I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1228
To amend title 18, United States Code, to permanently prohibit the possession
of firearms by persons who have been convicted of a felony, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 8, 1997
Mr. ACKERMAN (for himself, Mrs. MORELLA, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York,
Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. BROWN of California,
Ms. CHRISTIAN-GREEN, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FOGLI-
ETTA, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. FURSE, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of
Texas, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts, Mr. LEWIS of
Georgia, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mrs. MALONEY of New York,
Mr. MANTON, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PORTER,
Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO´, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. STARK, Mr.
UNDERWOOD, Mr. YATES, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr.
ROTHMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to permanently pro-
hibit the possession of firearms by persons who have
been convicted of a felony, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Stop Arming Felons
(SAFe) Act’’.
SEC. 2. DENIAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF FROM CER-
TAIN FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES PROHIBI-
TIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Section 925(c) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended—
(A) in the first sentence by inserting ‘‘(other
than a natural person)’’ before ‘‘who is prohibited’’;
(B) in the fourth sentence—
(i) by inserting ‘‘person (other than a nat-
ural person) who is a’’ before ‘‘licensed im-
porter’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘his’’ and inserting ‘‘the
person’s’’; and
(C) in the fifth sentence, by inserting ‘‘(i) the
name of the person, (ii) the disability with respect
to which the relief is granted, (iii) if the disability
was imposed by reason of a criminal conviction of
the person, the crime for which and the court in
which the person was convicted, and (iv)’’ before
‘‘the reasons therefor’’.
(2) Section 845(b) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended—
(A) in the first sentence by inserting
‘‘(other than a natural person)’’ before ‘‘may
make application to the Secretary’’; and
(B) in the second sentence by inserting
‘‘(other than a natural person)’’ before ‘‘who
makes application for relief’’.
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub-
section (a) shall apply to—
(1) applications for administrative relief and ac-
tions for judicial review that are pending on the date
of enactment of this Act; and
(2) applications for administrative relief filed,
and actions for judicial review brought, after the
date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. PERMANENT FIREARM PROHIBITION FOR CON-
VICTED 
VIOLENT 
FELONS 
AND 
SERIOUS
DRUG OFFENDERS.
Section 921(a)(20) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended—
(1) in the first sentence—
(A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(20)’’; and
(B) by redesignating subparagraphs (A)
and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively;
(2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘What’’
and inserting the following:
‘‘(B) What’’; and
(3) by striking the third sentence and inserting
the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(C) A conviction shall not be considered to be a con-
viction for purposes of this chapter if—
‘‘(i) the conviction is reversed or set aside based
on a determination that the conviction is invalid;
‘‘(ii) the person has been pardoned, unless the
authority that grants the pardon expressly states
that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or
receive firearms; or
‘‘(iii) the person has had civil rights restored, or
the conviction is expunged, and—
‘‘(I) the authority that grants the restora-
tion of civil rights or expungement expressly au-
thorizes the person to ship, transport, receive,
and possess firearms and expressly determines
that the circumstances regarding the conviction
and the person’s record and reputation are such
that the person is not likely to act in a manner
that is dangerous to public safety, and that the
granting of the relief is not contrary to the pub-
lic interest; and
‘‘(II) the conviction was for an offense
other than a serious drug offense (as defined in
section 924(e)(2)(A)) or violent felony (as de-
fined in section 924(e)(2)(B)).’’.
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