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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1403

To regulate handgun ammunition, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 5, 1995

Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To regulate handgun ammunition, 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 ‘‘Ammunition Safety

5 Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEALERS OF AMMUNITION.

7 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 921(a)(11)(A) of title 18,

8 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or ammuni9 tion’’ after ‘‘firearms’’.

10 (b) LICENSING.—Section 923(a) of title 18, United

11 States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by

2 striking ‘‘or importing or manufacturing ammuni3 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘or importing, manufacturing, or

4 dealing in ammunition’’; and

5 (2) in paragraph (3)—

6 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’

7 the last place it appears;

8 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the

9 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

10 (C) by inserting the following new subpara11 graph:

12 ‘‘(C) in ammunition other than ammunition for

13 destructive devices, $10 per year.’’.

14 (c) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—Section 922(a)(1)(A) of title

15 18, United States Code, is amended—

16 (1) in paragraph (1)—

17 (A) in subparagraph (A)—

18 (i) by inserting ‘‘or ammunition’’ after

19 ‘‘firearms’’; and

20 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or ammunition’’

21 after ‘‘firearm’’; and

22 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or

23 licensed manufacturer’’ and inserting ‘‘licensed

24 manufacturer, or licensed dealer’’;
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1 (2) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding

2 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or ammunition’’

3 after ‘‘firearm’’;

4 (3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or ammuni5 tion’’ after ‘‘firearm’’ the first place it appears;

6 (4) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘or ammuni7 tion’’ after ‘‘firearm’’ the first place it appears; and

8 (5) in paragraph (9), by inserting ‘‘or ammuni9 tion’’ after ‘‘firearms’’.

10 (d) PENALTIES.—Section 924 of title 18, United

11 States Code, is amended—

12 (1) in paragraph (5)—

13 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘1

14 year’’ and inserting ‘‘2 years’’; and

15 (B) in subparagraph (B)—

16 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘1 year’’

17 and inserting ‘‘2 years’’; and

18 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘10

19 years’’ and inserting ‘‘20 years’’; and

20 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub21 section:

22 ‘‘(o) Except to the extent a greater minimum sen23 tence is otherwise provided, any person at least 18 years

24 of age who violates section 922(g) shall be subject to—
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1 ‘‘(1) twice the maximum punishment authorized

2 by this subsection; and

3 ‘‘(2) at least twice any term of supervised re4 lease.’’.

5 (e) APPLICATION OF BRADY HANDGUN VIOLENCE

6 PREVENTION ACT TO TRANSFER OF AMMUNITION.—Sec7 tion 922(t) of title 18, United States Code, is amended

8 by inserting ‘‘or ammunition’’ after ‘‘firearm’’ each place

9 it appears.

10 SEC. 3. REGULATION OF ARMOR PIERCING AND NEW TYPES

11 OF DESTRUCTIVE AMMUNITION.

12 (a) TESTING OF AMMUNITION.—Section 921(a)(17)

13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

14 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D), as

15 added by section 2(e)(2), as subparagraph (E); and

16 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol17 lowing new subparagraph:

18 ‘‘(D)(i) Notwithstanding subchapter II of chapter 5

19 of title 5, United States Code, not later than 1 year after

20 the date of enactment of this subparagraph, the Secretary

21 shall—

22 ‘‘(I) establish uniform standards for testing and

23 rating the destructive capacity of projectiles capable

24 of being used in handguns;
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1 ‘‘(II) utilizing the standards established pursu2 ant to subclause (I), establish performance-based

3 standards to define the rating of ‘armor piercing

4 ammunition’ based on the rating at which the pro5 jectiles pierce armor; and

6 ‘‘(III) at the expense of the ammunition manu7 facturer seeking to sell a particular type of ammuni8 tion, test and rate the destructive capacity of the

9 ammunition utilizing the testing, rating, and per10 formance-based standards established under

11 subclauses (I) and (II).

12 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘armor piercing ammunition’ shall in13 clude any projectile determined to have a destructive ca14 pacity rating higher than the rating threshold established

15 under subclause (II), in addition to the composition-based

16 determination of subparagraph (B).

17 ‘‘(iii) The Congress may exempt specific ammunition

18 designed for sporting purposes from the definition of

19 ‘armor piercing ammunition’.’’.

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

21 States Code, is amended—

22 (1) in paragraph (7)—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘or import’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘, import, possess, or use’’;
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1 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking

2 ‘‘and’’;

3 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the

4 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (D) by adding at the end the following new

6 subparagraph:

7 ‘‘(D) the manufacture, importation, or use

8 of any projectile that has been proven, by test9 ing performed at the expense of the manufac10 turer of the projectile, to have a lower rating

11 threshold than armor piercing ammunition.’’;

12 and

13 (2) in paragraph (8)—

14 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking

15 ‘‘and’’;

16 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the

17 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

18 (C) by adding at the end the following new

19 subparagraph:

20 ‘‘(D) the manufacture, importation, or use

21 of any projectile that has been proven, by test22 ing performed at the expense of the manufac23 turer of the projectile, to have a lower rating

24 threshold than armor piercing ammunition.’’.

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