[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 376 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 376

To prohibit the transfer of 2 or more handguns to an individual in any 
                             30-day period.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 16 (legislative day, January 5), 1993

Mr. Lautenberg introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the transfer of 2 or more handguns to an individual in any 
                             30-day period.

    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 ``Multiple Handgun Transfer 
Prohibition Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. MULTIPLE HANDGUN TRANSFER PROHIBITION.

    (a) In General.--Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(s)(1)(A)(i) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, 
licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer--
            ``(I) during any 30-day period, to transfer 2 or more 
        handguns to an individual who is not licensed under section 
        923; or
            ``(II) to transfer a handgun to an individual who is not 
        licensed under section 923 and who received a handgun during 
        the 30-day period ending on the date of the transfer.
    ``(ii) It shall be unlawful for any individual who is not licensed 
under section 923 to receive 2 or more handguns during any 30-day 
period.
    ``(iii) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed 
manufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer a handgun to an individual 
who is not licensed under section 923, unless, after the most recent 
proposal of the transfer by the individual, the transferor has--
            ``(I) received from the individual a statement of the 
        individual containing the information described in paragraph 
        (3);
            ``(II) verified the identification of the individual by 
        examining the identification document presented; and
            ``(III) within 1 day after the individual furnishes the 
        statement, provided a copy of the statement to the chief law 
        enforcement officer of the place of residence of the 
        individual.
    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the transfer of a handgun 
to, or the receipt of a handgun by, an individual who has presented to 
the transferor a written statement, issued by the chief law enforcement 
officer of the place of residence of the individual during the 10-day 
period ending on the date of the transfer or receipt, which states that 
the individual requires access to a handgun because of a threat to the 
life of the individual or of any member of the household of the 
individual.
    ``(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)(iii)(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 individual containing a photograph of the 
        individual and a description of the identification used;
            ``(B) a statement that the individual--
                    ``(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;
                    ``(vii) is not a person who, having been a citizen 
                of the United States, has renounced such citizenship; 
                and
                    ``(viii) has not received a handgun during the 30-
                day period ending on the date of the statement;
            ``(C) the date the statement is made; and
            ``(D) notice that the individual intends to obtain a 
        handgun from the transferor.
    ``(4) Any transferor of a handgun who, after the 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, with respect to an individual in a report 
under this subsection shall not disclose such information except to the 
individual, to law enforcement authorities, or pursuant to the 
direction of a court of law.
    ``(6) In the case of a handgun transfer to which paragraph (1)(A) 
applies--
            ``(A) the transferor shall retain--
                    ``(i) the copy of the statement of the transferee 
                with respect to the transfer; and
                    ``(ii) evidence that the transferor has complied 
                with paragraph (1)(A)(iii)(III) with respect to the 
                statement; and
            ``(B) the chief law enforcement officer to whom a copy of a 
        statement is sent pursuant to paragraph (1)(A)(iii)(III) shall 
        retain the copy for at least 30 calendar days after the date 
        the statement was made.
    ``(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 $5,000, 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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