I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1570
To amend the Arms Export Control Act to remove an exemption from the
prohibition on imports of certain firearms and ammunition.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 8, 1997
Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island (for himself and Mrs. MALONEY of New York)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and
Means, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Arms Export Control Act to remove an exemp-
tion from the prohibition on imports of certain firearms
and ammunition.
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-Gun Invasion Act
of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Since 1950, the United States Government
has furnished to foreign governments at least
2,500,000 military firearms that are considered to
be ‘‘curios or relics’’ under the Gun Control Act of
1968.
(2) 
These 
firearms 
include 
more 
than
1,200,000 M–1 carbine rifles and 250,000 M1911
pistols of United States manufacture that have been
furnished to foreign governments under United
States foreign military assistance grant, loan, or
sales programs.
(3) Criminals tend to use low-cost firearms that
are concealable, capable of accepting large-capacity
magazines, or are capable of being easily converted
to fully automatic fire.
(4) An M–1 carbine can be converted easily to
a fully automatic weapon by disassembling the weap-
on and reassembling the weapon with a few addi-
tional parts.
(5) An M1911 or M1911A pistol is easily con-
cealable.
(6) At least 9 police officers have been mur-
dered in the United States using M–1 carbines or
M1911 pistols in the past 7 years.
(7) The importation of large numbers of ‘‘curio
or relic’’ weapons would lower their cost, make them
more readily available to criminals, and constitute a
threat to public safety and to law enforcement offi-
cers.
(8) The importation of these ‘‘curios or relics’’
weapons could result in a financial windfall for for-
eign governments.
(9) In order to insure that these weapons are
not imported into the United States, a provision of
the Arms Export Control Act must be deleted.
SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF EXEMPTION FROM PROHIBITION ON
IMPORTS OF CERTAIN FIREARMS AND AMMU-
NITION.
(a) REMOVAL OF EXEMPTION.—Section 38(b)(1) of
the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778(b)(1)) is
amended by striking subparagraph (B), as added by sec-
tion 8142(a) of the Department of Defense Appropriations
Act, 1988 (contained in Public Law 100–202).
(b) SAVINGS PROVISION.—The amendment made by
subsection (a) shall not affect any license issued before
the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPORTS OF FOREIGN-MADE SURPLUS
MILITARY FIREARMS THAT ARE CURIOS OR
RELICS.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, acting through
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, shall sub-
mit a report to Congress on the scope and effect of the
importation of foreign-made surplus military firearms
under section 925(e) of title 18, United States Code. The
report shall contain the following:
(1) CURRENT IMPORTATION.—A list of types
and models of military firearms currently being im-
ported into the United States as ‘‘curios or relics’’
under section 925(e) of title 18, United States Code,
which would otherwise be barred from importation
as surplus military firearms under section 925(d)(3)
of that title.
(2) 
IMPORTATION
DURING
PRECEDING
YEARS.—A list of the number of each type and
model listed under paragraph (1) that has been im-
ported into the United States during the 5 years
preceding the date of submission of the report.
(3) EASE OF CONVERSION.—A description of
the ease with which each type and model listed
under paragraph (1) may be converted to a semi-
automatic assault weapon as defined in section
921(a)(30)(B) of that title or to a fully automatic
weapon.
(4) INVOLVEMENT IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES.—
Statistics that may be relevant to the use for crimi-
nal activities of each type and model of weapons list-
ed in paragraph (1), including—
(A) statistics involving the use of the
weapons in homicides of law enforcement offi-
cials; and
(B) the number of firearm traces by the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that
involved those weapons.
(5) COMPREHENSIVE
EVALUATION.—A com-
prehensive evaluation of the scope of imports under
section 925(e) of that title and the use of such
weapons in crimes in the United States.
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