I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 138

To amend title 18, United States Code, to require persons to obtain a

State license before receiving a handgun or handgun ammunition.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 3, 2001

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mr. WEINER, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. LEE, Mr.

ENGEL, Mr. CROWLEY, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to require persons

to obtain a State license before receiving a handgun

or handgun ammunition.

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 ‘‘Handgun Licensing

5 Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. STATE LICENSE REQUIRED TO RECEIVE A HAND2 GUN OR HANDGUN AMMUNITION.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing:

6 ‘‘(z)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell,

7 deliver, or otherwise transfer a handgun or handgun am8 munition to an individual who is not licensed under section

9 923 unless—

10 ‘‘(A) the transferor (or a licensed dealer, if

11 State law so directs or allows)—

12 ‘‘(i) has examined a valid handgun license

13 issued to the individual by the State in which

14 the transaction takes place, and an additional

15 valid identification document (as defined in sec16 tion 1028) containing a photograph of the indi17 vidual; and

18 ‘‘(ii) has contacted the chief law enforce19 ment officer of the State, and been informed by

20 the officer that the handgun license has not

21 been revoked; and

22 ‘‘(B)(i) 3 business days (meaning a day on

23 which State offices are open) have elapsed from the

24 date on which the transferor (or licensed dealer) re25 ceived the information described in subparagraph

26 (A)(ii); or
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1 ‘‘(ii) the individual has presented to the trans2 feror (or licensed dealer) a written document, issued

3 not less than 10 days earlier by the chief law en4 forcement officer of the State in which the individual

5 resides, stating that the transferee requires access to

6 a handgun because of a threat to the life of the

7 transferee or any member of the household of the

8 transferee.

9 ‘‘(2)(A) It shall be unlawful for an individual who is

10 not licensed under section 923 to receive a handgun or

11 handgun ammunition in a State unless the individual pos12 sesses a valid handgun license issued to the individual by

13 the State.

14 ‘‘(B) Beginning 2 years after the date of the enact15 ment of this subsection, it shall be unlawful for an indi16 vidual who is not licensed under section 923 to possess

17 a handgun or handgun ammunition in a State unless the

18 individual possesses a valid handgun license issued to the

19 individual by the State.

20 ‘‘(3)(A) For purposes of this subsection, the term

21 ‘handgun license’ means a license issued under a State

22 law that—

23 ‘‘(i) provides for the issuance and revocation of

24 licenses permitting persons to receive handguns and

25 handgun ammunition, and for the reporting of losses
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1 and thefts of handguns and handgun ammunition;

2 and

3 ‘‘(ii) at a minimum, meets the requirements of

4 this paragraph.

5 ‘‘(B) The State law referred to in subparagraph (A)

6 shall provide that a handgun license shall—

7 ‘‘(i) be issued by the chief law enforcement offi8 cer of the State;

9 ‘‘(ii) contain the licensee’s name, address, date

10 of birth, and physical description, a unique license

11 number, and a photograph of the licensee; and

12 ‘‘(iii) remain valid for not more than 2 years,

13 unless revoked.

14 ‘‘(C) The State law referred to in subparagraph (A)

15 shall provide that, before a handgun license is issued to

16 an applicant, the chief law enforcement officer of the State

17 determine that the applicant—

18 ‘‘(i) has attained 21 years of age;

19 ‘‘(ii) is a resident of the State, by examining,

20 in addition to a valid identification document (as de21 fined in section 1028), a utility bill or lease agree22 ment;

23 ‘‘(iii) is not prohibited from possessing or re24 ceiving a handgun under Federal, State, or local

25 law, based upon name- and fingerprint-based re-
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1 search in all available Federal, State, and local rec2 ordkeeping systems, including the national instant

3 criminal background check system established under

4 section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Preven5 tion Act; and

6 ‘‘(iv) has been issued a handgun safety certifi7 cate by the State.

8 ‘‘(D) The State law referred to in subparagraph (A)

9 shall provide that, if the chief law enforcement officer of

10 the State determines that an individual is ineligible to re11 ceive a handgun license, the officer shall provide the rea12 sons for the determination to the individual, in writing,

13 within 20 business days after making the determination.

14 ‘‘(E)(i) The State law referred to in subparagraph

15 (A) shall provide that a handgun license issued by the

16 State shall be revoked if the chief law enforcement officer

17 of the State determines that the licensee no longer meets

18 the requirements of subparagraph (C).

19 ‘‘(ii) The State law shall provide that, within 10 days

20 after a person receives notice from the State that the

21 handgun license issued to the person has been revoked,

22 the person shall return the license to the chief law enforce23 ment officer of the State in which the licensee resides.

24 ‘‘(F) The State law referred to in subparagraph (A)

25 shall provide that, within 24 hours after a handgun li-
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1 censee discovers the theft of any firearm from, or the loss

2 of any firearm by the licensee, the licensee shall report

3 the theft or loss to—

4 ‘‘(i) the Secretary;

5 ‘‘(ii) the chief law enforcement officer of the

6 State; and

7 ‘‘(iii) appropriate local authorities,

8 and shall provide that any failure to make such a report

9 shall be punishable by a civil penalty as provided by State

10 law, with a maximum penalty of at least $1,000.

11 ‘‘(4)(A) For purposes of paragraph (3)(C)(iv), the

12 term ‘handgun safety certificate’ means a certificate

13 issued under a State law that—

14 ‘‘(i) provides for the issuance of certificates at15 testing to the completion of a course of instruction

16 and examination in handgun safety, consistent with

17 this paragraph; and

18 ‘‘(ii) at a minimum, meets the requirements of

19 this paragraph.

20 ‘‘(B) The State law referred to in subparagraph (A)

21 shall provide that the chief law enforcement officer of a

22 State shall issue the handgun safety certificate.

23 ‘‘(C) The State law referred to in subparagraph (A)

24 shall provide that a handgun safety certificate shall not
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1 be issued to an applicant unless the chief law enforcement

2 officer of the State determines that the applicant—

3 ‘‘(i) has completed a course, taught by law en4 forcement officers and designed by the chief law en5 forcement officer, of not less than 2 hours of in6 struction in handgun safety; and

7 ‘‘(ii) has passed an examination, designed by

8 the chief law enforcement officer, testing the appli9 cant’s knowledge of handgun safety.

10 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘chief

11 law enforcement officer’ means, with respect to a State,

12 the chief, or equivalent officer, of the State police force,

13 or the designee of that officer.’’.

14 (b) DEFINITION OF HANDGUN AMMUNITION.—Sec15 tion 921(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end

16 the following:

17 ‘‘(35) The term ‘handgun ammunition’ means—

18 ‘‘(A) a centerfire cartridge or cartridge case less

19 than 1.3 inches in length; or

20 ‘‘(B) a primer, bullet, or propellant powder de21 signed specifically for use in a handgun.’’.

22 (c) PENALTY.—Section 924(a)(1)(B) of such title is

23 amended by inserting ‘‘, or (z)’’ before ‘‘of section 922’’.
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1 (d) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section

2 922(t)(1)(B)(ii) of such title is amended by inserting ‘‘or

3 State law’’ after ‘‘section’’.

4 (e) FUNDING.—

5 (1) GRANTS FOR ESTABLISHING SYSTEMS OF

6 LICENSING AND REGISTRATION.—Subject to the

7 availability of appropriations, the Attorney General

8 shall make a grant to each State (as defined in sec9 tion 921(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code), to

10 cover the initial startup costs associated with estab11 lishing a system of licensing pursuant to section

12 922(z) of title 18, United States Code.

13 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For

14 grants under paragraph (1), there is authorized to

15 be appropriated a total of $200,000,000 for fiscal

16 year 2002 and all fiscal years thereafter.

17 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

18 this section shall take effect 180 days after the date of

19 the enactment of this Act.

20 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT OF BUSINESS LIABILITY INSUR21 ANCE.

22 Section 923(d)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is

23 amended—

24 (1) by striking the period at the end of sub25 paragraph (F) and inserting a semicolon;
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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub2 paragraph (G) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub4 paragraph:

5 ‘‘(H) the applicant certifies that the busi6 ness is covered by an insurance policy which

7 provides personal injury protection, to a limit of

8 $100,000, to any person who, while engaged in

9 lawful activity, suffers bodily injury or death

10 through the use of a handgun obtained as a re11 sult of the negligence of the applicant.’’.

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