I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4208

To amend title 18, United States Code, to regulate the manufacture, importation, and sale of any projectile that may be used in a handgun and

is capable of penetrating police body armor, and to prohibit persons

convicted of a crime involving domestic violence from owning or possessing firearms, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 26, 1996

Ms. LOFGREN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to regulate the

manufacture, importation, and sale of any projectile that

may be used in a handgun and is capable of penetrating

police body armor, and to prohibit persons convicted

of a crime involving domestic violence from owning or

possessing firearms, 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 Violence Control

5 Act’’.
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1 TITLE I—COP-KILLER BULLETS

2 SEC. 101. REGULATION OF THE MANUFACTURE, IMPORTA3 TION, AND SALE OF PROJECTILES THAT MAY

4 BE USED IN A HANDGUN AND ARE CAPABLE

5 OF PENETRATING POLICE BODY ARMOR.

6 (a) EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ARMOR PIERCING

7 AMMUNITION.—Section 921(a)(17)(B) of title 18, United

8 States Code, is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i);

10 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause

11 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

12 (3) by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(iii) a projectile that may be used in a hand14 gun and that the Secretary determines, pursuant to

15 section 926(d), to be capable of penetrating body

16 armor.’’.

17 (b) DETERMINATION OF THE CAPABILITY OF PRO18 JECTILES TO PENETRATE BODY ARMOR.—Section 926 of

19 such title is amended by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary shall determine whether a pro21 jectile is capable of penetrating body armor, in accordance

22 with regulations prescribed by the Secretary not later than

23 1 year after the date of the enactment of this subsection.

24 Such regulations shall provide for uniform testing of pro25 jectiles against the Body Armor Exemplar, based on
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1 standards developed in cooperation with the Attorney Gen2 eral of the United States. Such standards shall take into

3 account, among other factors, variations in performance

4 that are related to the length of the barrel of the handgun

5 from which the projectile is fired and the amount and kind

6 of powder used to propel the projectile.

7 ‘‘(2) As used in paragraph (1), the term ‘Body Armor

8 Exemplar’ means body armor that the Secretary, in co9 operation with the Attorney General of the United States,

10 determines meets minimum standards for protection of

11 law enforcement officers.’’.

12 TITLE II—DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

13 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS.

14 Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is

15 amended by adding at the end the following new para16 graph:

17 ‘‘(33) The term ‘crime involving domestic violence’

18 means a crime of violence (as defined in section 16) com19 mitted by a current or former spouse, parent, or guardian

20 of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares

21 a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with

22 or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse, parent,

23 or guardian, or by a person similarly situated to a spouse,

24 parent, or guardian of the victim under the domestic or
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1 family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which such crime

2 of violence was committed.’’.

3 SEC. 202. UNLAWFUL ACTS.

4 Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is

5 amended—

6 (1) in subsection (d)—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of para8 graph (7);

9 (B) by striking the period at the end of

10 paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

11 (C) by inserting after paragraph (8) the

12 following:

13 ‘‘(9) is under indictment for, or has been con14 victed in any court of, a crime involving domestic vi15 olence.’’; and

16 (2) in subsection (g)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of para18 graph (7);

19 (B) by striking the comma at the end of

20 paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

21 (C) by inserting after paragraph (8) the

22 following:

23 ‘‘(9) who is under indictment for, or has been

24 convicted in any court, of a crime involving domestic

25 violence,’’.
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1 SEC. 203. RULES AND REGULATIONS.

2 Section 926(a) of title 18, United States Code, is

3 amended by striking ‘‘(d)(8) or (g)(8)’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘(d)(8), (d)(9), (g)(8), or (g)(9)’’.

5 SEC. 204. ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF FROM CERTAIN FIRE6 ARM PROHIBITIONS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 925(c) of title 18, United

8 States Code, is amended—

9 (1) in the 1st sentence, by inserting ‘‘(other

10 than a person convicted of a crime involving domes11 tic violence)’’ before ‘‘who is prohibited’’;

12 (2) in the 4th sentence—

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘person (other than a per14 son convicted of a crime involving domestic vio15 lence) who is a’’ before ‘‘licensed importer’’;

16 and

17 (B) by striking ‘‘his’’ and inserting ‘‘the

18 person’s’’; and

19 (3) in the 5th sentence, by striking ‘‘he’’ and

20 inserting ‘‘the Secretary’’.

21 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub22 section (a) shall apply to—

23 (1) applications for administrative relief and ac24 tions for judicial review that are pending on the date

25 of the enactment of this Act; and
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1 (2) applications for administrative relief filed,

2 and actions for judicial review brought, after the

3 date of the enactment of this Act.

Æ