Opinion ID: 588159
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Chapter 44: Firearms

Text: 45 Chapter 44, the Firearms provisions of Title IV of the Omnibus Act, set out a more stringent federal gun control regime than had existed previously. Section 924 described penalties for violations of the new provisions. The principal purpose of Title IV was to keep firearms out of the hands of those not legally entitled to possess them because of age, criminal background, or incompetency, and to assist law enforcement authorities in the States and their subdivisions in combating the increasing prevalence of crime in the United States. 19 46 Each of the sections of Title IV was addressed to this purpose. For example, Section 922 entitled Unlawful acts 20 contained prohibitions on importing, dealing and manufacturing firearms, licensing requirements and mail-order restrictions, and a subsection which made knowingly transporting a stolen firearm or destructive device a crime. 21 It is particularly noteworthy that, from the outset, the legislative practice when defining these new crimes was to begin every subsection of 922 with the introductory phrase: It shall be unlawful--for.... The omission of similar language from subsection 924, in either its original or present form, is therefore especially pregnant. 47 Section 923 described requirements for licensing and for doing business as a firearms or ammunition importer, manufacturer or dealer. 22 Thus the order of the chapter was: definitions, followed by criminal acts, followed by licensing requirements, followed by penalties. 48 Section 924 provided penalties for violations of the actions deemed to be Unlawful acts by other sections of the chapter. So, for example, § 924(a) stated: 49 Whoever violates any provision of this chapter or knowingly makes any false statement or representation ... shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. 50 1968 U.S.C.C.A.N. at 279 (emphasis added). Subsection 924(b) stated: 51 Whoever, with intent to commit therewith an offense punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year ... ships, transports, or receives a firearm in interstate or foreign commerce shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. 52 Id. (emphasis added). 53 The original subsection 924(c) of the Omnibus Act involved forfeiture provisions penalizing the use of firearms in violating the provisions of the chapter, or any regulations under it, or any other criminal law of the United States. This first subsection (c) read: 54 Any firearm or ammunition involved in, or used or intended to be used in, any violation of the provisions of this chapter, or a rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, or violation of any other criminal law of the United States, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture.... 55 Id. (emphasis added). 56 The provision which we now know as § 924(c) was inserted as an amendment to the Gun Control Act during final passage in the House. The earlier § 924(c) in the Omnibus Act was redesignated as § 924(d). 23 These early versions of § 924 support the conclusion that the placement of the current subsection (c) within § 924 was both intended and logical. 57 In short, subsections (a) and (b) of § 924, Penalties, in the Senate Omnibus bill clearly described penalties of fines or imprisonment for Unlawful acts outlined in the preceding sections of Chapter 44, Firearms. 24 Like subsections (a) and (b), subsection (c) operated as a Penalt[y] for violations of the provisions of the chapter or for violations of other criminal laws. In subsection (c) the penalty was forfeiture, rather than a fine or imprisonment, for using a weapon illegally. Like the subsequent § 924(c) with which we are concerned, the original provision did not create a crime, but intended only to provide for a type of penalty for the violation of a crime described elsewhere in the specific law, or in the general criminal laws.