrests, indictments, and prosecutions.
    (b) Federal Assistance to Firearm Manufacturers and Importers.--The 
Attorney General shall assist qualified firearms manufacturers and 
qualified firearms importers in--
            (1) obtaining use of new and upgraded computerized 
        ballistics equipment and bullet recovery equipment owned by the 
        Federal Government, to be placed at the sites of licensed 
        manufacturers and licensed importers;
            (2) training personnel necessary to develop, maintain, 
        research, and evaluate a database containing ballistics 
        information on firearms possessed by the manufacturers or 
        importers, and to record and transmit to the Attorney General 
        such information; and
            (3) taking any other steps necessary to implement effective 
        ballistics testing.
    (c) Qualified Firearms Manufacturers and Qualified Firearms 
Importers.--A manufacturer or importer of firearms shall be considered 
qualified for assistance under subsection (b) only if the Attorney 
General determines that the manufacturer or importer meets such uniform 
requirements as the Attorney General establishes relating to the 
creation, preservation, and transmission of ballistics records 
described in section 931(a) of title 18, United States Code.
    (d) Annual Reports on Effects of This Act.--Not later than 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this section and annually 
thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to the Congress a report 
regarding the effects of this Act, including the number of Federal, 
State, and local criminal investigations, arrests, indictments, and 
prosecutions of all cases in which access to ballistics records 
provided under section 931 of title 18, United States Code, served as a 
valuable investigative tool.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``licensed 
manufacturer'', ``licensed importer'', ``firearm'', and ``ballistics'' 
shall have the meanings given in section 921(a) of title 18, United 
States Code.
                                 <all>
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