[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3209 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3209

  To provide grants to law enforcement agencies to purchase firearms 
               needed to perform law enforcement duties.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 3, 1999

 Mr. Blagojevich introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide grants to law enforcement agencies to purchase firearms 
               needed to perform law enforcement duties.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Buford Furrow, a white supremacist, used a Glock pistol 
        decommissioned and sold by a law enforcement agency in the 
        State of Washington, to shoot children at a Jewish community 
        center in Los Angeles and kill a postal worker.
            (2) Twelve firearms were recently stolen during shipment 
        from the Miami-Dade Police Department to Chicago, Illinois. 
        Four of these firearms have been traced to crimes in Chicago, 
        Illinois, including a shooting near a playground.
            (3) In the past 9 years, decommissioned firearms once used 
        by law enforcement agencies have been involved in more than 
        3,000 crimes, including 293 homicides, 301 assaults, and 279 
        drug-related crimes.
            (4) Many State and local law enforcement departments also 
        engage in the practice of reselling firearms involved in the 
        commission of a crime and confiscated. Often these firearms are 
        assault weapons that were in circulation prior to the 
        restrictions imposed by the Violent Crime Control and Law 
        Enforcement Act of 1994.
            (5) Law enforcement departments in the States of New York 
        and Georgia, the City of Chicago, and other localities have 
        adopted the practice of destroying decommissioned firearms.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to reduce the number of 
firearms on the streets by assisting State and local law enforcement 
agencies to eliminate the practice of transferring decommissioned 
firearms to any person.

 SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    (a) Grants.--The Attorney General may make grants to States or 
units of local government--
            (1) to assist States and units of local government in 
        purchasing new firearms without transferring decommissioned 
        firearms to any person; and
            (2) to destroy decommissioned firearms.
    (b) Eligibility.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), to be 
        eligible to receive a grant under this Act, a State or unit of 
        local government shall certify that it has in effect a law or 
        official policy that--
                    (A) eliminates the practice of transferring any 
                decommissioned firearm to any person; and
                    (B) provides for the destruction of a 
                decommissioned firearm.
            (2) Exception.--A State or unit of local government may 
        transfer a decommissioned firearm to another law enforcement 
        agency.
    (c) Use of Funds.--A State or unit of local government that 
receives a grant under this Act shall use such grant only to purchase 
new firearms.

 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS.

    (a) State Applications.--To request a grant under this Act, the 
chief executive of a State shall submit an application, signed by the 
Attorney General of the State requesting the grant, to the Attorney 
General in such form and containing such information as the Attorney 
General may reasonably require.
    (b) Local Applications.--To request a grant under this Act, the 
chief executive of a unit of local government shall submit an 
application, signed by the chief law enforcement officer in the unit of 
local government requesting the grant, to the Attorney General in such 
form and containing such information as the Attorney General may 
reasonably require.

SEC. 5. REGULATIONS.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Attorney General shall promulgate regulations to implement this Act, 
which shall specify the information that must be included and the 
requirements that the States and units of local government must meet in 
submitting applications for grants under this Act.

SEC. 6. REPORTING.

    A State or unit of local government shall report to the Attorney 
General not later than 2 years after funds are received under this Act, 
regarding the implementation of this Act. Such report shall include 
budget assurances that any future purchase of a firearm by the law 
enforcement agency will be possible without transferring a 
decommissioned firearm.

SEC. 7. DEFINITION.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``firearm'' has the same meaning given such 
        term in section 921(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code;
            (2) the term ``decommissioned firearm'' means a firearm--
                    (A) no longer in service or use by a law 
                enforcement agency; or
                    (B) involved in the commission of a crime and 
                confiscated and no longer needed for evidentiary 
                purposes; and
             (3) the term ``person'' has the same meaning given such 
        term in section 1 of title 1 of the United States Code.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2001 through 2005.
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