I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 221
To prevent handgun violence and illegal commerce in handguns. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2003
Mr. WEXLER (for himself, Mr. NADLER, and Mr. MORAN of Virginia) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary 
A BILL 
To prevent handgun violence and illegal commerce in 
handguns.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Gunrunning Act 
of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. PREVENTING GUN TRAFFICKING BY RESTRICTING 
HANDGUN TRANSFERS TO ONE PER MONTH. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(z)(1) The Congress finds and declares that—
‘‘(A) crime, particularly crime involving drugs 
and guns, is a pervasive, nationwide problem; 
‘‘(B) crime at the local level is exacerbated by 
the interstate movement of drugs, guns, and crimi-
nal gangs; 
‘‘(C) firearms and ammunition move easily in 
interstate commerce; 
‘‘(D) the illegal movement of firearms, and 
handguns in particular, across state lines is a wide-
spread and pervasive national problem; 
‘‘(E) handguns (even when lawfully purchased) 
are unlawfully transported across state lines by gun 
traffickers and are illegally sold to prohibited per-
sons; 
‘‘(F) in fact, even before a firearm is illegally 
sold by a trafficker, the gun, its component parts, 
ammunition, and the raw materials from which it is 
made have moved in interstate commerce; 
‘‘(G) law-abiding persons may fear to travel 
interstate or to or through certain parts of the coun-
try due to concern about violent crime and gun vio-
lence; 
‘‘(H) the illegal movement of handguns across 
state lines substantially affects the national market
for firearms, because handguns sold in one State in 
which there are few restrictions provide a convenient 
source for the acquisition of handguns by gun traf-
fickers who transport the handguns to jurisdictions 
with stronger restrictions; 
‘‘(I) the unlawful sale of firearms by traffickers 
provides a method by which firearms can be bought 
and sold anonymously, without background checks 
and without record-keeping requirements to enable 
gun tracing; 
‘‘(J) handguns sold by traffickers are often ob-
tained by criminals and other prohibited persons 
who frequently use guns that cannot be traced to 
commit crimes; 
‘‘(K) handgun violence is a pervasive, national 
problem that is exacerbated by the availability of 
handguns through gun traffickers; 
‘‘(L) firearms from traffickers have been in-
volved in subsequent crimes including drug offenses, 
crimes of violence, property crimes, and illegal pos-
session by felons and other prohibited persons; 
‘‘(M) because gun trafficking is often an inter-
state activity, individual States and localities are 
often severely hampered in combating illegal hand-
gun purchases—even States and localities that have
made strong efforts to prevent, detect, and punish 
gun-related crime and illegal trafficking of fire-
arms—as a result of the failure or inability of other 
States or localities to take strong measures; and 
‘‘(N) the Congress has the power, under the 
interstate commerce clause and other provisions of 
the Constitution, to ensure, by enactment of this 
section, that criminals and other prohibited persons 
do not obtain firearms through gun traffickers. 
‘‘(2) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, 
licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer—
‘‘(A) during any 30-day period, to sell, deliver, 
or transfer 2 or more handguns to any single person 
(other than a licensed importer, licensed manufac-
turer, or licensed dealer), or 
‘‘(B) to sell, deliver, or transfer a handgun to 
any single person (other than a licensed importer, li-
censed manufacturer, or licensed dealer), knowing or 
having reasonable cause to believe that the trans-
feree has already received 1 or more handguns with-
in the previous 30 days.
‘‘(3)(A) It shall be unlawful for any person (other 
than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or li-
censed dealer) to receive more than one handgun within 
any 30-day period.
‘‘(B) Under such rules and regulations as the Attor-
ney General shall prescribe, subparagraph (A) shall not 
apply to the loan or rental of a single handgun solely for 
purposes of target shooting, provided that the recipient 
possesses no more than one such loaned or rented hand-
gun at any one time. 
‘‘(4) Under such rules and regulations as the Attor-
ney General shall prescribe, paragraphs (2) and (3) shall 
not apply to—
‘‘(A) handguns transferred to or received by 
qualified private security companies licensed to do 
business within the State where the transfer occurs 
for use by the company in its security operations, 
provided that any handgun transferred under this 
subsection is transferred through a licensed dealer 
located in the State where the security company is 
licensed to do business; 
‘‘(B) the disposition made of a handgun deliv-
ered to a person licensed under section 923 for the 
sole purpose of repair or customizing when such 
handgun or a replacement handgun of the same kind 
and type is returned to the person from whom it was 
received; 
‘‘(C) the loan or rental of a single handgun 
from a person licensed under section 923, provided
‘‘(J) the transfer or receipt of a handgun for 
the use of the United States or any department or 
agency thereof or of any State or any department, 
agency or political subdivision thereof.’’. 
(b) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a)(2) of such title is 
amended by striking ‘‘or (o)’’ and inserting ‘‘(o), or (z)’’. 
(c) INCREASED PENALTIES FOR LICENSEES WHO 
KNOWINGLY MAKE FALSE STATEMENTS IN REQUIRED 
RECORDS.—
(1) Section 924(a)(3) of such title is amend-
ed—
(A) by striking ‘‘(A)’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘chapter’’; 
(C) by striking subsection (B); and 
(D) by striking ‘‘one year’’ and inserting 
‘‘5 years’’. 
(2) Section 924(a) of such title is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) Any licensed dealer, licensed importer, licensed 
manufacturer, or licensed collector who knowingly violates 
section 922(m) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 
not more than 1 year, or both.’’. 
(d) CONFORMING CHANGES TO THE BRADY LAW.—
Section 922(t) of such title is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘(g) or 
(n)’’ and inserting ‘‘(g), (n), or (z)’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘(g) or (n)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(g), (n), or (z)’’; 
(3) in paragraph (3), by striking subparagraph 
(A) and redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as 
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 
(4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(g) or (n)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(g), (n), or (z)’’; and 
(5) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(10) A licensee must, within three days of receiving 
a request from the prospective transferee, notify the na-
tional instant criminal background check system of any 
background check conducted pursuant to this section with-
in the previous 30 days that did not result in the transfer 
of a handgun. 
‘‘(11) Information that is retained pursuant to Public 
Law 103–159 may be used to effectuate section 922(z) 
of this title.’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Attorney General shall 
determine, and publish in the Federal Register, the date 
on which this section shall become effective.
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