II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 890

To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to gun free schools,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 7 (legislative day, JUNE 5), 1995

Mr. KOHL (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. SIMON, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr.

BRADLEY, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. CHAFEE, and Mr. KERREY) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to

gun free schools, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Gun-Free School Zones

5 Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION.

7 Section 922(q) of title 18, United States Code, is

8 amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(q)(1) The Congress finds and declares that—
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1 ‘‘(A) crime, particularly crime involving drugs

2 and guns, is a pervasive, nationwide problem;

3 ‘‘(B) crime at the local level is exacerbated by

4 the interstate movement of drugs, guns, and crimi5 nal gangs;

6 ‘‘(C) firearms and ammunition move easily in

7 interstate commerce and have been found in increas8 ing numbers in and around schools, as documented

9 in numerous hearings in both the Judiciary Commit10 tee of the House of Representatives and the Judici11 ary Committee of the Senate;

12 ‘‘(D) in fact, even before the sale of a firearm,

13 the gun, its component parts, ammunition, and the

14 raw materials from which they are made have con15 siderably moved in interstate commerce;

16 ‘‘(E) while criminals freely move from State to

17 State, ordinary citizens and foreign visitors may fear

18 to travel to or through certain parts of the country

19 due to concern about violent crime and gun violence,

20 and parents may decline to send their children to

21 school for the same reason;

22 ‘‘(F) the occurrence of violent crime in school

23 zones has resulted in a decline in the quality of edu24 cation in our country;
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1 ‘‘(G) this decline in the quality of education has

2 an adverse impact on interstate commerce and the

3 foreign commerce of the United States;

4 ‘‘(H) States, localities, and school systems find

5 it almost impossible to handle gun-related crime by

6 themselves; even States, localities, and school sys7 tems that have made strong efforts to prevent, de8 tect, and punish gun-related crime find their efforts

9 unavailing due in part to the failure or inability of

10 other States or localities to take strong measures;

11 and

12 ‘‘(I) Congress has power, under the interstate

13 commerce clause and other provisions of the Con14 stitution, to enact measures to ensure the integrity

15 and safety of the Nation’s schools by enactment of

16 this subsection.

17 ‘‘(2)(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual know18 ingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that other19 wise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that

20 the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe,

21 is a school zone.

22 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the posses23 sion of a firearm—

24 ‘‘(i) on private property not part of school

25 grounds;
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1 ‘‘(ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is

2 licensed to do so by the State in which the school

3 zone is located or a political subdivision of the State,

4 and the law of the State or political subdivision re5 quires that, before an individual obtains such a li6 cense, the law enforcement authorities of the State

7 or political subdivision verify that the individual is

8 qualified under law to receive the license;

9 ‘‘(iii) which is—

10 ‘‘(I) not loaded; and

11 ‘‘(II) in a locked container, or a locked

12 firearms rack which is on a motor vehicle;

13 ‘‘(iv) by an individual for use in a program ap14 proved by a school in the school zone;

15 ‘‘(v) by an individual in accordance with a con16 tract entered into between a school in the school

17 zone and the individual or an employer of the indi18 vidual;

19 ‘‘(vi) by a law enforcement officer acting in his

20 or her official capacity; or

21 ‘‘(vii) that is unloaded and is possessed by an

22 individual while traversing school premises for the

23 purpose of gaining access to public or private lands

24 open to hunting, if the entry on school premises is

25 authorized by school authorities.
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1 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it

2 shall be unlawful for any person, knowingly or with reck3 less disregard for the safety of another, to discharge or

4 attempt to discharge a firearm that has moved in or that

5 otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place

6 that the person knows is a school zone.

7 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the dis8 charge of a firearm—

9 ‘‘(i) on private property not part of school

10 grounds;

11 ‘‘(ii) as part of a program approved by a school

12 in the school zone, by an individual who is partici13 pating in the program;

14 ‘‘(iii) by an individual in accordance with a con15 tract entered into between a school in a school zone

16 and the individual or an employer of the individual;

17 or

18 ‘‘(iv) by a law enforcement officer acting in his

19 or her official capacity.

20 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as

21 preempting or preventing a State or local government

22 from enacting a statute establishing gun free school zones

23 as provided in this subsection.’’.

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