I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 218

To amend title 18, United States Code, to exempt qualified current and

former law enforcement officers from State laws prohibiting the carrying

of concealed handguns.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. CUNNINGHAM (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. TALENT, Ms.

PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. CALLAHAN, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. TAYLOR of North

Carolina, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. HAYWORTH,

Mr. SUNUNU, Ms. DANNER, Mr. GOODE, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr.

LATOURETTE, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. RAHALL, Mr.

SMITH of Washington, Mr. HERGER, Mr. PICKETT, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. COBURN,

Mr. JENKINS, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. SALMON, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. HALL of

Texas, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to exempt qualified

current and former law enforcement officers from State

laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed handguns.

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 ‘‘Community Protection

5 Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. EXEMPTION OF QUALIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OF2 FICERS FROM STATE LAWS PROHIBITING

3 THE CARRYING OF CONCEALED FIREARMS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 926A

6 the following:

7 ‘‘§ 926B. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified

8 law enforcement officers

9 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law

10 of any State or any political subdivision thereof, an indi11 vidual who is a qualified law enforcement officer and who

12 is carrying the identification required by subsection (d)

13 may carry a concealed firearm that has been shipped or

14 transported in interstate or foreign commerce, subject to

15 subsection (b).

16 ‘‘(b) This section shall not be construed to supersede

17 or limit the laws of any State that—

18 ‘‘(1) permit private persons or entities to pro19 hibit or restrict the possession of concealed firearms

20 on their property; or

21 ‘‘(2) prohibit or restrict the possession of fire22 arms on any State or local government property, in23 stallation, building, base, or park.

24 ‘‘(c) As used in this section, the term ‘qualified law

25 enforcement officer’ means an employee of a governmental

26 agency who—
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1 ‘‘(1) is authorized by law to engage in or super2 vise the prevention, detection, investigation, or pros3 ecution of, or the incarceration of any person for,

4 any violation of law, and has statutory powers of ar5 rest;

6 ‘‘(2) is authorized by the agency to carry a fire7 arm at all times;

8 ‘‘(3) is not the subject of any disciplinary action

9 by the agency; and

10 ‘‘(4) meets standards, if any, established by the

11 agency which require the employee to regularly qual12 ify in the use of a firearm.

13 ‘‘(d) The identification required by this subsection is

14 the official badge and photographic identification issued

15 by the governmental agency for which the individual is em16 ployed as a law enforcement officer.’’.

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

18 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item

19 relating to section 926A the following:

‘‘926B. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified law enforcement officers.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. EXEMPTION OF QUALIFIED RETIRED LAW EN2 FORCEMENT OFFICERS FROM STATE LAWS

3 PROHIBITING THE CARRYING OF CON4 CEALED FIREARMS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United

6 States Code, is further amended by inserting after section

7 926B the following:

8 ‘‘§ 926C. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified

9 retired law enforcement officers

10 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law

11 of any State or any political subdivision thereof, an indi12 vidual who is a qualified retired law enforcement officer

13 and who is carrying the identification required by sub14 section (d) may carry a concealed firearm that has been

15 shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce,

16 subject to subsection (b).

17 ‘‘(b) This section shall not be construed to supersede

18 or limit the laws of any State that—

19 ‘‘(1) permit private persons or entities to pro20 hibit or restrict the possession of concealed firearms

21 on their property; or

22 ‘‘(2) prohibit or restrict the possession of fire23 arms on any State or local government property, in24 stallation, building, base, or park.

25 ‘‘(c) As used in this section, the term ‘qualified re26 tired law enforcement officer’ means an individual who—
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1 ‘‘(1) retired in good standing from service with

2 a public agency as a law enforcement officer, other

3 than for reasons of mental instability;

4 ‘‘(2) before such retirement, was authorized by

5 law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detec6 tion, investigation, or prosecution of, or the incarcer7 ation of any person for, any violation of law, and

8 had statutory powers of arrest;

9 ‘‘(3)(A) before such retirement, was regularly

10 employed as a law enforcement officer for an aggre11 gate of 5 years or more; or

12 ‘‘(B) retired from service with such agency,

13 after completing any applicable probationary period

14 of such service, due to a service-connected disability,

15 as determined by such agency;

16 ‘‘(4) has a nonforfeitable right to benefits under

17 the retirement plan of the agency;

18 ‘‘(5) during the most recent 12-month period

19 or, if the agency requires active duty officers to do

20 so with lesser frequency than every 12 months, dur21 ing such most recent period as the agency requires

22 with respect to active duty officers, has completed,

23 at the expense of the individual, a program approved

24 by the State for training or qualification in the use

25 of firearms; and
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1 ‘‘(6) is not prohibited by Federal law from re2 ceiving a firearm.

3 ‘‘(d) The identification required by this subsection is

4 photographic identification issued by the State in which

5 the agency for which the individual was employed as a law

6 enforcement officer is located.’’.

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

8 for such chapter is further amended by inserting after the

9 item relating to section 926B the following:

‘‘926C. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified retired law enforcement officers.’’.

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