II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1638 

To permit Amtrak passengers to safely transport firearms and ammunition 

in their checked baggage. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2009 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. COBURN, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. 

ENSIGN, and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To permit Amtrak passengers to safely transport firearms 

and ammunition in their checked baggage. 

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 ‘‘Amtrak Secure Trans5 portation of Firearms Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Second Amendment to the Constitution 

9 of the United States provides that ‘‘the right of the 


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1 people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be in2 fringed’’. 

3 (2) The Supreme Court of the United States 

4 ruled, in District of Columbia v. Heller, that ‘‘the 

5 Second Amendment protects an individual right to 

6 possess a firearm . . . and to use that arm for tradi7 tionally lawful purposes’’. 

8 (3) At one time, Amtrak accepted firearms in 

9 secure checked baggage. 

10 (4) While airline passengers may transport fire11 arms and ammunition in secure checked baggage 

12 when declared during the check-in process, Amtrak 

13 passengers are not permitted to transport firearms 

14 and ammunition in secure checked baggage. 

15 (5) Law-abiding gun owners should not be pe16 nalized for seeking alternative means of travel, par17 ticularly on a federally subsidized rail line. 

18 (6) Congress needs to ensure that Amtrak does 

19 not override the Second Amendment rights of law20 abiding citizens. 

21 SEC. 3. SECURE TRANSPORTATION OF FIREARMS ON PAS22 SENGER TRAINS. 

23 Section 24305 of title 49, United States Code, is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(g) SECURE TRANSPORTATION OF FIREARMS.—If 

2 an Amtrak station accepts checked baggage for a specific 

3 Amtrak route, an Amtrak passenger holding a ticket for 

4 such route shall be allowed to place an unloaded firearm 

5 or starter pistol in a checked bag on such route if— 

6 ‘‘(1) before checking the bag or boarding the 

7 train, the passenger declares to Amtrak, either oral8 ly or in writing, that the firearm is in his or her bag 

9 and is unloaded; 

10 ‘‘(2) the firearm is carried in a hard-sided con11 tainer; 

12 ‘‘(3) such container is locked; and 

13 ‘‘(4) only the passenger has the key or combina14 tion for such container. 

15 ‘‘(h) SMALL ARMS AMMUNITION.—An Amtrak pas16 senger shall be allowed to place small arms ammunition 

17 for personal use in a checked bag on an Amtrak route 

18 if the ammunition is securely packed— 

19 ‘‘(1) in fiber, wood, or metal boxes; or 

20 ‘‘(2) in other packaging specifically designed to 

21 carry small amounts of ammunition. 

22 ‘‘(i) APPLICABILITY.—Subsections (g) and (h) shall 

23 not apply in any fiscal year in which Amtrak does not re24 ceive Federal financial assistance.’’. 

Æ 


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