[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1245 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1245

  To amend title 18, United States Code, to regulate the transfer of 
          firearms over the Internet, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 24, 1999

   Mr. Rush 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 transfer of 
          firearms over the Internet, 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 ``Internet Gun Trafficking Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. REGULATION OF INTERNET FIREARMS TRANSFERS.

    (a) Prohibitions.--Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after subsection (y) the following:
    ``(z) Regulation of Internet Firearms Transfers.--
            ``(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for any person to 
        operate an Internet website, if a purpose of the website is to 
        offer 1 or more firearms for sale or exchange, or is to 
        otherwise facilitate the sale or exchange of 1 or more firearms 
        posted or listed on the website, unless--
                    ``(A) the person is licensed as a manufacturer, 
                importer, or dealer under section 923;
                    ``(B) the person notifies the Secretary of the 
                Internet address of the website, and any other 
                information concerning the website as the Secretary may 
                require by regulation; and
                    ``(C) if any firearm posted or listed for sale or 
                exchange on the website is not from the business 
                inventory or personal collection of that person--
                            ``(i) the person, as a term or condition 
                        for posting or listing the firearm for sale or 
                        exchange on the website on behalf of a 
                        prospective transferor, requires that, in the 
                        event of any agreement to sell or exchange the 
                        firearm pursuant to that posting or listing, 
                        the firearm be transferred to that person for 
                        disposition in accordance with clause (iii);
                            ``(ii) the person prohibits the posting or 
                        listing on the website of any information 
                        (including any name, nickname, telephone 
                        number, address, or electronic mail address) 
                        that is reasonably likely to enable the 
                        prospective transferor and prospective 
                        transferee to contact one another directly 
                        prior to the shipment of the firearm to that 
                        person under clause (i), except that this 
                        clause does not include any information 
                        relating solely to the manufacturer, importer, 
                        model, caliber, gauge, physical attributes, 
                        operation, performance, or price of the 
                        firearm; and
                            ``(iii) with respect to each firearm 
                        received from a prospective transferor under 
                        clause (i), the person--
                                    ``(I) enters such information about 
                                the firearm as the Secretary may 
                                require by regulation into a separate 
                                bound record;
                                    ``(II) in transferring the firearm 
                                to any transferee, complies with the 
                                requirements of this chapter as if the 
                                firearm were being transferred from the 
                                business inventory of that person; and
                                    ``(III) if the prospective 
                                transferor does not provide the person 
                                with a certified copy of a valid 
                                firearms license issued to the 
                                prospective transferor under this 
                                chapter, submits to the Secretary a 
                                report of the transfer or other 
                                disposition of the firearm on a form 
                                specified by the Secretary, which 
                                report shall not include the name of, 
                                or any other identifying information 
                                relating to, the transferor.
            ``(2) Transfers by persons other than licensees.--It shall 
        be unlawful for any person who is not licensed under section 
        923 to transfer a firearm pursuant to a posting or listing of 
        the firearm for sale or exchange on an Internet website 
        described in paragraph (1) to any person other than the 
        operator of the website.''.
    (b) Penalties.--Section 924(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) Whoever willfully violates section 922(z)(2) shall be 
        fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 2 years, or 
        both.''.
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