[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 277 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 277

  To amend title 18, United States Code, to require a waiting period 
                   before the purchase of a handgun.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 5, 1993

 Mr. Mazzoli introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 18, United States Code, to require a waiting period 
                   before the purchase of a handgun.

    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 ``Brady Handgun Violence Prevention 
Act''.

SEC. 2. WAITING PERIOD REQUIRED BEFORE PURCHASE OF HANDGUN.

    (a) In General.--Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(s)(1) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed 
manufacturer, or licensed dealer to sell, deliver, or transfer a 
handgun to an individual who is not licensed under section 923, 
unless--
            ``(A) after the most recent proposal of such transfer by 
        the transferee--
                    ``(i) the transferor has--
                            ``(I) received from the transferee a 
                        statement of the transferee containing the 
                        information described in paragraph (3);
                            ``(II) verified the identification of the 
                        transferee by examining the identification 
                        document presented; and
                            ``(III) within one day after the transferee 
                        furnishes the statement, provided a copy of the 
                        statement to the chief law enforcement officer 
                        of the place of residence of the transferee; 
                        and
                    ``(ii)(I) 7 days have elapsed from the date the 
                transferee furnished the statement, and the transferor 
                has not received information from the chief law 
                enforcement officer that receipt or possession of the 
                handgun by the transferee would be in violation of 
                Federal, State, or local law; or
                    ``(II) the transferor has received notice from the 
                chief law enforcement officer that the officer has no 
                information indicating that receipt or possession of 
                the handgun by the transferee would violate Federal, 
                State, or local law;
            ``(B) the transferee has presented to the transferor a 
        written statement, issued by the chief law enforcement officer 
        of the place of residence of the transferee during the 10-day 
        period ending on the date of the most recent proposal of such 
        transfer by the transferee, which states that the transferee 
        requires access to a handgun because of a threat to the life of 
        the transferee or of any member of the household of the 
        transferee;
            ``(C)(i) the transferee has presented to the transferor a 
        permit which--
                    ``(I) allows the transferee to possess a handgun; 
                and
                    ``(II) was issued not more than 5 years earlier by 
                the State in which the transfer is to take place; and
            ``(ii) the law of the State provides that such a permit is 
        to be issued only after an authorized government official has 
        verified that the information available to such official does 
        not indicate that possession of a handgun by the transferee 
        would be in violation of law;
            ``(D) the law of the State--
                    ``(i) prohibits any licensed importer, licensed 
                manufacturer, or licensed dealer from transferring a 
                handgun to an individual who is not licensed under 
                section 923, before at least 7 days have elapsed from 
                the date the transferee proposes such transfer; or
                    ``(ii) requires that, before any licensed importer, 
                licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer completes the 
                transfer of a handgun to an individual who is not 
                licensed under section 923, an authorized government 
                official verifies that the information available to 
                such official does not indicate that possession of a 
                handgun by the transferee would be in violation of law; 
                or
            ``(E) the transferor has received a report from any system 
        of felon identification established by the Attorney General 
        pursuant to section 6213(a) of the Anti-Drug Abuse Amendments 
        Act of 1988, that available information does not indicate that 
        possession or receipt of a handgun by the transferee would 
        violate Federal, State, or local law.
    ``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be interpreted to require any action 
by a chief law enforcement officer which is not otherwise required.
    ``(3) The statement referred to in paragraph (1)(A)(i)(I) shall 
contain only--
            ``(A) the name, address, and date of birth appearing on a 
        valid identification document (as defined in section 
        1028(d)(1)) of the transferee containing a photograph of the 
        transferee and a description of the identification used;
            ``(B) a statement that the transferee--
                    ``(i) is not under indictment for, and has not been 
                convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by 
                imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
                    ``(ii) is not a fugitive from justice;
                    ``(iii) is not an unlawful user of or addicted to 
                any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of 
                the Controlled Substances Act);
                    ``(iv) has not been adjudicated as a mental 
                defective or been committed to a mental institution;
                    ``(v) is not an alien who is illegally or 
                unlawfully in the United States;
                    ``(vi) has not been discharged from the Armed 
                Forces under dishonorable conditions; and
                    ``(vii) is not a person who, having been a citizen 
                of the United States, has renounced such citizenship;
            ``(C) the date the statement is made; and
            ``(D) notice that the transferee intends to obtain a 
        handgun from the transferor.
    ``(4) Any transferor of a handgun who, after such transfer, 
receives a report from a chief law enforcement officer containing 
information that receipt or possession of the handgun by the transferee 
violates Federal, State, or local law shall immediately communicate all 
information the transferor has about the transfer and the transferee 
to--
            ``(A) the chief law enforcement officer of the place of 
        business of the transferor; and
            ``(B) the chief law enforcement officer of the place of 
        residence of the transferee.
    ``(5) Any transferor who receives information, not otherwise 
available to the public, in a report under this subsection shall not 
disclose such information except to the transferee, to law enforcement 
authorities, or pursuant to the direction of a court of law.
    ``(6)(A) Any transferor who sells, delivers, or otherwise transfers 
a handgun to a transferee shall retain the copy of the statement of the 
transferee with respect to the handgun transaction, and shall retain 
evidence that the transferor has complied with paragraph (1)(A)(i)(III) 
with respect to the statement.
    ``(B) Unless the chief law enforcement officer to whom a copy of 
the statement is sent determines that a transaction would violate 
Federal, State, or local law, the officer shall, within 30 days after 
the date the transferee made the statement, destroy the copy and any 
record containing information derived from the statement.
    ``(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term `chief law 
enforcement officer' means the chief of police, the sheriff, or an 
equivalent officer, or the designee of any such individual.
    ``(8) This subsection shall not apply to the sale of a firearm in 
the circumstances described in subsection (c).
    ``(9) The Secretary shall take necessary actions to assure that the 
provisions of this subsection are published and disseminated to dealers 
and to the public.''.
    (b) Handgun Defined.--Section 921(a) of such title is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(29) The term `handgun' means--
            ``(A) a firearm which has a short stock and is designed to 
        be held and fired by the use of a single hand; and
            ``(B) any combination of parts from which a firearm 
        described in subparagraph (A) can be assembled.''.
    (c) Penalty.--Section 924(a) of such title is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``paragraph (2) or (3) 
        of''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(s) shall be fined not 
more than $1,000, imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall apply to 
conduct engaged in 90 or more days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

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