II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1526 

To establish and clarify that Congress does not authorize persons convicted 

of dangerous crimes in foreign courts to freely possess firearms in the 

United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 28, 2009 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish and clarify that Congress does not authorize 

persons convicted of dangerous crimes in foreign courts 

to freely possess firearms in the United States. 

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 ‘‘No Firearms for For5 eign Felons Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 (a) COURTS.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(36) The term ‘any court’ includes any Fed6 eral, State, or foreign court.’’. 

7 (b) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FELONIES.—Section 

8 921(a)(20) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘any Fed10 eral or State offenses’’ and inserting ‘‘any Federal, 

11 State, or foreign offenses’’; 

12 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘any State 

13 offense classified by the laws of the State’’ and in14 serting ‘‘any State or foreign offense classified by 

15 the laws of that jurisdiction’’; and 

16 (3) in the matter following subparagraph (B), 

17 in the first sentence, by inserting before the period 

18 the following: ‘‘, except that a foreign conviction 

19 shall not constitute a conviction of such a crime if 

20 the convicted person establishes that the foreign con21 viction resulted from a denial of fundamental fair22 ness that would violate due process if committed in 

23 the United States or from conduct that would be 

24 legal if committed in the United States’’. 

25 (c) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRIMES.—Section 

26 921(a)(33) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘subpara2 graph (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 

3 (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘if the 

4 conviction has’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘if the 

5 conviction— 

6 ‘‘(I) occurred in a foreign jurisdiction 

7 and the convicted person establishes that 

8 the foreign conviction resulted from a de9 nial of fundamental fairness that would 

10 violate due process if committed in the 

11 United States or from conduct that would 

12 be legal if committed in the United States; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(II) has’’. 

15 SEC. 3. PENALTIES. 

16 Section 924(e)(2)(A)(ii) of title 18, United States 

17 Code, is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘an offense under State law’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘an offense under State or foreign 

20 law’’; and 

21 (2) by inserting before the semicolon the fol22 lowing: ‘‘, except that a foreign conviction shall not 

23 constitute a conviction of such a crime if the con24 victed person establishes that the foreign conviction 

25 resulted from a denial of fundamental fairness that 


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1 would violate due process if committed in the United 

2 States or from conduct that would be legal if com3 mitted in the United States’’. 

Æ 


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