I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2946

To combat illegal gun trafficking, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003

Mr. KING of New York (for himself and Mr. MEEHAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To combat illegal gun trafficking, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Detectives Nemorin 

5 and Andrews Anti-Gun Trafficking Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Illegal gun traffickers are a principal source 

9 of firearms for criminals. 

10 (2) Illegal gun traffickers are often criminals in 

11 other respects, and gun trafficking investigations 
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1 provide another means to prevent them from harm2 ing the community. 

3 (3) Criminals obtain their guns from the illegal 

4 market by a variety of sources, such as from—

5 (A) corrupt Federal firearm licensees, who 

6 are associated with the largest number of ille7 gally trafficked firearms—nearly 40,000 fire8 arms over the 30-month period from July 1996 

9 through December 1998; 

10 (B) straw purchasers, who buy firearms 

11 for persons prohibited from receiving firearms, 

12 and who are the most common channel in gun 

13 trafficking investigations, accounting for almost 

14 half of all such investigations over the 30-

15 month period from July 1996 through Decem16 ber 1998; and 

17 (C) firearms thefts, with investigations in18 volving firearms stolen from residences or feder19 ally licensed firearms dealers being associated 

20 with over 9,000 trafficked firearms over the 30-

21 month period from July 1996 through Decem22 ber 1998. 

23 (4) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 

24 and Explosives has discerned significant interstate 

25 patterns in illegal gun trafficking, including the traf-
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1 ficking of firearms between the Southeast and 

2 Northeast; from the South into the Midwest and 

3 from California into other western States. Nation4 ally, slightly less than half of all gun trafficking in5 vestigations involve interstate gun trafficking. 

6 SEC. 3. ILLEGAL GUN TRAFFICKING. 

7 Section 924 of title 18, United States Code, is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(p)(1) Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign 

10 commerce in violation of subsection (a)(6), (g), or (n) of 

11 section 922 or subsection (c) of this section—

12 ‘‘(A) offers for sale, transfer, or barter 2 or 

13 more firearms, at least 2 of which are handguns, 

14 semiautomatic assault weapons, short-barreled shot15 guns, short-barreled rifles, or machineguns; and 

16 ‘‘(B) at least 1 of the firearms—

17 ‘‘(i) is transported, received, or possessed 

18 by the person, and—

19 ‘‘(I) is stolen; or 

20 ‘‘(II) has had the importer’s or manu21 facturer’s serial number removed, obliter22 ated, or altered; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) is offered by the person for sale, 

24 transfer, or barter to another person who—
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1 ‘‘(I) is prohibited from possessing a 

2 firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of sec3 tion 922; 

4 ‘‘(II) is prohibited by State law from 

5 possessing a firearm; 

6 ‘‘(III) has not attained 18 years of 

7 age, except as otherwise allowed under 

8 Federal or State law; 

9 ‘‘(IV) is in a school zone; or 

10 ‘‘(V) has travelled from any State into 

11 any other State, and acquires or attempts 

12 to acquire the firearm otherwise in viola13 tion of Federal or State law, 

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

15 20 years, or both. 

16 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to conduct of a 

17 licensed dealer at the premises from which the licensed 

18 dealer conducts business subject to the license, or pursu19 ant to section 923(j).’’. 

20 SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS. 

21 Section 104 of the 21st Century Department of Jus22 tice Appropriations Authorization Act (Public Law 107–

23 273) is amended—

24 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘, illegal gun 

25 trafficking,’’ after ‘‘violence’’ ; and 
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1 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘2002’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘2004’’. 

3 SEC. 5. REPORT TO THE CONGRESS. 

4 Beginning in calendar year 2005, the Attorney Gen5 eral shall submit biennially to the Congress a written re6 port, covering the preceding 2 years, which specifies—

7 (1) the State of origin for each firearm, used in 

8 a crime, that was traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, 

9 Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the State in 

10 which the firearm was recovered; 

11 (2) the total number of firearms so traced, by 

12 manufacturer, model, and type of firearm; 

13 (3) the name of Federal firearms licensees who 

14 have had more than 50 firearms, used in a crime, 

15 traced back to them in a single year; and 

16 (4) the number of prosecutions for each indi17 vidual offense under sections 922, 923, and 924 of 

18 title 18, United States Code. 

19 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL PENALTY FOR POSSESSION OF A STO20 LEN FIREARM DURING THE COMMISSION OF 

21 A FELONY. 

22 Section 924 of title 18, United States Code is amend23 ed by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(q)(1) Whoever, during and in relation to the com25 mission of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term 
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1 exceeding one year, receives, possesses, conceals, barters, 

2 sells, or disposes of any stolen firearm or stolen ammuni3 tion, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, wheth4 er or not the person is aware that the firearm or ammuni5 tion is stolen, shall, in addition to the punishment pro6 vided for the crime so punishable, be sentenced to a term 

7 of imprisonment of not more than 5 years. 

8 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply if the person ob9 tained the firearm or ammunition from a licensed dealer 

10 at the place of business specified on the license of the deal11 er issued under this chapter.’’. 

12 SEC. 7. NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CENTER STOLEN 

13 GUN FILE. 

14 (a) AVAILABILITY.—The Federal Bureau of Inves15 tigation shall make available to the Bureau of Alcohol, To16 bacco, Firearms, and Explosives the National Crime Infor17 mation Center Gun File for the purpose of enabling the 

18 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to 

19 access the file while completing a crime gun trace. 

20 (b) USE.—The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire21 arms, and Explosives shall conduct a search of the Na22 tional Crime Information Center Stolen Gun File with re23 spect to each firearm submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, 

24 Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for tracing. 
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1 (c) NOTIFICATION REGARDING STOLEN FIRE2 ARMS.—If a law enforcement agency requests the Bureau 

3 of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to trace a 

4 firearm, and the National Crime Information Center Sto5 len Gun File indicates that the firearm is stolen, then the 

6 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives 

7 shall notify the law enforcement agency of that informa8 tion and provide the law enforcement agency with any 

9 available information regarding the owner of the firearm. 

10 (d) RETURN OF STOLEN FIREARMS POSSESSED BY

11 BATFE.—If the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 

12 and Explosives possesses a firearm which the National 

13 Crime Information System Gun File indicates is stolen, 

14 the Bureau shall return the firearm to the person who re15 ported the firearm stolen, when the Bureau determines 

16 that—

17 (1) the firearm is no longer needed for criminal 

18 investigation or evidentiary purposes; and 

19 (2) the person is entitled to possess the firearm. 

20 (e) USE BY FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEES EN21 ROLLED IN THE NICS SYSTEM.—Within 2 years after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Bureau of 

23 Investigation, shall allow all Federal firearms licensees en24 rolled in the National Instant Criminal Background Check 

25 System to conduct a search of the National Crime Infor-
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1 mation Center Stolen Gun File with respect to any firearm 

2 the licensee purchases, receives, possesses, or accepts as 

3 security for a loan, from any person not licensed under 

4 section 923 of title 18, United States Code. 

5 SEC. 8. ADDITIONAL PENALTY FOR POSSESSION OF A FIRE6 ARM WITH AN OBLITERATED SERIAL NUM7 BER DURING THE COMMISSION OF A FELONY. 

8 Section 924 of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(r) Whoever, during and in relation to the commis11 sion of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term 

12 exceeding one year, transports, possesses, or receives, in 

13 or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a firearm 

14 which has had the importer’s or manufacturer’s serial 

15 number removed, obliterated, or altered, regardless of 

16 whether or not the person is aware of the removal, obliter17 ation, or alteration, shall, in addition to the punishment 

18 provided for the crime so punishable, be sentenced to a 

19 term of imprisonment of not more than 5 years.’’. 
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1 SEC. 9. ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR THE USE OF A STOLEN 

2 FIREARM OR A FIREARM WITH AN OBLITER3 ATED SERIAL NUMBER DURING THE COMMIS4 SION OF A CRIME OF VIOLENCE OR DRUG 

5 TRAFFICKING CRIME. 

6 Section 924(c)(1)(A) of title 18, United States Code, 

7 is amended—

8 (1) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, or if the fire9 arm was stolen or had the manufacturer’s serial 

10 number removed, obliterated, or altered, not less 

11 than 7 years’’after ‘‘years’’; 

12 (2) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, or if the fire13 arm was stolen or had the manufacturer’s serial 

14 number removed, obliterated, or altered, not less 

15 than 9 years’’after ‘‘years’’; and 

16 (3) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘, or if the fire17 arm was stolen or had the manufacturer’s serial 

18 number removed, obliterated, or altered, not less 

19 than 12 years’’after ‘‘years’’.

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