II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 994

Entitled the ‘‘Juvenile Misuse of Firearms Prevention Act’’.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 10, 1999

Mr. ASHCROFT introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

Entitled the ‘‘Juvenile Misuse of Firearms Prevention Act’’.

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

3 TITLE I—SHORT TITLE

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Juvenile Misuse of

5 Firearms Prevention Act’’.

6 TITLE II—RESTRICTING JUVE7 NILE ACCESS TO CERTAIN

8 FIREARMS

9 SECTION 1. PENALTIES FOR UNLAWFUL ACTS BY JUVE10 NILES.

11 (a) JUVENILE WEAPONS PENALTIES.—Section

12 924(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ at

2 the beginning of the first sentence, and inserting in

3 lieu thereof, ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (6)

4 of this subsection, whoever’’; and

5 (2) in paragraph (6), by amending it to read as

6 follows:—

7 ‘‘(6)(A) A juvenile who violates section 922(x)

8 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more

9 than 1 year, or both, except—

10 ‘‘(i) a juvenile shall be sentenced to proba11 tion on appropriate conditions and shall not be

12 incarcerated unless the juvenile fails to comply

13 with a condition of probation, if—

14 ‘‘(I) the offense of which the juvenile

15 is charged is possession of a handgun, am16 munition, or a semiautomatic assault

17 weapon in violation of section 922(x)(2);

18 and

19 ‘‘(II) the juvenile has not been con20 victed in any court of an offense (including

21 an offense under section 922(x) or a simi22 lar State law, but not including any other

23 offense consisting of conduct that if en24 gaged in by an adult would not constitute

25 an offense) or adjudicated as a juvenile de-
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1 linquent for conduct that if engaged in by

2 an adult would constitute an offense; or

3 ‘‘(ii) a juvenile shall be fined under this

4 title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or

5 both, if—

6 ‘‘(I) the offense of which the juvenile

7 is charged is possession of a handgun, am8 munition, or a semiautomatic assault

9 weapon in violation of section 922(x)(2);

10 and

11 ‘‘(II) during the same course of con12 duct in violating 922(x)(2), the juvenile

13 violated section 922(q), with the intent to

14 carry or otherwise possess or discharge or

15 otherwise use the handgun, ammunition, or

16 semiautomatic assault weapon in the com17 mission of a violent felony.

18 (B) A person other than a juvenile who know19 ingly violates section 922(x)—

20 ‘‘(i) shall be fined under this title, impris21 oned not more than 1 year, or both; and

22 ‘‘(ii) if the person sold, delivered, or other23 wise transferred a handgun, ammunition or

24 semiautomatic assault weapon to a juvenile

25 knowing or having reasonable cause to know
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1 that the juvenile intended to carry or otherwise

2 possess or discharge or otherwise use the hand3 gun, ammunition, or semiautomatic assault

4 weapon in the commission of a violent felony,

5 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not

6 more than 20 years, or both.

7 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph a ‘violent

8 felony’ means conduct as described in section

9 924(e)(2)(B) of this title.

10 ‘‘(D) Except as otherwise provided in this chap11 ter, in any case in which a juvenile is prosecuted in

12 a district court of the United States, and the juve13 nile is subject to the penalties under clause (ii) of

14 paragraph (A), the juvenile shall be subject to the

15 same laws, rules, and proceedings regarding sen16 tencing (including the availability of probation, res17 titution, fines, forfeiture, imprisonment, and super18 vised release) that would be applicable in the case of

19 an adult. No juvenile sentenced to a term of impris20 onment shall be released from custody simply be21 cause the juvenile reaches the age of 18 years.’’.

22 (b) UNLAWFUL WEAPONS TRANSFERS TO JUVE23 NILES.—Section 922(x) of title 18, United States Code,

24 is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(x)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to sell, de2 liver, or otherwise transfer to a person who the transferror

3 knows or has reasonable cause to believe is a juvenile—

4 ‘‘(A) a handgun;

5 ‘‘(B) ammunition that is suitable for use only

6 in a handgun;

7 ‘‘(C) a semiautomatic assault weapon; or

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

10 ‘‘(A) a handgun;

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

12 in a handgun;

13 ‘‘(C) a semiautomatic assault weapon; or

14 ‘‘(3) This subsection does not apply to—

15 ‘‘(A) a temporary transfer of a handgun, am16 munition, or a semiautomatic assault weapon to a

17 juvenile or to the possession or use of a handgun,

18 ammunition, or a semiautomatic assault weapon by

19 a juvenile—

20 ‘‘(i) if the handgun, ammunition, or semi21 automatic assault weapon are possessed and

22 used by the juvenile—

23 ‘‘(I) in the course of employment,

24 ‘‘(II) in the course of ranching or

25 farming related to activities at the resi-
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1 dence of the juvenile (or on property used

2 for ranching or farming at which the juve3 nile, with the permission of the property

4 owner or lessee, is performing activities re5 lated to the operation of the farm or

6 ranch),

7 ‘‘(III) for target practice,

8 ‘‘(IV) for hunting, or

9 ‘‘(V) for a course of instruction in the

10 safe and lawful use of a firearm.

11 ‘‘(ii) Clause (i) shall apply only if the juve12 nile’s possession and use of a handgun, ammu13 nition, or a semiautomatic assault weapon

14 under this subparagraph are in accordance with

15 State and local law, and the following condi16 tions are met—

17 ‘‘(I) except when a parent or guardian

18 of the juvenile is in the immediate and su19 pervisory presence of the juvenile, the juve20 nile shall have in the juvenile’s possession

21 at all times when a handgun, ammunition,

22 or a semiautomatic assault weapons is in

23 the possession of the juvenile, the prior

24 written consent of the juvenile’s parent or

25 guardian who is not prohibited by Federal,
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1 State, or local law from possessing a fire2 arm or ammunition; and

3 ‘‘(II) during transportation by the ju4 venile directly from the place of transfer to

5 a place at which an activity described in

6 clause (i) is to take place the firearm shall

7 be unloaded and in a locked container or

8 case, and during the transportation by the

9 juvenile of that firearm, directly from the

10 place at which such an activity took place

11 to the transferor, the firearm shall also be

12 unloaded and in a locked container or case;

13 or

14 ‘‘(III) with respect to ranching or

15 farming activities as described in clause

16 (i), a juvenile may possess and use a hand17 gun, ammunition, or a semiautomatic as18 sault weapon with the prior written ap19 proval of the juvenile’s parent or legal

20 guardian, if such approval is on file with

21 the adult who is not prohibited by Federal,

22 State or local law from possessing a fire23 arm and that person is directing the

24 ranching or farming activities of the juve25 nile.
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1 ‘‘(B) a juvenile who is a member of the Armed

2 Forces of the United States or the National Guard

3 who possesses or is armed with a handgun or a

4 semiautomatic assault weapon in the line of duty;

5 ‘‘(C) a transfer by inheritance of title (but not

6 possession) of a handgun, ammunition, or a semi7 automatic assault weapon to a juvenile; or

8 ‘‘(D) the possession of a handgun, ammunition,

9 or a semiautomatic assault weapon taken in defense

10 of the juvenile or other persons in the residence of

11 the juvenile or a residence in which the juvenile is

12 an invited guest.

13 ‘‘(4) A handgun, ammunition, or a semiautomatic as14 sault weapon, the possession of which is transferred to a

15 juvenile in circumstances in which the transferor is not

16 in violation of this subsection shall not be subject to per17 manent confiscation by the Government if its possession

18 by the juvenile subsequently becomes unlawful because of

19 the conduct of the juvenile, but shall be returned to the

20 lawful owner when such handgun, ammunition, or a semi21 automatic assault weapon no longer required by the Gov22 ernment for the purposes of investigation or prosecution.

23 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘juve24 nile’ means a person who is less than 18 years of age.
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1 ‘‘(6)(A) in a prosecution of a violation of this sub2 section, the court shall require the presence of a juvenile

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

4 ‘‘(B) The court may use the contempt power to en5 force subparagraph (A).

6 ‘‘(C) The court may excuse attendance of a parent

7 or legal guardian of a juvenile defendant at a proceeding

8 in a prosecution of a violation of this subsection for good

9 cause shown.’’.

10 SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

11 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

12 take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this

13 Act.

14 TITLE III—ENHANCED PEN15 ALTIES FOR FEDERAL

16 CRIMES INVOLVING FIRE17 ARMS

18 (a) PENALTIES.—

19 (1) Section 924(c)(1)(A) of title 18, United

20 States Code, is amended—

21 (A) in subsection (ii) by striking ‘‘7 years’’

22 and inserting ‘‘10 years’’;

23 (B) in subsection (iii) by striking ‘‘10

24 years’’ and inserting ‘‘12 years’’;
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1 (C) by inserting after subsection (iii) the

2 following:

3 ‘‘(iv) if the firearm is used to wound,

4 injure or maim another person be sen5 tenced to a term of imprisonment of not

6 less than 15 years.’’.

7 (2) Section 924(h) of title 18, United States

8 Code, is amended—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘imprisoned’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not

11 less than 5 years, but’’ after ‘‘shall be’’.

12 TITLE IV—PROVIDING INCEN13 TIVES TO STATES THAT PROS14 ECUTE JUVENILES AS

15 ADULTS FOR CERTAIN OF16 FENSES INVOLVING FIRE17 ARMS

18 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—No State shall be eligible to re19 ceive funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice Delin20 quency Prevention funds unless it demonstrates that the

21 State has in effect or has implemented (or will have in

22 effect or will have implemented not later than 1 year after

23 the date on which the State submits the application) laws,

24 policies, or programs that provide for: ‘‘PROSECUTION

25 OF JUVENILES AS ADULTS FOR CERTAIN OF-
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1 FENSES INVOLVING FIREARMS.’’ The State shall

2 prosecute juveniles who are not less than 14 years of age

3 as adults in criminal court, rather than in juvenile delin4 quency proceedings, if the juvenile used, carried or pos5 sessed a firearm during the commission of conduct

6 constituting—

7 (1) murder;

8 (2) robbery while armed with a dangerous or

9 deadly weapon;

10 (3) battery or assault while armed with a dan11 gerous or deadly weapon;

12 (4) forcible rape; or

13 (5) any serious drug offense that, if committed

14 by an adult subject to Federal jurisdiction, would be

15 punishable under section 401(b)(1)(A) of the Con16 trolled Substances Import and Export Act (21

17 U.S.C. 960(b)(1)(A)).

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