I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 544

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the transfer of 2 or

more handguns to an individual in any 30-day period.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 21, 1993

Mr. TORRICELLI (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr.

ACKERMAN, Ms. MALONEY, Mr. BEILENSON, and Mrs. MORELLA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

JULY 15, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. BLACKWELL, Mr. RUSH, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr.

SKAGGS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. WYNN, Mr.

JOHNSTON of Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. MEEK, Mr. STARK, Mrs.

SCHROEDER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. LIPINSKI, and Ms. WOOLSEY

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the transfer of 2 or more handguns to an individual in any

30-day period.

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 ‘‘Multiple Handgun

5 Transfer Prohibition Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. MULTIPLE HANDGUN TRANSFER PROHIBITION.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow4 ing:

5 ‘‘(s)(1)(A)(i) It shall be unlawful for any licensed im6 porter, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer—

7 ‘‘(I) during any 30-day period, to transfer 2 or

8 more handguns to an individual who is not licensed

9 under section 923; or

10 ‘‘(II) to transfer a handgun to an individual

11 who is not licensed under section 923 and who re12 ceived a handgun during the 30-day period ending

13 on the date of the transfer.

14 ‘‘(ii) It shall be unlawful for any individual who is

15 not licensed under section 923 to receive 2 or more hand16 guns during any 30-day period.

17 ‘‘(iii) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer,

18 licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer a

19 handgun to an individual who is not licensed under section

20 923, unless, after the most recent proposal of the transfer

21 by the individual, the transferor has—

22 ‘‘(I) received from the individual a statement of

23 the individual containing the information described

24 in paragraph (3);
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1 ‘‘(II) verified the identification of the individual

2 by examining the identification document presented;

3 and

4 ‘‘(III) within 1 day after the individual fur5 nishes the statement, provided a copy of the state6 ment to the chief law enforcement officer of the

7 place of residence of the individual.

8 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the trans9 fer of a handgun to, or the receipt of a handgun by, an

10 individual who has presented to the transferor a written

11 statement, issued by the chief law enforcement officer of

12 the place of residence of the individual during the 10-day

13 period ending on the date of the transfer or receipt, which

14 states that the individual requires access to a handgun be15 cause of a threat to the life of the individual or of any

16 member of the household of the individual.

17 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be interpreted to require

18 any action by a chief law enforcement officer which is not

19 otherwise required.

20 ‘‘(3) The statement referred to in paragraph

21 (1)(A)(iii)(I) shall contain only—

22 ‘‘(A) the name, address, and date of birth ap23 pearing on a valid identification document (as de24 fined in section 1028(d)(1)) of the individual con-
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1 taining a photograph of the individual and a descrip2 tion of the identification used;

3 ‘‘(B) a statement that the individual—

4 ‘‘(i) is not under indictment for, and has

5 not been convicted in any court of, a crime pun6 ishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding

7 one year;

8 ‘‘(ii) is not a fugitive from justice;

9 ‘‘(iii) is not an unlawful user of or addicted

10 to any controlled substance (as defined in sec11 tion 102 of the Controlled Substances Act);

12 ‘‘(iv) has not been adjudicated as a mental

13 defective or been committed to a mental institu14 tion;

15 ‘‘(v) is not an alien who is illegally or un16 lawfully in the United States;

17 ‘‘(vi) has not been discharged from the

18 Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;

19 ‘‘(vii) is not a person who, having been a

20 citizen of the United States, has renounced

21 such citizenship; and

22 ‘‘(viii) has not received a handgun during

23 the 30-day period ending on the date of the

24 statement;

25 ‘‘(C) the date the statement is made; and
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1 ‘‘(D) notice that the individual intends to ob2 tain a handgun from the transferor.

3 ‘‘(4) Any transferor of a handgun who, after the

4 transfer, receives a report from a chief law enforcement

5 officer containing information that receipt or possession

6 of the handgun by the transferee violates Federal, State,

7 or local law shall immediately communicate all information

8 the transferor has about the transfer and the transferee

9 to—

10 ‘‘(A) the chief law enforcement officer of the

11 place of business of the transferor; and

12 ‘‘(B) the chief law enforcement officer of the

13 place of residence of the transferee.

14 ‘‘(5) Any transferor who receives information, not

15 otherwise available to the public, with respect to an indi16 vidual in a report under this subsection shall not disclose

17 such information except to the individual, to law enforce18 ment authorities, or pursuant to the direction of a court

19 of law.

20 ‘‘(6) In the case of a handgun transfer to which para21 graph (1)(A) applies—

22 ‘‘(A) the transferor shall retain—

23 ‘‘(i) the copy of the statement of the trans24 feree with respect to the transfer; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) evidence that the transferor has com2 plied with paragraph (1)(A)(iii)(III) with re3 spect to the statement; and

4 ‘‘(B) the chief law enforcement officer to whom

5 a copy of a statement is sent pursuant to paragraph

6 (1)(A)(iii)(III) shall retain the copy for at least 30

7 calendar days after the date the statement was

8 made.

9 ‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘chief

10 law enforcement officer’ means the chief of police, the

11 sheriff, or an equivalent officer, or the designee of any

12 such individual.

13 ‘‘(8) This subsection shall not apply to the sale of

14 a firearm in the circumstances described in subsection (c).

15 ‘‘(9) The Secretary shall take necessary actions to as16 sure that the provisions of this subsection are published

17 and disseminated to dealers and to the public.’’.

18 (b) HANDGUN DEFINED.—Section 921(a) of such

19 title is amended by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(29) The term ‘handgun’ means—

21 ‘‘(A) a firearm which has a short stock and is

22 designed to be held and fired by the use of a single

23 hand; and
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1 ‘‘(B) any combination of parts from which a

2 firearm described in subparagraph (A) can be as3 sembled.’’.

4 (c) PENALTY.—Section 924(a) of such title is amend5 ed—

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘paragraph

7 (2) or (3) of’’; and

8 (2) by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(5) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(s) shall

10 be fined not more than $1,000, imprisoned for not more

11 than one year, or both.’’.

12 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

13 this Act shall apply to conduct engaged in 90 or more days

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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