[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4208 Introduced in House (IH)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 4208

  To amend title 18, United States Code, to regulate the manufacture, 
 importation, and sale of any projectile that may be used in a handgun 
   and is capable of penetrating police body armor, and to prohibit 
persons convicted of a crime involving domestic violence from owning or 
              possessing firearms, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 1996

 Ms. Lofgren introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 18, United States Code, to regulate the manufacture, 
 importation, and sale of any projectile that may be used in a handgun 
   and is capable of penetrating police body armor, and to prohibit 
persons convicted of a crime involving domestic violence from owning or 
              possessing firearms, 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 ``Gun Violence Control Act''.

                      TITLE I--COP-KILLER BULLETS

SEC. 101. REGULATION OF THE MANUFACTURE, IMPORTATION, AND SALE OF 
              PROJECTILES THAT MAY BE USED IN A HANDGUN AND ARE CAPABLE 
              OF PENETRATING POLICE BODY ARMOR.

    (a) Expansion of Definition of Armor Piercing Ammunition.--Section 
921(a)(17)(B) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or'' at the end of clause (i);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of clause (ii) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(iii) a projectile that may be used in a handgun and that 
        the Secretary determines, pursuant to section 926(d), to be 
        capable of penetrating body armor.''.
    (b) Determination of the Capability of Projectiles to Penetrate 
Body Armor.--Section 926 of such title is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(d)(1) The Secretary shall determine whether a projectile is 
capable of penetrating body armor, in accordance with regulations 
prescribed by the Secretary not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this subsection. Such regulations shall provide for 
uniform testing of projectiles against the Body Armor Exemplar, based 
on standards developed in cooperation with the Attorney General of the 
United States. Such standards shall take into account, among other 
factors, variations in performance that are related to the length of 
the barrel of the handgun from which the projectile is fired and the 
amount and kind of powder used to propel the projectile.
    ``(2) As used in paragraph (1), the term `Body Armor Exemplar' 
means body armor that the Secretary, in cooperation with the Attorney 
General of the United States, determines meets minimum standards for 
protection of law enforcement officers.''.

                      TITLE II--DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(33) The term `crime involving domestic violence' means a crime 
of violence (as defined in section 16) committed by a current or former 
spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim, by a person with whom the 
victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with 
or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or 
by a person similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the 
victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction 
in which such crime of violence was committed.''.

SEC. 202. UNLAWFUL ACTS.

    Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (7);
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (8) and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following:
            ``(9) is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any 
        court of, a crime involving domestic violence.''; and
            (2) in subsection (g)--
                    (A) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (7);
                    (B) by striking the comma at the end of paragraph 
                (8) and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following:
            ``(9) who is under indictment for, or has been convicted in 
        any court, of a crime involving domestic violence,''.

SEC. 203. RULES AND REGULATIONS.

    Section 926(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``(d)(8) or (g)(8)'' and inserting ``(d)(8), (d)(9), (g)(8), 
or (g)(9)''.

SEC. 204. ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF FROM CERTAIN FIREARM PROHIBITIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 925(c) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in the 1st sentence, by inserting ``(other than a 
        person convicted of a crime involving domestic violence)'' 
        before ``who is prohibited'';
            (2) in the 4th sentence--
                    (A) by inserting ``person (other than a person 
                convicted of a crime involving domestic violence) who 
                is a'' before ``licensed importer''; and
                    (B) by striking ``his'' and inserting ``the 
                person's''; and
            (3) in the 5th sentence, by striking ``he'' and inserting 
        ``the Secretary''.
    (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 the enactment 
        of this Act; and
            (2) applications for administrative relief filed, and 
        actions for judicial review brought, after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
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