Union Calendar No. 215

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3098

[Report No. 103–389]

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit

handgun ammunition to, a juvenile.nition by, or the private transfer of a handgun orthe possession of a handgun or handgun ammuNOVEMBER 20, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 215

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3098

[Report No. 103–389]

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the possession of a

handgun or handgun ammunition by, or the private transfer of a handgun or handgun ammunition to, a juvenile.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 21, 1993

Mr. GLICKMAN (for himself and Mr. CASTLE) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

NOVEMBER 20, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Ms. BYRNE, Mr. FILNER, Mr. BACCHUS of Florida, Mr. MANN,

Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. GOSS, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr.

STARK, Mr. DEUTSCH, Ms. MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY, Mr. BEILENSON,

Mr. GIBBONS, Mrs. MEEK, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, Mr. HASTINGS,

Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. ENGLISH of Arizona, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. KLUG, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. MANTON, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. TORKILDSEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. SLATTERY, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. CALVERT, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. LAZIO,

Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. COPPERSMITH, Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. LEVIN, and Ms.

FURSE

NOVEMBER 20, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 21, 1993]
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A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the possession of a handgun or handgun ammunition by, or

the private transfer of a handgun or handgun ammunition to, a juvenile.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS.

4 The Congress finds and declares that—

5 (1) crime, particularly crime involving drugs

6 and guns, is a pervasive, nationwide problem;

7 (2) problems with crime at the local level are ex8 acerbated by the interstate movement of drugs, funds,

9 and criminal gangs;

10 (3) firearms and ammunition, and handguns in

11 particular, move easily in interstate commerce, as

12 documented in numerous hearings in both the Judici13 ary Committee of the House of Representatives and

14 Judiciary Committee of the Senate;

15 (4) in fact, even before the sale of a handgun, the

16 gun, its component parts, ammunition, and the raw

17 materials from which they are made have consider18 ably moved in interstate commerce;

19 (5) while criminals freely move from State to

20 State, ordinary citizens may fear to travel to or

21 through certain parts of the country due to the con-
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1 cern that violent crime is not under control, and for2 eigners may decline to travel in the United States for

3 the same reason;

4 (6) just as the hardened drug kingpins begin

5 their life in the illicit drug culture by exposure to

6 drugs at a young age, violent criminals often start

7 their criminal careers on streets where the ready

8 availability of guns to young people results in the ac9 ceptability of their random use;

10 (7) violent crime and the use of illicit drugs go

11 hand-in-hand, and attempts to control one without

12 controlling the other may be fruitless;

13 (8) individual States and localities find it im14 possible to handle the problem by themselves; even

15 States and localities that have made a strong effort to

16 prevent, detect, and punish crime find their effort

17 unavailing due in part to the failure or inability of

18 other States and localities to take strong measures;

19 (9) inasmuch as illicit drug activity and related

20 violent crime overflow State lines and national

21 boundaries, the Congress has power, under the inter22 state commerce clause and other provisions of the

23 Constitution, to enact measures to combat these prob24 lems; and
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1 (10) the Congress finds that it is necessary and

2 appropriate to assist the States in controlling crime

3 by stopping the commerce in handguns with juveniles

4 nationwide, and allowing the possession of handguns

5 by juveniles only when handguns are possessed and

6 used for legitimate purposes under appropriate condi7 tions.

8 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF THE POSSESSION OF A HANDGUN

9 OR AMMUNITION BY, OR THE PRIVATE TRANS10 FER OF A HANDGUN OR AMMUNITION TO, A

11 JUVENILE.

12 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following

14 new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(29) The term ‘handgun’ means—

16 ‘‘(A) a firearm that has a short stock and is de17 signed to be held and fired by the use of a single

18 hand; and

19 ‘‘(B) any combination of parts from which a

20 firearm described in subparagraph (A) can be assem21 bled.’’.

22 (b) OFFENSE.—Section 922 of title 18, United States

23 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new

24 subsection:
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1 ‘‘(s)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to sell, deliver,

2 or otherwise transfer to a juvenile, or to a person who the

3 transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is a juve4 nile—

5 ‘‘(A) a handgun; or

6 ‘‘(B) ammunition that is suitable for use only in

7 a handgun.

8 ‘‘(2) It shall be unlawful for any person who is a juve9 nile to knowingly possess—

10 ‘‘(A) a handgun; or

11 ‘‘(B) ammunition that is suitable for use only in

12 a handgun.

13 ‘‘(3) This subsection does not apply—

14 ‘‘(A) to a temporary transfer of a handgun or

15 ammunition to a juvenile, or to the possession or use

16 of a handgun or ammunition by a juvenile, if the

17 handgun and ammunition are possessed and used by

18 the juvenile—

19 ‘‘(i) in the course of employment, in the

20 course of ranching or farming related to activi21 ties at the residence of the juvenile (or on prop22 erty used for ranching or farming at which the

23 juvenile, with the permission of the property

24 owner or lessee, is performing activities related

25 to the operation of the farm or ranch), target
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1 practice, hunting, or a course of instruction in

2 the safe and lawful use of a handgun;

3 ‘‘(ii) with the prior written consent of the

4 juvenile’s parent or guardian who is not prohib5 ited by Federal, State, or local law from possess6 ing a firearm;

7 ‘‘(iii) with the prior written consent in the

8 juvenile’s possession at all times when a hand9 gun is in the possession of the juvenile; and

10 ‘‘(iv) in accordance with State and local

11 law;

12 ‘‘(B) during transportation by the juvenile of an

13 unloaded handgun in a locked container directly from

14 the place of transfer to a place at which an activity

15 described in subparagraph (A)(i) is to take place, and

16 transportation by the juvenile of that handgun, un17 loaded and in a locked container, directly from the

18 place at which such an activity took place to the

19 transferor;

20 ‘‘(C) to a juvenile who is a member of the Armed

21 Forces of the United States or the National Guard

22 who possesses or is armed with a handgun in the line

23 of duty;
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1 ‘‘(D) to a transfer by inheritance of title (but not

2 possession) of a handgun or ammunition to a juve3 nile; or

4 ‘‘(E) to the possession of a handgun or ammuni5 tion by a juvenile taken in defense of the juvenile or

6 other persons against an intruder into the residence

7 of the juvenile or a residence in which the juvenile is

8 an invited guest.

9 ‘‘(4) A handgun or ammunition, the possession of

10 which is transferred to a juvenile in circumstances in which

11 the transferor is not in violation of this subsection shall

12 not be subject to permanent confiscation by the Government

13 if its possession by the juvenile subsequently becomes unlaw14 ful because of the conduct of the juvenile, but shall be re15 turned to the lawful owner when such handgun or ammuni16 tion is no longer required by the Government for the pur17 poses of investigation or prosecution.

18 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘juvenile’

19 means a person who is less than 18 years of age.

20 ‘‘(6)(A) In a prosecution of a violation of this sub21 section, the court shall require the presence of a juvenile

22 defendant’s parent or legal guardian at all proceedings.

23 ‘‘(B) The court may use the contempt power to enforce

24 subparagraph (A).
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1 ‘‘(C) The court may excuse attendance of a parent or

2 legal guardian of a juvenile defendant at a proceeding in

3 a prosecution of a violation of this subsection for good cause

4 shown.’’.

5 (c) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of title 18, United

6 States Code, is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)

8 or (3) of’’; and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new para10 graph:

11 ‘‘(5)(A)(i) A juvenile who violates section 922(s) shall

12 be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 1 year,

13 or both, except that a juvenile described in clause (ii) shall

14 be sentenced to probation on appropriate conditions and

15 shall not be incarcerated unless the juvenile fails to comply

16 with a condition of probation.

17 ‘‘(ii) A juvenile is described in this clause if—

18 ‘‘(I) the offense of which the juvenile is charged

19 is possession of a handgun or ammunition in viola20 tion of section 922(s)(2); and

21 ‘‘(II) the juvenile has not been convicted in any

22 court of an offense (including an offense under section

23 922(s) or a similar State law, but not including any

24 other offense consisting of conduct that if engaged in

25 by an adult would not constitute an offense) or adju-
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1 dicated as a juvenile delinquent for conduct that if

2 engaged in by an adult would constitute an offense.

3 ‘‘(B) A person other than a juvenile who knowingly

4 violates section 922(s)—

5 ‘‘(i) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned

6 not more than 1 year, or both; and

7 ‘‘(ii) if the person sold, delivered, or otherwise

8 transferred a handgun or ammunition to a juvenile

9 knowing or having reasonable cause to know that the

10 juvenile intended to carry or otherwise possess or dis11 charge or otherwise use the handgun or ammunition

12 in the commission of a crime of violence, shall be

13 fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10

14 years, or both.’’.

15 (d) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT OF JUVENILE DELIN16 QUENCY PROVISIONS IN TITLE 18, UNITED STATES

17 CODE.—

18 (1) SECTION 5031.—Section 5031 of title 18,

19 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or a

20 violation by such person of section 922(s)’’ before the

21 period at the end.

22 (2) SECTION 5032.—Section 5032 of title 18,

23 United States Code, is amended—

24 (A) in the first undesignated paragraph by

25 inserting ‘‘or (s)’’ after ‘‘922(p)’’; and
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1 (B) in the fourth undesignated paragraph

2 by inserting ‘‘or section 922(s) of this title,’’ be3 fore ‘‘criminal prosecution on the basis’’.

4 (e) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT OF THE JUVENILE JUS5 TICE AND DELINQUENCY PREVENTION ACT OF 1974.—Sec6 tion 223(a)(12)(A) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

7 Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5633(a)(12)(A)) is

8 amended by striking ‘‘which do not constitute violations of

9 valid court orders’’ and inserting ‘‘(other than an offense

10 that constitutes a violation of a valid court order or a viola11 tion of section 922(s) of title 18, United States Code, or

12 a similar State law)’’.

13 (f) MODEL LAW.—The Attorney General, acting

14 through the Director of the National Institute for Juvenile

15 Justice and Delinquency Prevention, shall—

16 (1) evaluate existing and proposed juvenile

17 handgun legislation in each State;

18 (2) develop model juvenile handgun legislation

19 that is constitutional and enforceable;

20 (3) prepare and disseminate to State authorities

21 the findings made as the result of the evaluation; and

22 (4) report to Congress by December 31, 1994,

23 findings and recommendations concerning the need or

24 appropriateness of further action by the Federal Gov25 ernment.