[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 367 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 367

To prohibit the knowing possession of a firearm near a venue at which a 
Member of Congress is performing an official and representational duty 
                   or campaigning for public office.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 20, 2011

Ms. Richardson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the knowing possession of a firearm near a venue at which a 
Member of Congress is performing an official and representational duty 
                   or campaigning for public office.

    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 ``Freedom to Serve Without Fear Act of 
2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) A central tenet of representative democracy is that 
        citizens enjoy the right to peaceably assemble and petition 
        their government for redress of grievances.
            (2) For this right to be exercised meaningfully, elected 
        representatives must be able to make themselves accessible to 
        their constituents.
            (3) Fear of gun violence at events where elected 
        representatives are performing their official or 
        representational duties has a chilling effect on our democracy 
        in at least 2 ways:
                    (A) by discouraging citizens from engaging in the 
                public and personal dialogue with their representatives 
                that is the lifeblood of vibrant democratic politics; 
                and
                    (B) by leading elected representatives to reduce 
                the frequency and extent of personal contact with their 
                constituents as a reasonable precaution against 
                unreasonable threats to their personal safety.
            (4) During the summer of 2009, there were multiple cases of 
        persons carrying firearms outside of venues at which the 
        President of the United States was holding meetings and 
        official events. In one instance, a man carried an AR-15 
        automatic assault rifle and a sidearm. In another instance, 
        occurring hours before a presidential town hall a week earlier, 
        a man was arrested for breaching a security perimeter at the 
        location of the event, and was found to be in possession of an 
        unlicensed and loaded handgun.
            (5) In recent months, there has been a threefold increase 
        in the number of reported threats against Members of the United 
        States House of Representatives and Members of the United 
        States Senate.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON KNOWINGLY POSSESSING A FIREARM NEAR A VENUE AT 
              WHICH A MEMBER OF CONGRESS IS PERFORMING AN OFFICIAL AND 
              REPRESENTATIONAL DUTY OR CAMPAIGNING FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.

    (a) Prohibition.--Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(aa)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), it shall be unlawful 
for any person, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, to 
knowingly carry a firearm--
            ``(A) in, or within 250 feet of an entrance to or exit 
        from, a building or structure where the person knows that a 
        Member of Congress is--
                    ``(i) performing an official and representational 
                duty of the Member;
                    ``(ii) engaging in campaign activity as a candidate 
                for election for Federal office for purposes of the 
                Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971; or
                    ``(iii) engaging in campaign activity as a 
                candidate for election for State or local office, as 
                determined pursuant to State law; or
            ``(B) at, or within 500 feet of, any other place where the 
        person knows that a Member of Congress is performing such a 
        duty or engaging in such a campaign activity,
if there is visible, at each place that is at the applicable distance 
specified in this sentence from the building, structure, or other 
place, a sign which clearly and conspicuously states that a Member of 
Congress will be present at the building, structure, or other place, 
and so states the time interval during which the Member of Congress is 
scheduled to be so present.
    ``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the carrying of a firearm--
            ``(A) by a law enforcement officer (whether on- or off-
        duty) who is authorized to carry a firearm in the line of duty; 
        or
            ``(B) pursuant to the express written permission of--
                    ``(i) any Member of Congress present at the 
                location involved, which permission has been filed with 
                the chief of police of the locality involved; or
                    ``(ii) the chief of police of the locality 
                involved;
            ``(C) on real property owned or rented by the carrier of 
        the firearm;
            ``(D) on the premises of a business in which the carrier of 
        the firearm is employed and authorized by the employer to carry 
        the firearm; or
            ``(E) which is in a locked container or otherwise not 
        readily accessible for use.
    ``(3) If Federal investigative or prosecutive jurisdiction is 
asserted for a violation of this subsection, such assertion shall 
suspend the exercise of jurisdiction by a State or local authority, 
under any applicable State or local law, until Federal action is 
terminated.
    ``(4) Violations of this subsection shall be investigated by the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistance may be requested from any 
Federal, State, or local agency, including the Army, Navy, and Air 
Force, any statute, rule, or regulation to the contrary 
notwithstanding.''.
    (b) Penalties.--Section 924(a) of such title is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(8) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(aa) shall be fined 
under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.''.

SEC. 4. ENCOURAGING STATES TO ADOPT FIREARMS PROHIBITIONS SIMILAR TO 
              FEDERAL LAW TO PROTECT STATE AND LOCAL ELECTED AND 
              APPOINTED OFFICIALS.

    (a) In General.--For each fiscal year after the expiration of the 
period specified in subsection (b)(1) in which a State receives funds 
for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program under 
subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), the State shall have in 
effect throughout the State laws and policies that prohibit any person 
to knowingly possess a firearm near a venue at which an elected or 
appointed State or local official is performing an official and 
representational duty or campaigning for public office if such 
possession would constitute an offense under subsection (aa) of section 
922 of title 18, United States Code, if such official were a Member of 
Congress.
    (b) Compliance and Ineligibility.--
            (1) Compliance date.--Each State shall have not more than 1 
        year from the date of enactment of this Act to comply with 
        subsection (a), except that--
                    (A) the Attorney General may grant an additional 1 
                year to a State that is making good faith efforts to 
                comply with such subsection; and
                    (B) the Attorney General shall waive the 
                requirements of subsection (a) if compliance with such 
                subsection by a State would be unconstitutional under 
                the constitution of such State.
            (2) Ineligibility for funds.--For any fiscal year after the 
        expiration of the period specified in paragraph (1), a State 
        that fails to comply with subsection (a) shall not receive 10 
        percent of the funds that would otherwise be allocated for that 
        fiscal year to the State for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 
        Assistance Grant Program under subpart 1 of part E of title I 
        of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
        U.S.C. 3750 et seq.).
    (c) Reallocation.--Amounts not allocated under such Edward Byrne 
Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program to a State for failure to 
fully comply with subsection (a) shall be reallocated under that 
program to States that have not failed to comply with such subsection.
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