I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 899

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 

FEBRUARY 25, 2003

Mr. NADLER 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 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATE LICENSE REQUIRED TO RECEIVE A HAND7 GUN OR HANDGUN AMMUNITION. 

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

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘(z)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, 

2 deliver, or otherwise transfer a handgun or handgun am3 munition to an individual who is not licensed under section 

4 923 unless—

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

6 State law so directs or allows)—

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

8 issued to the individual by the State in which 

9 the transaction takes place, and an additional 

10 valid identification document (as defined in sec11 tion 1028) containing a photograph of the indi12 vidual; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) has contacted the chief law enforce14 ment officer of the State, and been informed by 

15 the officer that the handgun license has not 

16 been revoked; and 

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

18 which State offices are open) have elapsed from the 

19 date on which the transferor (or licensed dealer) re20 ceived the information described in subparagraph 

21 (A)(ii); or 

22 ‘‘(ii) the individual has presented to the trans23 feror (or licensed dealer) a written document, issued 

24 not less than 10 days earlier by the chief law en25 forcement officer of the State in which the individual 
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1 resides, stating that the transferee requires access to 

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

3 transferee or any member of the household of the 

4 transferee. 

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

6 not licensed under section 923 to receive a handgun or 

7 handgun ammunition in a State unless the individual pos8 sesses a valid handgun license issued to the individual by 

9 the State. 

10 ‘‘(B) Beginning 2 years after the date of the enact11 ment of this subsection, it shall be unlawful for an indi12 vidual who is not licensed under section 923 to possess 

13 a handgun or handgun ammunition in a State unless the 

14 individual possesses a valid handgun license issued to the 

15 individual by the State. 

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

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

18 law that—

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

20 licenses permitting persons to receive handguns and 

21 handgun ammunition, and for the reporting of losses 

22 and thefts of handguns and handgun ammunition; 

23 and 

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

25 this paragraph. 
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1 ‘‘(B) The State law referred to in subparagraph (A) 

2 shall provide that a handgun license shall—

3 ‘‘(i) be issued by the chief law enforcement offi4 cer of the State; 

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

6 of birth, and physical description, a unique license 

7 number, and a photograph of the licensee; and 

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

9 unless revoked. 

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

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

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

13 determine that the applicant—

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

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

16 in addition to a valid identification document (as de17 fined in section 1028), a utility bill or lease agree18 ment; 

19 ‘‘(iii) is not prohibited from possessing or re20 ceiving a handgun under Federal, State, or local 

21 law, based upon name- and fingerprint-based re22 search in all available Federal, State, and local rec23 ordkeeping systems, including the national instant 

24 criminal background check system established under 
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1 section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Preven2 tion Act; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) has been issued a handgun safety certifi4 cate by the State. 

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

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

7 the State determines that an individual is ineligible to re8 ceive a handgun license, the officer shall provide the rea9 sons for the determination to the individual, in writing, 

10 within 20 business days after making the determination. 

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

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

13 State shall be revoked if the chief law enforcement officer 

14 of the State determines that the licensee no longer meets 

15 the requirements of subparagraph (C). 

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

17 after a person receives notice from the State that the 

18 handgun license issued to the person has been revoked, 

19 the person shall return the license to the chief law enforce20 ment officer of the State in which the licensee resides. 

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

22 shall provide that, within 24 hours after a handgun li23 censee discovers the theft of any firearm from, or the loss 

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

25 the theft or loss to—
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1 ‘‘(i) the Attorney General; 

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

3 State; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) appropriate local authorities, 

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

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

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

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

9 term ‘handgun safety certificate’ means a certificate 

10 issued under a State law that—

11 ‘‘(i) provides for the issuance of certificates at12 testing to the completion of a course of instruction 

13 and examination in handgun safety, consistent with 

14 this paragraph; and 

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

16 this paragraph. 

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

18 shall provide that the chief law enforcement officer of a 

19 State shall issue the handgun safety certificate. 

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

21 shall provide that a handgun safety certificate shall not 

22 be issued to an applicant unless the chief law enforcement 

23 officer of the State determines that the applicant—

24 ‘‘(i) has completed a course, taught by law en25 forcement officers and designed by the chief law en-
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1 forcement officer, of not less than 2 hours of in2 struction in handgun safety; and 

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

4 the chief law enforcement officer, testing the appli5 cant’s knowledge of handgun safety. 

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

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

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

9 or the designee of that officer.’’. 

10 (b) DEFINITION OF HANDGUN AMMUNITION.—Sec11 tion 921(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

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

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

15 than 1.3 inches in length; or 

16 ‘‘(B) a primer, bullet, or propellant powder de17 signed specifically for use in a handgun.’’. 

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

19 amended by inserting ‘‘, or (z)’’ before ‘‘of section 922’’. 

20 (d) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 

21 922(t)(1)(B)(ii) of such title is amended by inserting ‘‘or 

22 State law’’ after ‘‘section’’. 

23 (e) FUNDING.—

24 (1) GRANTS FOR ESTABLISHING SYSTEMS OF

25 LICENSING AND REGISTRATION.—Subject to the 
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1 availability of appropriations, the Attorney General 

2 shall make a grant to each State (as defined in sec3 tion 921(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code), to 

4 cover the initial startup costs associated with estab5 lishing a system of licensing pursuant to section 

6 922(z) of title 18, United States Code. 

7 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

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

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

10 year 2003 and all fiscal years thereafter. 

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

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

13 the enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT OF BUSINESS LIABILITY INSUR15 ANCE. 

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

17 amended—

18 (1) by striking the period at the end of sub19 paragraph (F) and inserting a semicolon; 

20 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub21 paragraph (G) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(H) the applicant certifies that the busi25 ness is covered by an insurance policy which 
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1 provides personal injury protection, to a limit of 

2 $100,000, to any person who, while engaged in 

3 lawful activity, suffers bodily injury or death 

4 through the use of a handgun obtained as a re5 sult of the negligence of the applicant.’’.

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