[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 276 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 276

 To repeal section 658 of Public Law 104-208, commonly referred to as 
                       the Lautenberg amendment.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 8, 2003

  Mr. Goode (for himself, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, and Mr. Paul) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To repeal section 658 of Public Law 104-208, commonly referred to as 
                       the Lautenberg amendment.

    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 ``States' Rights and Second and Tenth 
Amendment Restoration Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Congressional Findings:
            (1) Domestic Violence remains a very serious problem in the 
        United States. It is a dangerous crime and should be punished 
        as such, including, where appropriate, as a felony.
            (2) Many States have classified Domestic Violence crimes as 
        misdemeanors, others as felonies. States are the proper 
        authority, rather than the Federal Government, to classify 
        Domestic Violence offenses.
            (3) Where appropriate, States should classify Domestic 
        Violence offenses as a felony.
            (4) Section 658 of Public Law 104-208, commonly referred to 
        as the Lautenberg amendment, oversteps Federal authority, 
        violating States' rights, because no nexus has been shown to 
        exist between Domestic Violence and interstate commerce.
            (5) The Lautenberg amendment does not deal with a subject 
        delegated to Congress under article I, section 8 of the 
        Constitution of the United States and is therefore 
        unconstitutional under the tenth amendment to the Constitution, 
        as interpreted by United States v. Lopez.
            (6) The Lautenberg amendment oversteps Congress's power to 
        regulate commerce as delineated by the Commerce Clause of the 
        United States Constitution.
            (7) Some of the strictest gun control laws are found in 
        cities where the number of incidents of guns being used in 
        violent crimes is the highest. Therefore, the Lautenberg 
        amendment does not reduce incidents of domestic violence.
            (8) State and Federal judges already have the power to deny 
        persons convicted of misdemeanors the right to possess firearms 
        as a condition of probation or parole.
            (9) The Lautenberg amendment is an unfunded Federal mandate 
        because States are liable for the costs of monitoring those 
        citizens who have been banned for life from owning a firearm. 
        Many times this lifetime ban is a result of a misdemeanor, not 
        a felony.
            (10) Section 658 of the Treasury-Postal portion of Public 
        Law 104-208 violates all notions of constitutional due process 
        and constitutes an ex post facto law because it imposes a 
        criminal penalty on crimes which were not subject to that 
        penalty at the time of the Act.
            (11) Law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves 
        against criminals as many as 2.5 million times every year. Of 
        these self-defense cases, as many as 200,000 are by women 
        defending themselves against sexual assault.
            (12) Section 658 of the Treasury-Postal portion of Public 
        Law 104-208 will, if allowed to stand, result in the disarming 
        of millions of citizens, including women, on account of 
        misdemeanor offenses which, in many cases, were committed long 
        before the effective date of that Act.
            (13) Section 658 of the Treasury-Postal portion of Public 
        Law 104-208 will, in many cases, disarm battered women who need 
        access to firearms in order to protect themselves from their 
        battering spouses as well as from common criminals.
            (14) Section 658 of the Treasury-Postal portion of Public 
        Law 104-208 will, if allowed to stand, impose a lifetime gun 
        ban on persons who committed acts so minor that they were not 
        even entitled to a jury trial prior to conviction.
            (15) Section 658 of the Treasury-Postal portion of Public 
        Law 104-208, will, if allowed to stand, result in the disarming 
        and dismissal of a significant number of law enforcement 
        officers and American servicemen, on account of misdemeanors, 
        which in many cases, were committed long before the effective 
        date of that Act.
            (16) Section 658 of the Treasury-Postal portion of Public 
        Law 104-208 ignores the real problem surrounding domestic 
        violence in that truly violent offenders are allowed to plea-
        bargain down to misdemeanors.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to restore States' 
rights, the tenth amendment, and second amendment freedoms.

SEC. 3. REPEALER.

    Section 658 of the Treasury-Postal portion of Public Law 104-208 is 
repealed and is null and void as if it had not been enacted, and all 
provisions of law amended by such section are restored as if section 
658 had not been enacted.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect as if included in the Treasury-Postal 
portion of Public Law 104-208. Any liability, penalty, or forfeiture 
incurred by any person by reason of the application of any amendment 
made by section 658 of the Treasury-Postal portion of Public Law 104-
208 is hereby extinguished, and any action or prosecution for the 
enforcement of any such liability, penalty, or forfeiture shall not be 
sustained.
                                 <all>