[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2393 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2393

        To restore the second amendment rights of all Americans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 25, 1995

 Mr. Stockman (for himself, Mr. Funderburk, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mrs. 
Chenoweth, and Mr. Hostettler) introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 
Committees on Government Reform and Oversight and Ways and Means, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
        To restore the second amendment rights of all Americans.

    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 ``Second Amendment Reaffirmation Act 
of 1995.''

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds:
            (1) Article I, section 8, of the Constitution of the United 
        States gives no authority to Congress to require a waiting 
        period or a background check before the sale of a firearm.
            (2) The United States Supreme Court, in United States v. 
        Lopez, struck down gun control legislation for lack of 
        constitutional authority.
            (3) A number of Federal district courts have ruled that the 
        Federal mandate imposed on the States by Public Law 103-159 
        violates the tenth amendment to the Constitution of the United 
        States.
            (4) Public Law 103-159 violates the second amendment to the 
        Constitution of the United States because it impermissibly 
        infringes on the right of the people to secure a firearm when 
        necessary for the protection of person and property and for the 
        pursuit of other constitutionally protected activities.
            (5) Waiting periods and background checks have produced 
        devastating effects for law-abiding citizens trying to acquire 
        firearms for self-defense. For example:
                    (A) Phillip Russell Coleman, a resident of 
                Louisiana, sought to buy a handgun for self-defense, 
                but was erroneously rejected after a background check 
                in August, 1995. The error was later corrected--three 
                days after Coleman was murdered in his place of 
                employment.
                    (B) Residents of Los Angeles were forced to wait 
                fifteen days during the 1992 riots before they could 
                legally buy firearms for protection, in spite of the 
                fact that police admitted they could not protect them.
                    (C) In 1991, Bonnie Elmasri of Wisconsin tried to 
                purchase a handgun to protect herself from her 
                estranged husband, but he returned home and killed her 
                and her two children before the forty-eight-hour 
                waiting period required by State law had expired.
            (6) In addition to the problem of delays and erroneous 
        denials for law-abiding citizens who need to protect 
        themselves, background checks can also lend themselves to 
        official abuse.
                    (A) In 1991, the office of Technology Assessment 
                commented on the possibility of gun owner registration 
                under Virginia's instant check system. It stated, 
                ``[T]he potential [for registration] exists regardless 
                of legal prohibitions.''
                    (B) A Justice Department Task Force stated in 1989 
                that ``[a]ny system that requires a criminal record 
                check prior to purchase of a firearm creates the 
                potential for the automated tracking of individuals who 
                seek to purchase firearms.''

SEC. 3. SECOND AMENDMENT RESTORATION.

    (a) Public Law 103-159 is hereby repealed, and any provisions of 
law amended or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such 
Act had not been enacted.
    (b) The Assault Weapon Manufacturing Strict Liability Act of 1990 
(D.C. Act 8-289, signed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia on 
December 17, 1990) is hereby repealed, and any provisions of law 
amended or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such Act 
had not been enacted.
    (c) The second sentence of paragraph (4) of subsection (g) of 
section 923 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows: ``Where discontinuance of the business is absolute, such 
records shall be delivered within thirty days after the business 
discontinuance to another licensee.''.
    (d) Subparagraph (2)(A) of subsection (d) of section 924 of title 
18, United States Code, is amended by adding after ``chapter'' the 
following: ``or under chapter 53 of subtitle E of title 26, United 
States Code, including a proceeding before an Administrative Law 
Judge''.
    (e) Subparagraph (2)(B) of subsection (d) of section 924 of title 
18, United States Code, is amended by adding after ``chapter'' the 
following: ``or under chapter 53 of subtitle E of title 26, United 
States Code, including a proceeding before an Administrative Law 
Judge''.
    (f) Subparagraph (2)(D) of subsection (d) of section 924 of title 
18, United States Code, is amended by striking all after ``(D)'' and 
inserting in lieu thereof the following: ``Any person aggrieved by the 
violation of any civil or constitutional right in connection with the 
lawful possession or use of a firearm by the Government of the United 
States or any official or employee thereof or the government of any 
State or subdivision or any official employee thereof may bring an 
action for actual and punitive damages in the Federal district court in 
which such person resides or transacts business. The court may award a 
prevailing plaintiff, other than the Government of the United States or 
any State or any subdivision thereof, or any official or employee 
thereof, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. Nothing in this 
subparagraph shall be construed to limit any remedies which may 
otherwise be available to such person.''
    (g) Section 926 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end thereof the following new subsections:
    ``(d) No provision of law, nor any statute of any State or 
subdivision thereof, enacted to regulate the level of any pollutant or 
pollutants may be applied to the sale, transportation, possession, 
importation, or use of any firearm or ammunition.
    ``(e) No officer or employee of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 
Firearms may undertake any investigation of a single individual, 
organization, or business which will reasonably require expenditures in 
excess of $4,000 without prior written approval by the Deputy Secretary 
of the Treasury.
    ``(f) No officer or employee of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 
Firearms may undertake any investigation in consultation or cooperation 
with the Internal Revenue Service without prior written approval by the 
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.
    ``(g) Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be 
imprisoned for not more than two years, fined not more than $250,000, 
or both.
    ``(h)(1) No officer, agent, or employee of the United States may 
list, record, copy, or computerize the names of firearms owners, other 
than those required to be maintained under title 26, United States 
Code, nor shall such officer, agent, or employee transfer information 
concerning the identities of firearms owners to a facility owned, 
managed, or controlled by the United States or any State or political 
subdivision thereof, nor shall such officer, agent, or employee 
participate in the establishment of any system of registration of 
firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions. 
Any list, record, copy, computerization, facility, or system which, had 
it been created or expanded following the effective date of this Act, 
would be in violation of this Act, together with any records delivered 
to the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (g) of section 
923 of title 18, United States Code, shall be destroyed within ninety 
days of the effective date of this Act.
    ``(2) Any person aggrieved by the violation of any civil or 
constitutional right in connection with a violation of the provisions 
or this subsection by the Government of the United States or any 
official or employee thereof or the government of any State or 
subdivision or any official or employee thereof may bring an action for 
actual and punitive damages in the Federal district court in which such 
person resides or transacts business. The court may award a prevailing 
plaintiff, other than the Government of the United States or any 
subdivision thereof, or any official or employee thereof, reasonable 
attorneys' fees and costs. Nothing in this subparagraph shall be 
construed to limit any remedies which may otherwise be available to 
such person.''.

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any 
person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect 
other provisions or applications of the Act which can be given effect 
without the invalid provisions or applications, and to this end the 
provisions of this Act are severable.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The provisions of this Act shall take effect immediately upon 
enactment.
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