I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1007

To limit access to body armor by violent felons and to facilitate the donation

of Federal surplus body armor to State and local law enforcement agencies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 13, 2001

Mr. STUPAK (for himself, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. SCOTT, Mrs. MALONEY of

New York, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mrs.

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. FRANK, Mr. KELLER, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FILNER, Mr. WALSH, Ms. RIVERS, Mr.

MCHUGH, Ms. MCKINNEY, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. OXLEY, Ms.

MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. SOUDER,

Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. GORDON, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SHERMAN,

Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon,

Mrs. MORELLA, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. REYES,

Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mrs. THURMAN, and Mr. VISCLOSKY) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To limit access to body armor by violent felons and to

facilitate the donation of Federal surplus body armor

to State and local law enforcement agencies.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘James Guelff Body

3 Armor Act of 2001’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) nationally, police officers and ordinary citi7 zens are facing increased danger as criminals use

8 more deadly weaponry, body armor, and other so9 phisticated assault gear;

10 (2) crime at the local level is exacerbated by the

11 interstate movement of body armor and other as12 sault gear;

13 (3) there is a traffic in body armor moving in

14 or otherwise affecting interstate commerce, and ex15 isting Federal controls over such traffic do not ade16 quately enable the States to control this traffic with17 in their own borders through the exercise of their

18 police power;

19 (4) recent incidents, such as the murder of San

20 Francisco Police Officer James Guelff by an assail21 ant wearing 2 layers of body armor and a 1997

22 bank shoot out in north Hollywood, California, be23 tween police and 2 heavily armed suspects outfitted

24 in body armor, demonstrate the serious threat to

25 community safety posed by criminals who wear body

26 armor during the commission of a violent crime;
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1 (5) of the approximately 1,200 officers killed in

2 the line of duty since 1980, more than 30 percent

3 could have been saved by body armor, and the risk

4 of dying from gunfire is 14 times higher for an offi5 cer without a bulletproof vest;

6 (6) the Department of Justice has estimated

7 that 25 percent of State and local police are not

8 issued body armor;

9 (7) the Federal Government is well-equipped to

10 grant local police departments access to body armor

11 that is no longer needed by Federal agencies; and

12 (8) Congress has the power, under the inter13 state commerce clause and other provisions of the

14 Constitution of the United States, to enact legisla15 tion to regulate interstate commerce that affects the

16 integrity and safety of our communities.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act:

19 (1) BODY ARMOR.—The term ‘‘body armor’’

20 means any product sold or offered for sale, in inter21 state or foreign commerce, as personal protective

22 body covering intended to protect against gunfire,

23 regardless of whether the product is to be worn

24 alone or is sold as a complement to another product

25 or garment.
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1 (2) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term

2 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means an agency of the

3 United States, a State, or a political subdivision of

4 a State, authorized by law or by a government agen5 cy to engage in or supervise the prevention, detec6 tion, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of

7 criminal law.

8 (3) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term

9 ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means any officer, agent,

10 or employee of the United States, a State, or a polit11 ical subdivision of a State, authorized by law or by

12 a government agency to engage in or supervise the

13 prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of

14 any violation of criminal law.

15 SEC. 4. AMENDMENT OF SENTENCING GUIDELINES WITH

16 RESPECT TO BODY ARMOR.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to its authority under

18 section 994(p) of title 28, United States Code, the United

19 States Sentencing Commission shall review and amend the

20 Federal sentencing guidelines and the policy statements

21 of the Commission, as appropriate, to provide an appro22 priate sentencing enhancement for any crime of violence

23 (as defined in section 16 of title 18, United States Code)

24 or drug trafficking crime (as defined in section 924(c) of

25 title 18, United States Code) (including a crime of violence
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1 or drug trafficking crime that provides for an enhanced

2 punishment if committed by the use of a deadly or dan3 gerous weapon or device) in which the defendant used

4 body armor.

5 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that any sentencing enhancement under this section

7 should be at least 2 levels.

8 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF PURCHASE, USE, OR POSSESSION

9 OF BODY ARMOR BY VIOLENT FELONS.

10 (a) DEFINITION OF BODY ARMOR.—Section 921(a)

11 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at

12 the end the following:

13 ‘‘(35) The term ‘body armor’ means any prod14 uct sold or offered for sale, in interstate or foreign

15 commerce, as personal protective body covering in16 tended to protect against gunfire, regardless of

17 whether the product is to be worn alone or is sold

18 as a complement to another product or garment.’’.

19 (b) PROHIBITION.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18,

21 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

22 end the following:
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1 ‘‘§ 931. Prohibition on purchase, ownership, or pos2 session of body armor by violent felons

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

4 (b), it shall be unlawful for a person to purchase, own,

5 or possess body armor, if that person has been convicted

6 of a felony that is—

7 ‘‘(1) a crime of violence (as defined in section

8 16); or

9 ‘‘(2) an offense under State law that would con10 stitute a crime of violence under paragraph (1) if it

11 occurred within the special maritime and territorial

12 jurisdiction of the United States.

13 ‘‘(b) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be an affirmative

15 defense under this section that—

16 ‘‘(A) the defendant obtained prior written

17 certification from his or her employer that the

18 defendant’s purchase, use, or possession of body

19 armor was necessary for the safe performance

20 of lawful business activity; and

21 ‘‘(B) the use and possession by the defend22 ant were limited to the course of such perform23 ance.

24 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER.—In this subsection, the term

25 ‘employer’ means any other individual employed by

26 the defendant’s business that supervises defendant’s
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1 activity. If that defendant has no supervisor, prior

2 written certification is acceptable from any other

3 employee of the business.’’.

4 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

5 chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is

6 amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘931. Prohibition on purchase, ownership, or possession of body armor by violent felons.’’.

7 (c) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of title 18, United

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘(7) Whoever knowingly violates section 931 shall be

11 fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 3 years,

12 or both.’’.

13 SEC. 6. DONATION OF FEDERAL SURPLUS BODY ARMOR TO

14 STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

15 AGENCIES.

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘Fed17 eral agency’’ and ‘‘surplus property’’ have the meanings

18 given such terms under section 3 of the Federal Property

19 and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 472).

20 (b) DONATION OF BODY ARMOR.—Notwithstanding

21 section 203 of the Federal Property and Administrative

22 Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 484), the head of a Fed23 eral agency may donate body armor directly to any State

24 or local law enforcement agency, if such body armor—
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1 (1) is in serviceable condition;

2 (2) is surplus property; and

3 (3) meets or exceeds the requirements of Na4 tional Institute of Justice Standard 0101.03 (as in

5 effect on the date of enactment of this Act).

6 (c) NOTICE TO ADMINISTRATOR.—The head of a

7 Federal agency who donates body armor under this section

8 shall submit to the Administrator of General Services a

9 written notice identifying the amount of body armor do10 nated and each State or local law enforcement agency that

11 received the body armor.

12 (d) DONATION BY CERTAIN OFFICERS.—

13 (1) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—In the admin14 istration of this section with respect to the Depart15 ment of Justice, in addition to any other officer of

16 the Department of Justice designated by the Attor17 ney General, the following officers may act as the

18 head of a Federal agency:

19 (A) The Administrator of the Drug En20 forcement Administration.

21 (B) The Director of the Federal Bureau of

22 Investigation.

23 (C) The Commissioner of the Immigration

24 and Naturalization Service.
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1 (D) The Director of the United States

2 Marshals Service.

3 (2) DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.—In the

4 administration of this section with respect to the De5 partment of the Treasury, in addition to any other

6 officer of the Department of the Treasury des7 ignated by the Secretary of the Treasury, the fol8 lowing officers may act as the head of a Federal

9 agency:

10 (A) The Director of the Bureau of Alcohol,

11 Tobacco, and Firearms.

12 (B) The Commissioner of Customs.

13 (C) The Director of the United States Se14 cret Service.

15 (e) NO LIABILITY.—Notwithstanding any other pro16 vision of law, the United States shall not be liable for any

17 harm occurring in connection with the use or misuse of

18 any body armor donated under this section.

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