[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 890 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 890

    To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to gun free 
                    schools, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 June 7 (legislative day, June 5), 1995

  Mr. Kohl (for himself, Mr. Specter, Mr. Simon, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. 
  Bradley, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Chafee, and Mr. Kerrey) 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, with respect to gun free 
                    schools, 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-Free School Zones Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION.

    Section 922(q) of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read 
as follows:
    ``(q)(1) The Congress finds and declares that--
            ``(A) crime, particularly crime involving drugs and guns, 
        is a pervasive, nationwide problem;
            ``(B) crime at the local level is exacerbated by the 
        interstate movement of drugs, guns, and criminal gangs;
            ``(C) firearms and ammunition move easily in interstate 
        commerce and have been found in increasing numbers in and 
        around schools, as documented in numerous hearings in both the 
        Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives and the 
        Judiciary Committee of the Senate;
            ``(D) in fact, even before the sale of a firearm, the gun, 
        its component parts, ammunition, and the raw materials from 
        which they are made have considerably moved in interstate 
        commerce;
            ``(E) while criminals freely move from State to State, 
        ordinary citizens and foreign visitors may fear to travel to or 
        through certain parts of the country due to concern about 
        violent crime and gun violence, and parents may decline to send 
        their children to school for the same reason;
            ``(F) the occurrence of violent crime in school zones has 
        resulted in a decline in the quality of education in our 
        country;
            ``(G) this decline in the quality of education has an 
        adverse impact on interstate commerce and the foreign commerce 
        of the United States;
            ``(H) States, localities, and school systems find it almost 
        impossible to handle gun-related crime by themselves; even 
        States, localities, and school systems that have made strong 
        efforts to prevent, detect, and punish gun-related crime find 
        their efforts unavailing due in part to the failure or 
        inability of other States or localities to take strong 
        measures; and
            ``(I) Congress has power, under the interstate commerce 
        clause and other provisions of the Constitution, to enact 
        measures to ensure the integrity and safety of the Nation's 
        schools by enactment of this subsection.
    ``(2)(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to 
possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects 
interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or 
has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.
    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the possession of a 
firearm--
            ``(i) on private property not part of school grounds;
            ``(ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed 
        to do so by the State in which the school zone is located or a 
        political subdivision of the State, and the law of the State or 
        political subdivision requires that, before an individual 
        obtains such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the 
        State or political subdivision verify that the individual is 
        qualified under law to receive the license;
            ``(iii) which is--
                    ``(I) not loaded; and
                    ``(II) in a locked container, or a locked firearms 
                rack which is on a motor vehicle;
            ``(iv) by an individual for use in a program approved by a 
        school in the school zone;
            ``(v) by an individual in accordance with a contract 
        entered into between a school in the school zone and the 
        individual or an employer of the individual;
            ``(vi) by a law enforcement officer acting in his or her 
        official capacity; or
            ``(vii) that is unloaded and is possessed by an individual 
        while traversing school premises for the purpose of gaining 
        access to public or private lands open to hunting, if the entry 
        on school premises is authorized by school authorities.
    ``(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it shall be 
unlawful for any person, knowingly or with reckless disregard for the 
safety of another, to discharge or attempt to discharge a firearm that 
has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce 
at a place that the person knows is a school zone.
    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the discharge of a 
firearm--
            ``(i) on private property not part of school grounds;
            ``(ii) as part of a program approved by a school in the 
        school zone, by an individual who is participating in the 
        program;
            ``(iii) by an individual in accordance with a contract 
        entered into between a school in a school zone and the 
        individual or an employer of the individual; or
            ``(iv) by a law enforcement officer acting in his or her 
        official capacity.
    ``(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as preempting 
or preventing a State or local government from enacting a statute 
establishing gun free school zones as provided in this subsection.''.
                                 <all>