[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1228 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1228

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 8, 1997

Mr. Ackerman (for himself, Mrs. Morella, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. 
   Barrett of Wisconsin, Mr. Boehlert, Mr. Brown of California, Ms. 
Christian-Green, Mr. Evans, Mr. Farr of California, Mr. Foglietta, Mr. 
   Frank of Massachusetts, Ms. Furse, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. 
  Jefferson, Mr. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. 
  Lipinski, Mr. McDermott, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. Manton, Mr. 
  Markey, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton, Mr. Porter, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Romero-
Barcelo, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Stark, Mr. Underwood, Mr. Yates, Ms. Lofgren, 
 Mr. Blumenauer, and Mr. Rothman) introduced the following bill; which 
             was 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 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. DENIAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF FROM CERTAIN FIREARMS AND 
              EXPLOSIVES PROHIBITIONS.

    (a) In General.--(1) Section 925(c) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (A) in the first sentence by inserting ``(other than a 
        natural person)'' before ``who is prohibited'';
            (B) in the fourth sentence--
                    (i) by inserting ``person (other than a natural 
                person) who is a'' before ``licensed importer''; and
                    (ii) by striking ``his'' and inserting ``the 
                person's''; and
            (C) in the fifth sentence, by inserting ``(i) the name of 
        the person, (ii) the disability with respect to which the 
        relief is granted, (iii) 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 
        (iv)'' before ``the reasons therefor''.
    (2) Section 845(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in the first sentence by inserting ``(other 
                than a natural person)'' before ``may make application 
                to the Secretary''; and
                    (B) in the second sentence by inserting ``(other 
                than a natural person)'' before ``who makes application 
                for relief''.
    (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. 3. 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) A conviction shall not be considered to be a conviction for 
purposes of this chapter if--
            ``(i) the conviction is reversed or set aside based on a 
        determination that the conviction is invalid;
            ``(ii) the person has been pardoned, unless the authority 
        that grants the pardon expressly states that the person may not 
        ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms; or
            ``(iii) the person has had civil rights restored, or the 
        conviction is expunged, and--
                    ``(I) the authority that grants the restoration of 
                civil rights or expungement 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 the person is not 
                likely to act in a manner that is dangerous to public 
                safety, and that the granting of the relief is not 
                contrary to the public interest; and
                    ``(II) the conviction was for an offense other than 
                a serious drug offense (as defined in section 
                924(e)(2)(A)) or violent felony (as defined in section 
                924(e)(2)(B)).''.
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