[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1400 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1400

  To amend title 18, United States Code, to permanently prohibit the 
possession of firearms by persons who have been convicted of a violent 
                    felony, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               August 6 (legislative day, June 30), 1993

  Mr. Lautenberg (for himself and Mr. Simon) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 18, United States Code, to permanently prohibit the 
possession of firearms by persons who have been convicted of a violent 
                    felony, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Stop Arming Felons (SAFe) Act''.

SEC. 2. PERMANENT FIREARM PROHIBITION FOR CONVICTED VIOLENT FELONS AND 
              SERIOUS DRUG OFFENDERS.

    Section 921(a)(20) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(20)''; and
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as 
                clauses (i) and (ii), respectively;
            (2) in the second sentence, by striking ``What'' and 
        inserting the following:
    ``(B) What''; and
            (3) by striking the third sentence and inserting the 
        following new subparagraph:
    ``(C)(i) A conviction that has been expunged or set aside, or for 
which a person has been pardoned or has had civil rights restored, 
shall not be considered to be a conviction for purposes of this chapter 
if--
            ``(I) the expungement, setting aside, pardon, or 
        restoration of civil rights applies to a named person; and
            ``(II) the authority that grants the expungement, setting 
        aside, pardon, or restoration of civil rights expressly 
        authorizes the person to ship, transport, receive, and possess 
        firearms and expressly determines that the circumstances 
        regarding the conviction and the person's record and reputation 
        are such that--
                    ``(aa) the person is not likely to act in a manner 
                that is dangerous to public safety; and
                    ``(bb) the granting of the relief is not contrary 
                to the public interest.
    ``(ii) Clause (i) shall not apply to a conviction of a serious drug 
offense (as defined in section 924(e)(2)(A)) or violent felony (as 
defined in section 924(e)(2)(B)).''.

SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF FROM CERTAIN FIREARMS PROHIBITIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 925(c) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence by inserting ``(other than a 
        natural person)'' before ``who is prohibited'';
            (2) by striking the second and third sentences;
            (3) in the fourth sentence--
                    (A) by inserting ``person (other than a natural 
                person) who is a'' before ``licensed importer''; and
                    (B) by striking ``his'' and inserting ``the 
                person's''; and
            (4) in the fifth sentence, by inserting ``(i) the name of 
        the person, (ii) the disability with respect to which the 
        relief is granted, and, if the disability was imposed by reason 
        of a criminal conviction of the person, the crime for which and 
        the court in which the person was convicted, and (iii)'' before 
        ``the reasons therefor''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to--
            (1) applications for administrative relief and actions for 
        judicial review that are pending on the date of enactment of 
        this Act; and
            (2) applications for administrative relief filed and 
        actions for judicial review brought after the date of enactment 
        of this Act.

SEC. 4. INCREASE IN PENALTIES FOR UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A FIREARM BY A 
              CONVICTED FELON OR OTHER PROHIBITED PERSON.

    Section 924(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' before ``Whoever'';
            (2) by striking ``(g),''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
    ``(B) Whoever knowingly violates subsection (g) of section 922 
shall be fined not more than $20,000, imprisoned not more than 10 
years, or both.''.

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