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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2386

To save the lives of police officers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 21, 1995

Mr. SCHUMER (by request) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To save the lives of police officers.

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

3 SECTION 1. PROTECTING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS’

4 LIVES.

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

6 ‘‘Saving Police Officers’ Lives Act of 1995’’.

7 (b) DEFINITION OF ARMOR PIERCING AMMUNI8 TION.—Section 921(a)(17)(B) of title 18, United States

9 Code, is amended—

10 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i);

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause

12 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following:

2 ‘‘(iii) a projectile that may be used in

3 a handgun and that the Secretary deter4 mines pursuant to the procedure specified

5 in subsection (c) to be capable of penetrat6 ing body armor.’’.

7 (c) DETERMINATION OF THE CAPABILITY OF PRO8 JECTILES TO PENETRATE BODY ARMOR.—Section 926 of

9 such title is amended by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary shall determine whether a pro11 jectile is capable of penetrating body armor, in accordance

12 with regulations which the Secretary may prescribe in ac13 cordance with the procedures set forth in subsection (c).

14 Such regulations shall provide for uniform testing of pro15 jectiles against the Body Armor Exemplar, based on

16 standards developed by the Secretary in consultation with

17 representatives of Federal, State, county, and local law en18 forcement agencies selected by the Secretary.

19 ‘‘(2) As used in paragraph (1), the term ‘Body Armor

20 Exemplar’ means body armor that the Secretary in con21 junction with representatives of Federal, State, county,

22 and local law enforcement selected by the Secretary, rep23 resentatives of the industry involved in the manufacture

24 of ammunition and the manufacture of articles of protec25 tive gear, generally known as bulletproof vests, selected
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1 by the Secretary and the research community selected by

2 the Secretary, determines meets minimum standards for

3 protection of law enforcement officers.’’.

4 (d) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary is authorized to

5 promulgate such regulations as the Secretary deems nec6 essary to carry out the intent of this Act, upon a finding

7 for which the Secretary shall make an administrative

8 record, that any ammunition, the manufacture or importa9 tion of which would be prohibited under such regulation,

10 serves no substantial sporting purpose and serves pri11 marily to kill human beings. Before promulgating any

12 such regulation, the Secretary shall—

13 (1) consult with representatives of organizations

14 representing the sporting use of firearms, which the

15 Secretary shall select;

16 (2) consult with appropriate representatives of

17 Federal, State, county, and local law enforcement,

18 which the Secretary shall select;

19 (3) consult with appropriate representatives of

20 the industry involved in the manufacture of ammuni21 tion and the manufacture of articles of protective

22 gear generally known as bulletproof vests, which the

23 Secretary shall select; and
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1 (4) consult with appropriate members of the

2 ammunition and protective gear research commu3 nity, which the Secretary shall select.

4 No regulation promulgated pursuant to this section shall

5 take effect until ten days after the Secretary shall have

6 caused it to be published in the Federal Register and

7 caused it to be delivered to the Senate and the House of

8 Representatives during which time the Congress may act

9 to repudiate such regulation.

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