IIA

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 125

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 25, 1996

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

AN ACT

To repeal the ban on semiautomatic assault weapons and

the ban on large capacity ammunition feeding devices.

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 ‘‘Gun Crime Enforce5 ment and Second Amendment Restoration Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds the following:

3 (1) One of the primary duties of government is

4 to protect its citizens from armed violent criminals.

5 America’s cherished liberty and the social and eco6 nomic prosperity of its communities are dependent

7 upon government’s ability to maintain public safety.

8 (2) Criminals, by definition, operate outside the

9 law and routinely acquire firearms when they so de10 sire. Banning specific types of firearms has no effect

11 on the moral behavior of those who choose to inflict

12 harm on innocent citizens.

13 (3) The most effective way to protect the public

14 from gun-wielding violent criminals is to arrest, con15 vict, and incarcerate such predators, and to ensure

16 that they serve sentences of sufficient length to pre17 vent them from returning quickly to the streets.

18 SEC. 3. ARMED VIOLENT CRIMINAL APPREHENSION DIREC19 TIVE.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen22 eral of the United States shall establish an armed violent

23 criminal apprehension program consistent with the fol24 lowing requirements:
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1 (1) Each United States attorney shall designate

2 at least 1 assistant United States attorney to pros3 ecute armed violent criminals.

4 (2) Each United States attorney shall establish

5 an armed violent criminal apprehension task force

6 comprised of appropriate law enforcement represent7 atives. The task force shall develop strategies for re8 moving armed violent criminals from the streets,

9 taking into consideration—

10 (A) the importance of severe punishment

11 in deterring armed violent crime;

12 (B) the effectiveness of Federal and State

13 laws pertaining to apprehension and prosecu14 tion of armed violent criminals;

15 (C) the resources available to each law en16 forcement agency participating in the task

17 force;

18 (D) the nature and extent of the violent

19 crime occurring in the district for which the

20 United States attorney is appointed; and

21 (E) the principle of limited Federal in22 volvement in the prosecution of crimes tradi23 tionally prosecuted in State and local jurisdic24 tions.
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1 (3) Not less frequently than monthly, the Attor2 ney General shall require each United States attor3 ney to report to the Department of Justice the num4 ber of defendants charged with, or convicted of, vio5 lating section 922(g) or 924 of title 18, United

6 States Code, in the district for which the United

7 States attorney is appointed.

8 (4) Not less frequently than twice annually, the

9 Attorney General shall submit to the Congress a

10 compilation of the information received by the De11 partment of Justice pursuant to paragraph (3) and

12 a report on all waivers granted under subsection (b).

13 (b) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—

14 (1) REQUEST FOR WAIVER.—A United States

15 attorney may request the Attorney General to waive

16 the requirements of subsection (a) with respect to

17 the United States attorney.

18 (2) PROVISION OF WAIVER.—The Attorney

19 General may waive the requirements of subsection

20 (a) pursuant to a request made under paragraph

21 (1), in accordance with guidelines which shall be es22 tablished by the Attorney General. In establishing

23 the guidelines, the Attorney General shall take into

24 consideration the number of assistant United States

25 attorneys in the office of the United States attorney
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1 making the request and the level of violent crime

2 committed in the district for which the United

3 States attorney is appointed.

4 (c) ARMED VIOLENT CRIMINAL DEFINED.—As used

5 in this section, the term ‘‘armed violent criminal’’ means

6 a person who is accused of violating section 922(g)(1) of

7 title 18, United States Code, having been previously con8 victed of a violent crime, or who is accused of violating

9 section 924 of such title.

10 (d) SUNSET.—This section shall have no force or ef11 fect after the 5-year period that begins 180 days after

12 the date of the enactment of this Act.

13 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF THE PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO SEMI14 AUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPONS AND LARGE

15 CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES.

16 (a) Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is

17 amended by striking subsections (v) and (w) and by strik18 ing the appendix.

19 (b) Section 921(a) of such title is amended by strik20 ing paragraph (30).

21 (c) Section 921(a)(31)(A) of such title is amended—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘manufactured after the date of

23 enactment of the Violent Crime Control and Law

24 Enforcement Act of 1994’’; and
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘, or that can be readily re2 stored or converted to accept,’’.

3 (d) Section 923(i) of such title is amended by striking

4 the last 2 sentences.

5 (e) Section 924(a)(1)(B) of such title is amended by

6 striking ‘‘(r), (v), or (w)’’ and inserting ‘‘or (r)’’.

7 (f) Section 110104 of the Violent Crime Control and

8 Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. 921 note) is

9 repealed.

10 SEC. 5. MANDATORY PRISON TERMS FOR POSSESSING,

11 BRANDISHING, OR DISCHARGING A FIREARM

12 OR DESTRUCTIVE DEVICE DURING A FED13 ERAL CRIME THAT IS A CRIME OF VIOLENCE

14 OR A DRUG TRAFFICKING CRIME.

15 Section 924(c) of title 18, United States Code, is

16 amended—

17 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as

18 paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and

19 (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the

20 following:

21 ‘‘(1) A person who, during and in relation to any

22 crime of violence or drug trafficking crime (including a

23 crime of violence or drug trafficking crime which provides

24 for an enhanced punishment if committed by the use of

25 a deadly or dangerous weapon or device) for which the
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1 person may be prosecuted in a court of the United

2 States—

3 ‘‘(A) possesses a firearm, shall, in addition to

4 the sentence imposed for the crime of violence or

5 drug trafficking crime, be sentenced to imprison6 ment for 5 years;

7 ‘‘(B) brandishes a firearm, shall, in addition to

8 the sentence imposed for the crime of violence or

9 drug trafficking crime, be sentenced to imprison10 ment for 10 years; or

11 ‘‘(C) discharges a firearm with the intent to in12 jure another person, shall, in addition to the sen13 tence imposed for the crime of violence or drug traf14 ficking crime, be sentenced to imprisonment for 20

15 years;

16 except that if the firearm is a short-barreled rifle or short17 barreled shotgun, or is equipped with a large capacity am18 munition feeding device, such additional sentence shall be

19 imprisonment for 10 years more than the term of impris20 onment that would otherwise be imposed under this para21 graph, and if the firearm is a machinegun or destructive

22 device or is equipped with a firearm silencer or firearm

23 muffler, such additional sentence shall be imprisonment

24 for 30 years.
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1 ‘‘(2) In the case of the second or subsequent convic2 tion of a person under this subsection—

3 ‘‘(A) if the person possessed a firearm during

4 and in relation to such second or subsequent crime

5 of violence or drug trafficking crime, the person

6 shall, in addition to the sentence imposed for such

7 second or subsequent offense, be sentenced to im8 prisonment for not less than 20 years;

9 ‘‘(B) if the person brandished a firearm during

10 and in relation to such second or subsequent crime

11 of violence or drug trafficking crime, the person

12 shall, in addition to the sentence imposed for such

13 second or subsequent offense, be sentenced to im14 prisonment for not less than 25 years; or

15 ‘‘(C) if the person discharged a firearm with

16 the intent to injure another person during and in re17 lation to such second or subsequent crime of violence

18 or drug trafficking crime, the person shall, in addi19 tion to the sentence imposed for such second or sub20 sequent offense, be sentenced to imprisonment for

21 not less than 30 years;

22 except that if the firearm is a machinegun or destructive

23 device or is equipped with a firearm silencer or firearm

24 muffler, the person shall, in addition to the sentence im-
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1 posed for such second or subsequent offense, be sentenced

2 to life imprisonment.

3 ‘‘(3)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,

4 the court shall not impose a probationary sentence on any

5 person convicted of a violation of this subsection, nor shall

6 a term of imprisonment imposed under this subsection run

7 concurrently with any other term of imprisonment includ8 ing that imposed for the crime of violence or drug traffick9 ing crime in which the firearm was used.

10 ‘‘(B) No person sentenced under this subsection shall

11 be released for any reason whatsoever during a term of

12 imprisonment imposed under this subsection.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives March 22,

1996.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.