I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4044

To encourage States to regulate the sale and use of certain handguns, and

to gather information on guns used in crimes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 10, 1996

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. REED, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. ACKERMAN, and

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To encourage States to regulate the sale and use of certain

handguns, and to gather information on guns used in crimes.

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 ‘‘Safe and Responsible

5 Handgun Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) certain handguns that are widely marketed

9 across State lines are traced disproportionately to

10 violent crimes, and in particular to crimes in States
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1 other than those in which they were manufactured

2 or purchased;

3 (2) many of these handguns are of dangerously

4 poor quality and threaten the safety even of legiti5 mate users for sport or self-defense;

6 (3) States should be encouraged to restrict the

7 sale of handguns that are unsafe, particularly suited

8 for crime, and not useful for sporting, hunting, law

9 enforcement, or self-defense purposes; and

10 (4) accurate and uniform data on the use of

11 guns is essential to formulating effective policy to re12 duce violent crime involving guns and deaths and in13 juries from such crimes.

14 SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF BYRNE GRANTS FOR STATES NOT

15 ELECTING TO ESTABLISH HANDGUN ROSTER

16 BOARDS.

17 (a) HANDGUN ROSTER BOARDS.—

18 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the

19 Treasury shall establish guidelines for the establish20 ment by each State of a Handgun Roster Board (in

21 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Board’’) which, at a

22 minimum, meets the following requirements:

23 (A) The Board shall consist of 9 members,

24 each of whom shall be eligible to vote in an elec25 tion for officials of the State, and—
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1 (i) 1 of whom shall be a representa2 tive of the police;

3 (ii) 1 of whom shall be a representa4 tive of the State prosecutor’s office;

5 (iii) 1 of whom shall be a representa6 tive of a State organization, or a local

7 chapter of a national organization, which

8 advocates the rights of fireams owners;

9 (iv) 1 of whom shall be a representa10 tive of handgun dealers or manufacturers;

11 (v) 1 of whom shall be a representa12 tive of a State organization, or local chap13 ter of a national organization, which advo14 cates greater control of handguns; and

15 (vi) 3 of whom shall not meet any re16 quirement of clauses (i) through (v).

17 (B) The Board shall designate 1 of its

18 members as the chairman of the Board.

19 (2) PUBLICATION OF ROSTER.—Not less fre20 quently than annually, the Board shall publish a ros21 ter which specifies the types of handguns which may

22 be lawfully manufactured, sold, owned, possessed, or

23 used in the State, and any terms, conditions, or cir24 cumstances under which such types of handguns

25 may be so manufactured, sold, owned, possessed, or
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1 used, and shall transmit a copy of the roster to each

2 licensed dealer in the State who is not prohibited

3 by State law from dealing in handguns.

4 (3) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In deciding

5 whether to include a type of handgun on the roster,

6 the Board shall consider the following factors:

7 (A) Concealability.

8 (B) Ballistic accuracy.

9 (C) Portability.

10 (D) Quality of materials.

11 (E) Quality of manufacture.

12 (F) Safety features.

13 (G) Caliber.

14 (H) Detectability by the standard security

15 equipment commonly used at airports or court16 houses and approved by the Federal Aviation

17 Administration for use at airports in the United

18 States.

19 (I) Utility for legitimate sporting activities,

20 hunting, self-protection, or law enforcement.

21 (4) PROCEDURAL RULE.—The Board may in22 clude a type of handgun on the roster upon the

23 Board’s initiative, or upon the petition of any per24 son.

25 (5) LAWS RELATING TO HANDGUNS.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The State shall have in

2 effect such laws as may be necessary to make

3 unlawful in the State the manufacture, sale,

4 ownership, possession, and use of—

5 (i) any handgun which is of a type not

6 specified on the roster published by the

7 Board pursuant to paragraph (2); and

8 (ii) any handgun which is of a type

9 specified on the roster published by the

10 Board pursuant to paragraph (2), except

11 under such terms and conditions as the

12 Board may specify.

13 (B) PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN VIOLA14 TIONS.—

15 (i) UNLAWFUL MANUFACTURE OF

16 HANDGUN.—Such laws shall provide that

17 any person who unlawfully manufactures a

18 handgun for distribution or sale shall be

19 fined not more than $10,000 and be sub20 ject to such other penalties as may be pro21 vided for by State law.

22 (ii) UNLAWFUL SALE OR OFFER OF

23 HANDGUN.—Such laws shall provide that

24 any person who unlawfully sells a handgun

25 or offers a handgun for sale shall be fined
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1 not more than $2,500 and be subject to

2 such other penalties as may be provided

3 for by State law.

4 (iii) SEPARATE VIOLATIONS.—Such

5 laws shall provide that a violation of such

6 laws involving 2 or more handguns shall

7 constitute separate violations of such laws

8 with respect to each handgun involved.

9 (C) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN LAWFULLY

10 POSSESSED HANDGUNS.—Subparagraph (A)

11 shall not be construed to require the State laws

12 described in subparagraph (A) to apply to any

13 handgun lawfully possessed on the date of the

14 enactment of the law.

15 (6) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this subsection:

16 (A) HANDGUN.—The term ‘‘handgun’’

17 shall have the meaning given such term by sec18 tion 921(a)(29) of title 18, United States Code.

19 (B) LICENSED DEALER.—The term ‘‘li20 censed dealer’’ shall have the meaning given

21 such term by section 921(a)(11) of title 18,

22 United States Code.

23 (b) COMPLIANCE.—

24 (1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Each State shall have

25 not more than 3 years from the date of enactment
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1 of this Act in which to comply with subsection (a),

2 except that the Attorney General may grant an addi3 tional 2 years to a State that is making good faith

4 efforts to implement subsection (a).

5 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State that fails to

7 comply with subsection (a) of this section with8 in the period prescribed by or under paragraph

9 (1) of this subsection shall not receive 10 per10 cent of the funds that would otherwise be allo11 cated to the State under section 506 of the Om12 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

13 1968.

14 (B) REALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Any

15 funds that are not allocated to a State because

16 of the failure of the State to comply with sub17 section (a) shall be reallocated to States that

18 comply with subsection (a).

19 SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT STUDY GROUP.

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Treas21 ury, in cooperation with the Attorney General, shall estab22 lish Independent Study Group (in this section referred to

23 as the ‘‘ISG’’) for the purpose of devising an effective na24 tional firearms injury reporting system.
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1 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The ISG shall be composed of

2 representatives from the Consumer Product Safety Com3 mission, the Centers for Disease Control, the Bureau of

4 Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of In5 vestigation, and the National Institute of Justice.

6 (c) DUTIES.—The ISG shall study the feasibility of

7 collecting data on the following, at a minimum:

8 (1) Intentional and unintentional firearms inju9 ries.

10 (2) Fatal and nonfatal firearms injuries;

11 (3) The date, time, type of location of firearms

12 injuries, and whether they occurred during and in

13 relation to the commission of another crime.

14 (4) The type, make, model, caliber, serial num15 ber, and year of manufacture of the firearms in16 volved.

17 (5) The demographic characteristics of persons

18 suffering firearm injuries and person causing the in19 juries.

20 (6) The identity of the owner of the firearms

21 involved, and how the firearms were stored.

22 (7) Whether the firearms involved were stolen.

23 (8) Whether and how drugs or alcohol were in24 volved.
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1 (d) REPORT.—Within 1 year after the date of the en2 actment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall

3 prepare and submit to the Congress a report recommend4 ing how an effective national firearms injury reporting

5 system could be established, including how to avoid dupli6 cation of effort, and who would administer such a system.

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