I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 367 

To prohibit the knowing possession of a firearm near a venue at which 

a Member of Congress is performing an official and representational 

duty or campaigning for public office. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 20, 2011 

Ms. RICHARDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit the knowing possession of a firearm near a 

venue at which a Member of Congress is performing 

an official and representational duty or campaigning for 

public office. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom to Serve 

5 Without Fear Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 367 IH

1 (1) A central tenet of representative democracy 

2 is that citizens enjoy the right to peaceably assemble 

3 and petition their government for redress of griev4 ances. 

5 (2) For this right to be exercised meaningfully, 

6 elected representatives must be able to make them7 selves accessible to their constituents. 

8 (3) Fear of gun violence at events where elected 

9 representatives are performing their official or rep10 resentational duties has a chilling effect on our de11 mocracy in at least 2 ways: 

12 (A) by discouraging citizens from engaging 

13 in the public and personal dialogue with their 

14 representatives that is the lifeblood of vibrant 

15 democratic politics; and 

16 (B) by leading elected representatives to 

17 reduce the frequency and extent of personal 

18 contact with their constituents as a reasonable 

19 precaution against unreasonable threats to their 

20 personal safety. 

21 (4) During the summer of 2009, there were 

22 multiple cases of persons carrying firearms outside 

23 of venues at which the President of the United 

24 States was holding meetings and official events. In 

25 one instance, a man carried an AR–15 automatic asVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:10 Jan 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H367.IH H367

srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 367 IH

1 sault rifle and a sidearm. In another instance, occur2 ring hours before a presidential town hall a week 

3 earlier, a man was arrested for breaching a security 

4 perimeter at the location of the event, and was 

5 found to be in possession of an unlicensed and load6 ed handgun. 

7 (5) In recent months, there has been a three8 fold increase in the number of reported threats 

9 against Members of the United States House of 

10 Representatives and Members of the United States 

11 Senate. 

12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON KNOWINGLY POSSESSING A FIRE13 ARM NEAR A VENUE AT WHICH A MEMBER OF 

14 CONGRESS IS PERFORMING AN OFFICIAL 

15 AND REPRESENTATIONAL DUTY OR CAM16 PAIGNING FOR PUBLIC OFFICE. 

17 (a) PROHIBITION.—Section 922 of title 18, United 

18 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(aa)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), it shall 

21 be unlawful for any person, in or affecting interstate or 

22 foreign commerce, to knowingly carry a firearm— 

23 ‘‘(A) in, or within 250 feet of an entrance to or 

24 exit from, a building or structure where the person 

25 knows that a Member of Congress is— 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 367 IH

1 ‘‘(i) performing an official and representa2 tional duty of the Member; 

3 ‘‘(ii) engaging in campaign activity as a 

4 candidate for election for Federal office for pur5 poses of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

6 1971; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) engaging in campaign activity as a 

8 candidate for election for State or local office, 

9 as determined pursuant to State law; or 

10 ‘‘(B) at, or within 500 feet of, any other place 

11 where the person knows that a Member of Congress 

12 is performing such a duty or engaging in such a 

13 campaign activity, 

14 if there is visible, at each place that is at the applicable 

15 distance specified in this sentence from the building, struc16 ture, or other place, a sign which clearly and conspicuously 

17 states that a Member of Congress will be present at the 

18 building, structure, or other place, and so states the time 

19 interval during which the Member of Congress is sched20 uled to be so present. 

21 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the carrying 

22 of a firearm— 

23 ‘‘(A) by a law enforcement officer (whether on24 or off-duty) who is authorized to carry a firearm in 

25 the line of duty; or 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 367 IH

1 ‘‘(B) pursuant to the express written permis2 sion of— 

3 ‘‘(i) any Member of Congress present at 

4 the location involved, which permission has been 

5 filed with the chief of police of the locality in6 volved; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) the chief of police of the locality in8 volved; 

9 ‘‘(C) on real property owned or rented by the 

10 carrier of the firearm; 

11 ‘‘(D) on the premises of a business in which the 

12 carrier of the firearm is employed and authorized by 

13 the employer to carry the firearm; or 

14 ‘‘(E) which is in a locked container or otherwise 

15 not readily accessible for use. 

16 ‘‘(3) If Federal investigative or prosecutive jurisdic17 tion is asserted for a violation of this subsection, such as18 sertion shall suspend the exercise of jurisdiction by a State 

19 or local authority, under any applicable State or local law, 

20 until Federal action is terminated. 

21 ‘‘(4) Violations of this subsection shall be investigated 

22 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistance may 

23 be requested from any Federal, State, or local agency, in24 cluding the Army, Navy, and Air Force, any statute, rule, 

25 or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding.’’. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 367 IH

1 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of such title is 

2 amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(8) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(aa) 

4 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 

5 10 years, or both.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. ENCOURAGING STATES TO ADOPT FIREARMS PRO7 HIBITIONS SIMILAR TO FEDERAL LAW TO 

8 PROTECT STATE AND LOCAL ELECTED AND 

9 APPOINTED OFFICIALS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year after the ex11 piration of the period specified in subsection (b)(1) in 

12 which a State receives funds for the Edward Byrne Memo13 rial Justice Assistance Grant Program under subpart 1 

14 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

15 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), the 

16 State shall have in effect throughout the State laws and 

17 policies that prohibit any person to knowingly possess a 

18 firearm near a venue at which an elected or appointed 

19 State or local official is performing an official and rep20 resentational duty or campaigning for public office if such 

21 possession would constitute an offense under subsection 

22 (aa) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code, if such 

23 official were a Member of Congress. 

24 (b) COMPLIANCE AND INELIGIBILITY.— 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 367 IH

1 (1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Each State shall have 

2 not more than 1 year from the date of enactment of 

3 this Act to comply with subsection (a), except that— 

4 (A) the Attorney General may grant an ad5 ditional 1 year to a State that is making good 

6 faith efforts to comply with such subsection; 

7 and 

8 (B) the Attorney General shall waive the 

9 requirements of subsection (a) if compliance 

10 with such subsection by a State would be un11 constitutional under the constitution of such 

12 State. 

13 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—For any fiscal 

14 year after the expiration of the period specified in 

15 paragraph (1), a State that fails to comply with sub16 section (a) shall not receive 10 percent of the funds 

17 that would otherwise be allocated for that fiscal year 

18 to the State for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

19 Assistance Grant Program under subpart 1 of part 

20 E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

21 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.). 

22 (c) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated under 

23 such Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant 

24 Program to a State for failure to fully comply with subVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:10 Jan 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H367.IH H367

srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 367 IH

1 section (a) shall be reallocated under that program to 

2 States that have not failed to comply with such subsection. 

Æ 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS