Restoring the Armed Career Criminal Act
Bill: S.1586 | Sponsor: Sen. Cotton, Tom (R-AR)
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Restoring the Armed Career Criminal Act
This bill modifies the prior convictions that trigger a 15-year enhanced mandatory minimum prison term for a defendant who commits a firearms offense after three or more such prior convictions.

To amend title 18, United States Code, relating to sentencing of armed 
                           career criminals.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Restoring the Armed Career Criminal 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL ACT.

    Section 924 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ``(a)(6), (d), (g), 
        (h), (i), (j), or (o) of section 922'' and inserting ``(a)(6), 
        (d), (h), (i), (j), or (o) of section 922, or, except as 
        provided in subsection (e) of this section, subsection (g) of 
        section 922''; and
            (2) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
    ``(e)(1) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(g) and has 3 or 
more previous serious felony convictions for offenses committed on 
occasions different from one another shall be fined under this title 
and imprisoned not less than 15 years and not more than 30 years, and, 
notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall not suspend 
the sentence of, or grant a probationary sentence to, such person with 
respect to the conviction under section 922(g).
    ``(2) In this subsection--
            ``(A) the term `offense punishable by imprisonment for a 
        statutory maximum term of not less than 10 years' includes an 
        offense (without regard to the application of any sentencing 
        guideline, statutory criterion, or judgment that may provide 
        for a shorter period of imprisonment within the statutory 
        sentencing range) for which the statute provides for a range in 
        the period of imprisonment that may be imposed at sentencing 
        the maximum term of which is not less than 10 years; and
            ``(B) the term `serious felony conviction' means--
                    ``(i) any conviction by a court referred to in 
                section 922(g)(1) for an offense that, at the time of 
                sentencing, was an offense punishable by imprisonment 
                for a statutory maximum term of not less than 10 years; 
                or
                    ``(ii) any group of convictions for which a court 
                referred to in section 922(g)(1) imposed in the same 
                proceeding or in consolidated proceedings a total term 
                of imprisonment of not less than 10 years, regardless 
                of how many years of that total term the defendant 
                served in custody.''.

SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY.

    (a) In General.--The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any 
offense committed after the date of enactment of this Act by an 
individual who, on the date on which the offense is committed, has 3 or 
more previous serious felony convictions (as defined in subsection (e) 
of section 924 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by this 
Act).
    (b) Rule of Construction.--This Act and the amendments made by this 
Act shall not be construed to create any right to challenge a sentence 
imposed under subsection (e) of section 924 of title 18, United States 
Code.
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