[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 39 (Thursday, March 11, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2582-S2583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
  S. 594. A bill to ban the importation of large capacity ammunition 
feeding devices; to the Committee on the Judiciary.


         large-capacity ammunition magazine import ban of 1999

  Mr. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that will plug a gaping loophole in our gun laws and protect us all 
from the deadly, tragic violence of assault weapons.
  This bill is not about gun control. This bill is not about politics. 
And this bill is not about partisanship. But this bill is about 
stopping foreign manufacturers from skirting the laws that already 
apply to companies within our borders.
  The bill we introduce today will address, finally, the loophole in 
the law that allows foreign manufacturers to flood our shores with high 
capacity ammunition clips, while domestic manufacturers are prohibited 
from selling those very clips.
  Our bill bans future importation of all ammunition clips with a 
capacity of greater than 10 rounds.
  Mr. President, this legislation would not ban the sale or possession 
of clips already in circulation. And the domestic manufacture of these 
clips is already illegal for most purposes. Under current law, U.S. 
manufacturers are already prohibited from manufacturing large capacity 
clips for sale to the general public, but foreign companies continue to 
do so.
  As the author of the 1994 provision, I can assure you that this was 
not our intent. We intended to ban the future manufacture of all high 
capacity clips, leaving only a narrow clause allowing for the 
importation of clips already on their way to this country. Instead, the 
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has allowed millions of foreign 
clips into this country, with no true method of determining date of 
manufacture.
  In fact, between March and August of last year alone, BATF approved 
more than 8 million large-capacity clips for importation into America.
  Many of these clips were surely manufactured after 1994, but ATF has 
no way to determining whether or not this is true. As a result, they 
simply must take the word of the exporting company or country.
  The clips come from at least 20 different countries, from Austria to 
Zimbabwe.
  The clips approved during this one short period accounted for almost 
128 million rounds of ammunition--and every round represents the 
potential for taking one human life.
  These clips come in sizes ranging from 15 rounds per clip to 30, 75, 
90, or even 250 rounds per clip.
  Twenty thousand clips of 250-rounds came from England;
  Two million 15-round magazines came from Italy;
  Five thousand clips of 70-rounds came from the Czech Republic.
  And the list goes on, and on.
  Mr. President, 250-round clips have no sporting purpose. They are not 
used for self defense. They have only one use--the purposeful killing 
of other men, women and children.
  It is both illogical and irresponsible to permit foreign companies to 
sell items to the American public--particularly items that are so often 
used for deadly purposes--that U.S. companies are prohibited from 
selling. It is time to plug this loophole and close our borders to 
these tools of death and destruction. Our domestic manufacturers are 
complying with the law, and we must now force foreign manufacturers to 
comply as well.
  In April of last year, President Clinton and Treasury Secretary Rubin 
closed one loophole in the 1994 ban on assault weapons by blocking 
further imports of modified semiautomatic assault weapons. However, the 
Department of Justice advises me that the President lacks the legal 
authority to take the same action regarding large-capacity clips. As a 
result, we must take legislative action to stop further imports of 
these killer clips.
  In closing our borders to these high capacity clips, we will not put 
an end to all incidents of gun violence. But we will limit the 
destructive power of that violence. We will not stop every troubled 
child who decides to commit an act of violence from doing so, but we 
can limit the tools that a child can find to carry out the act.
  Each of us has been touched in some way by the devastating effects of 
gun violence. Each of our states has faced unnecessary tragedy and 
senseless destruction as a result of the high-powered, high-capacity 
weapons falling into the hands of gangs, drive-by shooters, cop 
killers, grievance killers, and yes, even children. My own state of 
California has too often been the subject of national attention due to 
incidents of gun violence.
  Just a few short months ago in Oakland, California, officer James 
Williams became yet another example of what can happen when a troubled 
teenager gets hold of a high-capacity weapon. Soon after midnight on a 
Sunday early this New Year, Officer Williams and two colleagues found 
themselves searching the side of the road for a gun that had reportedly 
been thrown by suspects involved in a recent chase. Officer Williams 
had been out of the police academy for only eleven weeks, and was 
undoubtedly looking forward to getting home to see his three children.
  But tragically, James Williams never made it home that night. While 
Williams searched for the lost gun, a 19-year-old man stood on the 
freeway overpass above and fired the shots that would change Williams' 
family forever. Using a Hungarian made AK-47 with a Chinese made high-
capacity ammunition clip, the teenager fired many shots--too many.

  One Telfon-coated bullet from this high capacity clip fatally wounded 
officer Williams, tearing through his bulletproof vest and leaving his 
three children without a father. And that lone bullet tore through more 
than just James Williams' body armor. It tore through the very fabric 
of his entire family, and its damage cannot be repaired.
  To many, Officer Williams has now become just another statistic in 
the fight against gun violence. But he is more than that to his family, 
and he must mean more than that to us, as well. We must fight to end 
the tragedies faced by so many families across this nation. We must 
fight to give meaning to the countless lives that have been 
extinguished before their time.
  One phenomenon which has most tragically revealed the problems 
presented by these high capacity clips has been the use of these clips 
by youngsters to kill other youngsters.
  In Springfield, Oregon, a 15-year-old boy used a 30-round clip to 
kill two of his fellow students and wound 22 others.
  In Jonesboro, Arkansas, one of two boys carried a Universal carbine 
equipped with a 15-round killer clip. Firing every one of those 15 
bullets, the boy helped his partner kill five people and wound 10 more.
  And just last December in Los Angeles, 27 year old LAPD officer Bryan 
Brown was shot and killed by an assailant with a rifle and double 
magazine. Following the tragic shooting, Officer Brown's 7 year old son 
asked, ``Why did my daddy have to die?''
  Mr. President, Officer Brown and Officer Williams gave their lives to 
protect the lives of so many others, and their children have now been 
left without a father. We must do what we can to make the lives of our 
law enforcement officers more safe.
  And we must also do what we can to bring foreign companies into 
compliance with the same laws we impose on companies here at home. The 
only way we can accomplish these goals is to pass this simple bill.
  In 1994, we fired a first shot in the fight against assault weapons 
and killer clips by banning the assault weapons most commonly used in 
crime and to kill police officers. I am proud to have authored that 
legislation, and many of my colleagues who joined me in that fight 
remember how hard we worked to make a difference. Our opponents told

[[Page S2583]]

us our efforts would accomplish nothing--but they were wrong. They told 
us our efforts would infringe upon the rights of innocent gun owners--
again, they were wrong.
  In fact, recent statistics prove that the assault weapons ban is 
working to reduce crime and to save the lives of law enforcement 
officers and countless others.
  A recent study by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms showed 
that compared to other guns, the use of assault weapons in crimes is 
rapidly falling. In fact, while assault weapons accounted for more than 
6% of the guns traced in crimes before the 1994 crime bill went into 
effect, these guns now account for less than 2.4% of those traces.
  But it has now become apparent that the 1994 ban on assault weapons 
left open certain loopholes. Through those loopholes fall the lives of 
courageous police officers like Officer James Williams.
  There is no convincing reason to allow foreign manufacturers to 
circumvent the ban on assault weapons while domestic manufacturers 
comply. And there is no convincing reason to keep an unlimited supply 
of these clips flowing onto our shores and into the hands of American 
criminals.
  The ban on assault weapons is working to save lives and to keep us 
safe. But we must act to fix those loopholes which still remain. Last 
year we came close--we offered this bill as an amendment on short 
notice and lost by only a few votes. I am confident that once my 
colleagues understand what this bill does--and more importantly what it 
does not do--we will win our fight.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I look forward to 
voting on this issue in the near future.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 594

       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 ``Large Capacity Ammunition 
     Magazine Import Ban Act of 1999''.

     SEC. 2. BAN ON IMPORTING LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEEDING 
                   DEVICES.

       Section 922(w) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``(1) Except as provided 
     in paragraph (2)'' and inserting ``(1)(A) Except as provided 
     in subparagraph (B)'';
       (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``(2) Paragraph (1)'' and 
     inserting ``(B) Subparagraph (A)'';
       (3) by inserting before paragraph (3) the following:
       ``(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to import a large 
     capacity ammunition feeding device.''; and
       (4) in paragraph (4)--
       (A) by striking ``(1)'' each place it appears and inserting 
     ``(1)(A)''; and
       (B) by striking ``(2)'' and inserting ``(1)(B)''.

     SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

       Section 921(a)(31) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``manufactured after the date of 
     enactment of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 
     Act of 1994''.
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