[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 492 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 492

    To apply the same quality and safety standards to domestically 
 manufactured handguns that are currently applied to imported handguns.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 22, 1997

   Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mr. Stark, Mrs. Lowey, and Mr. Brown of 
 California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To apply the same quality and safety standards to domestically 
 manufactured handguns that are currently applied to imported handguns.

    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 ``American Handgun Standards Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibited the importation 
        of handguns that failed to meet minimum quality and safety 
        standards;
            (2) the Gun Control Act of 1968 did not impose any quality 
        and safety standards on domestically produced handguns;
            (3) domestically produced handguns are specifically 
        exempted from oversight by the Consumer Product Safety 
        Commission and are not required to meet any quality and safety 
        standards;
            (4) each year--
                    (A) gunshots kill more than 35,000 Americans and 
                wound approximately 250,000;
                    (B) approximately 75,000 Americans are hospitalized 
                for the treatment of gunshot wounds;
                    (C) Americans spend more than $20 billion for the 
                medical treatment of gunshot wounds; and
                    (D) gun violence costs the United States economy a 
                total of $135 billion;
            (5) the disparate treatment of imported handguns and 
        domestically produced handguns has led to the creation of a 
        high-volume market for junk guns, defined as those handguns 
        that fail to meet the quality and safety standards required of 
        imported handguns;
            (6) traffic in junk guns constitutes a serious threat to 
        public welfare and to law enforcement officers;
            (7) junk guns are used disproportionately in the commission 
        of crimes; and
            (8) the domestic manufacture, transfer, and possession of 
        junk guns should be restricted.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF JUNK GUN.

    Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(33)(A) The term `junk gun' means any handgun that does 
        not meet the standard imposed on imported handguns as described 
        in section 925(d)(3), and any regulations issued under such 
        section.''.

SEC. 4. RESTRICTION ON MANUFACTURE, TRANSFER, AND POSSESSION OF CERTAIN 
              HANDGUNS.

    Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(y)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to manufacture, 
transfer, or possess a junk gun that has been shipped or transported in 
interstate or foreign commerce.
    ``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to--
            ``(A) the possession or transfer of a junk gun otherwise 
        lawfully possessed under Federal law on the date of the 
        enactment of the American Handgun Standards Act of 1997;
            ``(B) a firearm or replica of a firearm that has been 
        rendered permanently inoperative;
            ``(C)(i) the manufacture for, transfer to, or possession 
        by, the United States or a State or a department or agency of 
        the United States, or a State or a department, agency, or 
        political subdivision of a State, of a junk gun; or
            ``(ii) the transfer to, or possession by, a law enforcement 
        officer employed by an entity referred to in clause (i) of a 
        junk gun for law enforcement purposes (whether on or off-duty);
            ``(D) the transfer to, or possession by, a rail police 
        officer employed by a rail carrier and certified or 
        commissioned as a police officer under the laws of a State of a 
        junk gun for purposes of law enforcement (whether on or off-
        duty); or
            ``(E) the manufacture, transfer, or possession of a junk 
        gun by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer for the 
        purposes of testing or experimentation authorized by the 
        Secretary.''.
                                 <all>