I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6685 
To protect the Nation’s law enforcement officers by banning the Five-seveN 
Pistol and 5.7 x 28mm SS190, SS192, SS195LF, SS196, and SS197 
cartridges, testing handguns and ammunition for capability to penetrate 
body armor, and prohibiting the manufacture, importation, sale, or pur-
chase of such handguns or ammunition by civilians. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2012 
Mr. ENGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To protect the Nation’s law enforcement officers by banning 
the Five-seveN Pistol and 5.7 x 28mm SS190, SS192, 
SS195LF, SS196, and SS197 cartridges, testing hand-
guns and ammunition for capability to penetrate body 
armor, and prohibiting the manufacture, importation, 
sale, or purchase of such handguns or ammunition by 
civilians. 
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 ‘‘Protect Law Enforce-
ment Armor Act’’ or the ‘‘PLEA Act’’. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
03:20 Dec 28, 2012
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6685.IH
H6685
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Law enforcement is facing a threat from 
handguns and accompanying ammunition, which are 
designed to penetrate police body armor, being mar-
keted and sold to civilians. 
(2) A Five-seveN Pistol and accompanying am-
munition, manufactured by FN Herstal of Belgium 
as the ‘‘5.7 x 28 mm System’’, has recently been re-
covered by law enforcement on the streets. The Five- 
seveN Pistol is legally available for purchase by civil-
ians under current law. 
(3) The Five-seveN Pistol is capable of pene-
trating level IIA armor. The manufacturer advertises 
that ammunition fired from the Five-seveN will per-
forate 48 layers of Kevlar up to 200 meters and that 
the ammunition travels at 2,100 feet per second. 
(4) The Five-seveN Pistol, and similar hand-
guns designed to use ammunition capable of pene-
trating body armor, pose a devastating threat to law 
enforcement. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to protect 
the Nation’s law enforcement officers by— 
(1) testing handguns and ammunition for capa-
bility to penetrate body armor; and 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
03:20 Dec 28, 2012
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6685.IH
H6685
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with
(2) prohibiting the manufacture, importation, 
sale, or purchase by civilians of the Five-seveN Pis-
tol, ammunition for such pistol, or any other hand-
gun that uses ammunition found to be capable of 
penetrating body armor. 
SEC. 3. ARMOR PIERCING AMMUNITION. 
(a) EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ARMOR PIERCING 
AMMUNITION.—Section 921(a)(17)(B) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 
(2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 
end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iii) a projectile that— 
‘‘(I) may be used in a handgun; and 
‘‘(II) the Attorney General deter-
mines, pursuant to section 926(d), to be 
capable of penetrating body armor.’’. 
(b) DETERMINATION OF CAPABILITY OF PROJEC-
TILES TO PENETRATE BODY ARMOR.—Section 926 of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(d)(1) Not later than 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of this subsection, the Attorney General shall pro-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
03:20 Dec 28, 2012
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6685.IH
H6685
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with
mulgate standards for the uniform testing of projectiles 
against Body Armor Exemplar. 
‘‘(2) The standards promulgated pursuant to para-
graph (1) shall take into account, among other factors, 
variations in performance that are related to the type of 
handgun used, the length of the barrel of the handgun, 
the amount and kind of powder used to propel the projec-
tile, and the design of the projectile. 
‘‘(3) As used in paragraph (1), the term ‘Body Armor 
Exemplar’ means body armor that the Attorney General 
determines meets minimum standards for the protection 
of law enforcement officers.’’. 
SEC. 4. ARMOR PIERCING HANDGUNS AND AMMUNITION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(aa) FIVE-SEVEN PISTOL.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 
person to manufacture, import, market, sell, ship, 
deliver, possess, transfer, or receive— 
‘‘(A) the Fabrique Nationale Herstal Five- 
seveN Pistol; 
‘‘(B) 
5.7 
x 
28mm 
SS190, 
SS192, 
SS195LF, SS196, or SS197 cartridges; or 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
03:20 Dec 28, 2012
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6685.IH
H6685
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with
‘‘(C) any other handgun that uses armor 
piercing ammunition. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 
apply to— 
‘‘(A) any firearm or armor piercing ammu-
nition manufactured for, and sold exclusively to, 
military, law enforcement, or intelligence agen-
cies of the United States; and 
‘‘(B) the manufacture, possession, trans-
fer, receipt, shipment, or delivery of a firearm 
or armor piercing ammunition by a licensed 
manufacturer, or any person acting pursuant to 
a contract with a licensed manufacturer, for the 
purpose of examining and testing such firearm 
or ammunition to determine whether paragraph 
(1) applies to such firearm.’’. 
(b) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a)(1)(B) of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(q), or (aa)’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
03:20 Dec 28, 2012
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H6685.IH
H6685
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with