[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6842 Received in Senate (RDS)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 6842


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 18 (legislative day, September 17), 2008

                    Received and read the first time

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
    To restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia.

    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 ``Second Amendment Enforcement Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution 
        provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms 
        shall not be infringed.
            (2) As the Congress and the Supreme Court of the United 
        States have recognized, the Second Amendment to the United 
        States Constitution protects the rights of individuals, 
        including those who are not members of a militia or engaged in 
        military service or training, to keep and bear arms.
            (3) The law-abiding citizens of the District of Columbia 
        are deprived by local laws of handguns, rifles, and shotguns 
        that are commonly kept by law-abiding persons throughout the 
        United States for sporting use and for lawful defense of their 
        persons, homes, businesses, and families.
            (4) The District of Columbia has the highest per capita 
        murder rate in the Nation, which may be attributed in part to 
        local laws prohibiting possession of firearms by law-abiding 
        persons who would otherwise be able to defend themselves and 
        their loved ones in their own homes and businesses.
            (5) The Federal Gun Control Act of 1968, as amended by the 
        Firearms Owners' Protection Act of 1986, and the Brady Handgun 
        Violence Prevention Act of 1993, provide comprehensive Federal 
        regulations applicable in the District of Columbia as 
        elsewhere. In addition, existing District of Columbia criminal 
        laws punish possession and illegal use of firearms by violent 
        criminals and felons. Consequently, there is no need for local 
        laws which only affect and disarm law-abiding citizens.
            (6) Officials of the District of Columbia have indicated 
        their intention to continue to unduly restrict lawful firearm 
        possession and use by citizens of the District.
            (7) Legislation is required to correct the District of 
        Columbia's law in order to restore the fundamental rights of 
        its citizens under the Second Amendment to the United States 
        Constitution and thereby enhance public safety.

SEC. 3. REFORM D.C. COUNCIL'S AUTHORITY TO RESTRICT FIREARMS.

    Section 4 of the Act entitled ``An Act to prohibit the killing of 
wild birds and wild animals in the District of Columbia'', approved 
June 30, 1906 (34 Stat. 809; sec. 1-303.43, D.C. Official Code) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ``Nothing in this section 
or any other provision of law shall authorize, or shall be construed to 
permit, the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or regulatory 
authority of the District of Columbia to prohibit, constructively 
prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons not prohibited from 
possessing firearms under Federal law from acquiring, possessing in 
their homes or businesses, or using for sporting, self-protection or 
other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited by Federal law 
nor subject to the National Firearms Act. The District of Columbia 
shall not have authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage 
or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms. Nothing in the 
previous two sentences shall be construed to prohibit the District of 
Columbia from regulating or prohibiting the carrying of firearms by a 
person, either concealed or openly, other than at the person's dwelling 
place, place of business, or on other land possessed by the person.''.

SEC. 4. REPEAL D.C. SEMIAUTOMATIC BAN.

    (a) In General.--Section 101(10) of the Firearms Control 
Regulations Act of 1975 (sec. 7-2501.01(10), D.C. Official Code) is 
amended to read as follows:
            ``(10) `Machine gun' means any firearm which shoots, is 
        designed to shoot, or readily restored to shoot automatically, 
        more than 1 shot without manual reloading by a single function 
        of the trigger, and includes the frame or receiver of any such 
        weapon, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, 
        or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in 
        converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of 
        parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts 
        are in the possession or under the control of a person.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment to Provisions Setting Forth Criminal 
Penalties.--Section 1(c) of the Act of July 8, 1932 (47 Stat. 651; sec. 
22--4501(c), D.C. Official Code) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) `Machine gun', as used in this Act, has the meaning given 
such term in section 101(10) of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 
1975.''.

SEC. 5. REPEAL REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Repeal of Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--Section 201(a) of the Firearms Control 
        Regulations Act of 1975 (sec. 7-2502.01(a), D.C. Official Code) 
        is amended by striking ``any firearm, unless'' and all that 
        follows through paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 
        ``any firearm described in subsection (c).''.
            (2) Description of firearms remaining illegal.--Section 201 
        of such Act (sec. 7-2502.01, D.C. Official Code) is amended by 
        adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) A firearm described in this subsection is any of the 
following:
            ``(1) A sawed-off shotgun.
            ``(2) A machine gun.
            ``(3) A short-barreled rifle.''.
            (3) Conforming amendment.--The heading of section 201 of 
        such Act (sec. 7--2502.01, D.C. Official Code) is amended by 
        striking ``Registration requirements'' and inserting ``Firearm 
        Possession''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments to Firearms Control Regulations Act.--The 
Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 is amended as follows:
            (1) Sections 202 through 211 (secs. 7-2502.02 through 7-
        2502.11, D.C. Official Code) are repealed.
            (2) Section 101 (sec. 7--2501.01, D.C. Official Code) is 
        amended by striking paragraph (13).
            (3) Section 401 (sec. 7--2504.01, D.C. Official Code) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``the 
                District;'' and all that follows and inserting the 
                following: ``the District, except that a person may 
                engage in hand loading, reloading, or custom loading of 
                ammunition for firearms lawfully possessed under this 
                Act.''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b), by striking ``which are 
                unregisterable under section 202'' and inserting 
                ``which are prohibited under section 201''.
            (4) Section 402 (sec. 7--2504.02, D.C. Official Code) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``Any person 
                eligible to register a firearm'' and all that follows 
                through ``such business,'' and inserting the following: 
                ``Any person not otherwise prohibited from possessing 
                or receiving a firearm under Federal or District law, 
                or from being licensed under section 923 of title 18, 
                United States Code,''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b), by amending paragraph (1) to 
                read as follows:
            ``(1) The applicant's name;''.
            (5) Section 403(b) (sec. 7--2504.03(b), D.C. Official Code) 
        is amended by striking ``registration certificate'' and 
        inserting ``dealer's license''.
            (6) Section 404(a)(3) (sec. 7--2504.04(a)(3)), D.C. 
        Official Code) is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking 
                ``registration certificate number (if any) of the 
                firearm,'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)(iv), by striking ``holding 
                the registration certificate'' and inserting ``from 
                whom it was received for repair'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ``and 
                registration certificate number (if any) of the 
                firearm'';
                    (D) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking 
                ``registration certificate number or''; and
                    (E) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E).
            (7) Section 406(c) (sec. 7--2504.06(c), D.C. Official Code) 
        is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Within 45 days of a decision becoming effective which is 
unfavorable to a licensee or to an applicant for a dealer's license, 
the licensee or application shall--
            ``(1) lawfully remove from the District all destructive 
        devices in his inventory, or peaceably surrender to the Chief 
        all destructive devices in his inventory in the manner provided 
        in section 705; and
            ``(2) lawfully dispose, to himself or to another, any 
        firearms and ammunition in his inventory.''.
            (8) Section 407(b) (sec. 7--2504.07(b), D.C. Official Code) 
        is amended by striking ``would not be eligible'' and all that 
        follows and inserting ``is prohibited from possessing or 
        receiving a firearm under Federal or District law.''.
            (9) Section 502 (sec. 7--2505.02, D.C. Official Code) is 
        amended--
                    (A) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
    ``(a) Any person or organization not prohibited from possessing or 
receiving a firearm under Federal or District law may sell or otherwise 
transfer ammunition or any firearm, except those which are prohibited 
under section 201, to a licensed dealer.'';
                    (B) by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
    ``(c) Any licensed dealer may sell or otherwise transfer a firearm 
to any person or organization not otherwise prohibited from possessing 
or receiving such firearm under Federal or District law.'';
                    (C) in subsection (d), by striking paragraphs (2) 
                and (3); and
                    (D) by striking subsection (e).
            (10) Section 704 (sec. 7--2507.04, D.C. Official Code) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``any 
                registration certificate or'' and inserting ``a''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b), by striking ``registration 
                certificate,''.
    (c) Other Conforming Amendments.--Section 2(4) of the Illegal 
Firearm Sale and Distribution Strict Liability Act of 1992 (sec. 7--
2531.01(2)(4), D.C. Official Code) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``or ignoring proof of 
        the purchaser's residence in the District of Columbia''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``registration and''.

SEC. 6. REPEAL HANDGUN AMMUNITION BAN.

    Section 601(3) of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 
(sec. 7-2506.01(3), D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking ``is the 
holder of the valid registration certificate for'' and inserting 
``owns''.

SEC. 7. RESTORE RIGHT OF SELF DEFENSE IN THE HOME.

    Section 702 of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 (sec. 
7-2507.02, D.C. Official Code) is repealed.

SEC. 8. REMOVE CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR POSSESSION OF UNREGISTERED 
              FIREARMS.

    (a) In General.--Section 706 of the Firearms Control Regulations 
Act of 1975 (sec. 7-2507.06, D.C. Official Code) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``that:'' and all that follows through 
        ``(1) A'' and inserting ``that a''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (2).
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to violations occurring after the 60-day period 
which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 9. REMOVE CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CARRYING A FIREARM IN ONE'S 
              DWELLING OR OTHER PREMISES.

    (a) In General.--Section 4(a) of the Act of July 8, 1932 (47 Stat. 
651; sec. 22--4504(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended--
            (1) in the matter before paragraph (1), by striking ``a 
        pistol,'' and inserting the following: ``except in his dwelling 
        house or place of business or on other land possessed by that 
        person, whether loaded or unloaded, a firearm,''; and
            (2) by striking ``except that:'' and all that follows 
        through ``(2) If the violation'' and inserting ``except that if 
        the violation''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 5 of such Act (47 Stat. 651; 
sec. 22--4505, D.C. Official Code) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``pistol'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``firearm''; and
            (2) by striking ``pistols'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``firearms''.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZING PURCHASES OF FIREARMS BY DISTRICT RESIDENTS.

    Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended in 
paragraph (b)(3) by inserting after ``other than a State in which the 
licensee's place of business is located'' the following: ``, or to the 
sale or delivery of a handgun to a resident of the District of Columbia 
by a licensee whose place of business is located in Maryland or 
Virginia,''.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 17, 2008.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.