I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5472
To provide grants for the purchase of firearms to States and units of local
government that enforce certain rules designed to protect the public
from the misuse of handguns.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 12, 2000
Mrs. TAUSCHER
(for herself, Mrs. MCCARTHY
of New York, Mr.
BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. CARSON, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms.
JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. LEE, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr.
MCGOVERN, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr.
NADLER, 
Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, 
Ms. 
NORTON, 
Ms. 
PELOSI, 
Ms.
SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr.
LIPINSKI, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr.
ENGEL, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, and
Mr. WEINER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide grants for the purchase of firearms to States
and units of local government that enforce certain rules
designed to protect the public from the misuse of hand-
guns.
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 ‘‘Safer Guns for Safer
Communities Act’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purposes of this Act are to encourage firearms
importers, manufacturers, and dealers to import, make,
market, and sell firearms in a responsible manner so as
to protect the public from the misuse of handguns, and
to provide for the responsible disposition of the firearms
obtained by law enforcement agencies which are no longer
needed by such agencies.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the Department of Health and
Human Services, 3,793 children and adolescents
under 20 years of age were killed with firearms in
1998.
(2) The National Institute of Justice reported
in a national survey that, in 1994, 44,000,000 peo-
ple—approximately 35 percent of households—
owned 192,000,000 firearms, 65,000,000 of which
were handguns. 74 percent of those people were re-
ported to own more than 1 firearm. Nearly 50 per-
cent of those people keep 1 or more firearms in an
unsecured place and without trigger locks.
applicant has in effect rules and regulations requir-
ing each law enforcement agency under the jurisdic-
tion of the applicant to comply with section 6;
(3) a commitment by the applicant that, during
the year for which the grant award is made under
this section, the applicant will expend, from non-
Federal sources, for the purchase of firearms to be
acquired with the grant funds, an amount equal to
not less than 25 percent of the amount of the grant
award; and
(4) a commitment by the applicant that the ap-
plicant will, in accordance with guidelines estab-
lished by the Attorney General, identify and collect
data regarding the purchase and disposal of firearms
pursuant to this Act.
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives grant
funds under this section shall use such grant funds only
to purchase firearms from a licensed importer or licensed
manufacturer who is in compliance with section 5.
(d) WITHHOLD PAYMENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Attorney General, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury,
finds that a recipient of grant funds provided under
this section has violated a commitment made by the
recipient pursuant to subsection (b), the Attorney
General shall withhold from the applicant for the
grant any payments that would otherwise be made
to the applicant under this section.
(2) REDISTRIBUTION.—Any funds that are
withheld under paragraph (1) shall be redistributed
to other grantees that are eligible to receive funds
under this section.
(e) DUTIES OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The At-
torney General of the United States—
(1) shall to the extent practicable, provide an
equitable distribution of grants under this section
among the regions of the United States and among
urban, suburban, and rural areas;
(2) shall provide for the evaluation of programs
implemented pursuant to this section, which may in-
clude outcome measures such as crime and victim-
ization indicators, gun-related crime, quality of life
measures, and community perceptions;
(3) shall issue such guidelines and regulations
as may be necessary to carry out the responsibilities
of the Attorney General under this section; and
(4) may reserve for administrative expenses not
more than 5 percent of the funds made available to
carry out this section.
(f) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREAS-
URY.—The Secretary of the Treasury—
(1) shall evaluate applications submitted pursu-
ant to this section, and make certifications, as ap-
propriate, under subsection (b)(2);
(2) shall evaluate annually importers and man-
ufacturers from whom grantees under this section
obtain firearms to determine whether the importers
and manufacturers are in compliance with the condi-
tions set forth in section 5, and advise the Attorney
General of the determinations;
(3) shall evaluate annually the rules and regula-
tions of the grantees under this section to determine
whether the grantees are in compliance with section
5, and advise the Attorney General of the determina-
tions;
(4) shall issue such guidelines and regulations,
consistent with the guidelines and regulations issued
under subsection (e)(4), as may be necessary to
carry out the responsibilities of the Secretary of the
Treasury under this section; and
(5) may reserve for administrative expenses not
more than 5 percent of the funds made available to
carry out this section.
(g) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after funds
are paid to a grantee under this section, the grantee shall
submit to the Attorney General a written report that de-
scribes how the funds have been used.
(h) LIMITATIONS
ON AUTHORIZATION
OF APPRO-
PRIATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section not more than
$50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2001
through 2003.
(2) ALLOCATION.—An amount equal to 95 per-
cent of the amount appropriated pursuant to para-
graph (1) for a fiscal year shall be made available
to the Attorney General of the United States, and
an amount equal to 5 percent of the appropriated
amount shall be made available to the Secretary of
the Treasury.
SEC. 5. CODE OF CONDUCT.
(a) REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) PRODUCT STANDARDS.—
(A) APPLICABLE TO HANDGUNS.—
(i) SECOND ‘‘HIDDEN’’ SERIAL NUM-
BER.—The licensee shall not import, man-
ufacture, or offer for sale a handgun un-
less the handgun has, on the exterior, a
visible serial number, and has, on the inte-
rior frame or receiver, a second serial num-
ber that is visible only with the aid of an
optical instrument.
(ii) EXTERNAL
LOCKING
DEVICE.—
During the 24-month period beginning
with the date of the enactment of this Act,
the licensee shall not offer for sale a hand-
gun that is not supplied with an external
locking device that, when locked, prevents
the operation of the handgun.
(iii) INTERNAL
LOCKING
DEVICE.—
After the 24-month period described in
clause (ii), the licensee shall not import,
manufacture, or offer for sale a handgun
that does not incorporate a locking system
which prevents the handgun from being
operated without a key, combination, or
use of another mechanism unique to the
handgun.
(iv) SMART GUN TECHNOLOGY.—The
licensee—
(I) shall expend an amount equal
to not less than 2 percent of the an-
nual firearms sales revenues of the li-
censee on the development of a tech-
nology that recognizes only authorized
users and permits a handgun to be
used only by authorized persons; and
(II) beginning 36 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act,
shall not import, design, manufacture,
or offer for sale a handgun (other
than a curio) that does not incor-
porate the technology, except that this
requirement shall not apply to a hand-
gun model that is in production as of
such date of enactment.
(v) CHILD
SAFETY.—Beginning 12
months after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the licensee shall not import,
manufacture, or offer for sale a handgun
that can be readily fired by a child who
has not attained 6 years of age.
(vi) MINIMUM BARREL LENGTH.—The
licensee shall not import, manufacture, or
offer for sale a handgun unless the barrel
of the handgun is at least 3 inches in
length or the average group diameter test
result for the handgun is 1.7 inches or less
at 7 yards, 3.9 inches or less at 14 yards,
and 6.3 inches or less at 21 yards. For
purposes of this clause, the average group
diameter test result for a handgun is the
arithmetic mean of the results of 3 sepa-
rate trials, each performed on a different
handgun of the same make and model as
the handgun, and in each of which, 5
rounds are fired from the handgun at a
target from the specified distance and the
greatest distance in inches between the
center of the holes made in the test target
is the result of the trial.
(vii) PERFORMANCE TESTS.—The li-
censee shall not import, manufacture, or
offer for sale a handgun unless the hand-
gun model has passed the following tests:
(I) The handgun does not show
any hairline crack or other evidence of
material failure after a cartridge load-
ed to generate excess pressure (as set
forth in accepted specifications for
cartridges of this type) has been fired
from each chamber of the handgun.
(II) The handgun does not mal-
function after the first 20 of 600
rounds are fired from the handgun,
and has 6 or fewer malfunctions and
has no crack or breakage of an oper-
ating part of the handgun that in-
creases the danger of injury after 600
rounds are fired from the handgun, in
the manner described in this sub-
clause. For purposes of this subclause,
a malfunction caused by a failure to
clean and lubricate, or by defective
ammunition, shall be disregarded. In
the firing of the handgun, the firing
shall cease after each 100 rounds are
fired and shall resume after any loose
screws are tightened, the handgun is
cleaned, or an empty magazine or cyl-
inder is refilled to capacity, except
that if the handgun loads other than
with a detachable magazine, the firing
shall cease for 10 minutes after each
50 rounds are fired. The handgun
shall be fired using the ammunition
recommended in the handgun manual,
or if none is recommended, any stand-
ard ammunition of the correct caliber
in new condition.
(viii) DROP TEST.—The licensee shall
not import, manufacture, or offer for sale
a handgun model that has fired after being
test-loaded and, with its hammer and
striker set in each position in which the
hammer and striker may be set so that it
is ready to fire, dropped onto a steel plate
or equivalent material of similar hardness
from a height of 1 meter from each of the
following positions:
(I) normal firing position;
(II) upside down;
(III) on the grip;
(IV) on the muzzle;
(V) on either side; and
(VI) on the exposed hammer or
striker (or, if there is no exposed
hammer or striker, on the rear most
part of the handgun).
(B) APPLICABLE TO PISTOLS.—
(i) SAFETY
DEVICE.—The licensee
shall not import, manufacture, or offer for
sale a pistol unless the pistol has a positive
manually operated safety device, as deter-
mined by standards relating to imported
firearms promulgated by the Bureau of Al-
cohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
(ii) 
MAGAZINE
DISCONNECTOR.—
After the 12-month period that begins with
the date of the enactment of this Act, the
licensee shall not import, manufacture, or
offer for sale a pistol for which a magazine
disconnector is not available.
(iii) CHAMBER
LOAD
INDICATOR.—
After the 12-month period that begins with
the date of the enactment of this Act, the
licensee shall not import, manufacture, or
offer for sale a pistol unless the pistol has
a chamber load indicator that enables the
operator to detect, without opening the
chamber, whether there is ammunition in
the chamber.
(iv) INABILITY TO ACCEPT LARGE CA-
PACITY
MAGAZINES.—The licensee shall
not import, manufacture, or offer for sale
a pistol that accepts a large capacity am-
munition feeding device.
(v) MINIMUM
LENGTH
AND
HEIGHT
STANDARDS.—The licensee shall not im-
port, manufacture, or offer for sale a pistol
that is less than 4 inches in height, less
than 6 inches in length, or less than 10
inches in combined height and length, un-
less the average group diameter test result
for the pistol is 1.7 inches or less at 7
yards, 3.9 inches or less at 14 yards, and
6.3 inches or less at 21 yards. For pur-
poses of this clause, the average group di-
ameter test result for a pistol is the arith-
metic mean of the results of 3 separate
trials, each performed on a different pistol
of the same make and model of the pistol,
and in each of which, 5 rounds are fired
from the handgun at a target from the
specified distance and the greatest distance
in inches between the center of the holes
made in the test target is the result of the
trial.
(vi) FIRING PIN BLOCK.—The licensee
shall not import, manufacture, or offer for
sale a pistol that does not have a firing pin
block or lock.