[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 19 (Thursday, February 7, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S524-S526]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs. 
        Boxer, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Lautenberg):
  S. 261. A bill to establish and clarify that Congress does not 
authorize persons convicted of dangerous crimes in foreign courts to 
freely possess firearms in the United States; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the No 
Firearms for Foreign Felons Act of 2013. This bill would close a 
loophole in current law, by ensuring that people convicted of foreign 
felonies and crimes involving domestic violence cannot possess 
firearms. We must close this gap in our laws before it is exploited by 
terrorists, drug gangs, and other dangerous criminals who threaten our 
communities.
  Under current Federal law, people who are convicted in the United 
Sates of violent felonies like rape, murder, and terrorism are 
prohibited from possessing firearms. But, shockingly, Federal law does 
not bar criminals convicted of these same violent crimes in foreign 
courts from possessing guns. This outrageous loophole for foreign 
convicts is the result of a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the 
case of Small v. United States.
  In that case, the Court analyzed the 1968 Gun Control Act, which 
states that anyone who has been convicted of a felony ``in any court'' 
cannot possess firearms. The Court concluded that the phrase only 
applied to American courts, despite the fact that the Gun Control Act 
had been applied to foreign felonies since 1968, the year it took 
effect.
  At the time, the Supreme Court was very much aware that its ruling 
could have serious consequences. As Justice Clarence Thomas noted in 
his dissent, ``the majority's interpretation permits those convicted 
overseas of murder, rape, assault, kidnapping, terrorism, and other 
dangerous crimes to possess firearms freely in the United States.'' But 
whatever one may think of the Court's ruling, it is now the law of the 
land.
  We must make every effort to close this dangerous loophole and the 
bill I am introducing today would do just that.
  Under this bill, section 921 of Title 18 would be amended to state 
that ``[the term `any court' includes any Federal, State, or foreign 
court.'' Similar changes would be made in other sections of the Gun 
Control Act. Where there are references to ``state offenses'' or 
``offenses under state law,'' the bill would expand these terms to 
include convictions of offenses under foreign law.
  In other words, the bill would make it clear that if someone was 
convicted in a foreign court of an offense that would have disqualified 
him from possessing a gun in the U.S., then they will be disqualified 
from gun possession under U.S. law. The only exception will be if there 
is reason to think the conviction entered by the foreign jurisdiction 
is somehow invalid.

[[Page S526]]

  Under the bill, a foreign conviction will not constitute a 
``conviction'' under the Gun Control Act, if either: the foreign 
conviction resulted from a denial of fundamental fairness that would 
violate due process if committed in the United States, or the conduct 
on which the foreign conviction was based would be legal if committed 
in the United States.
  I expect that these circumstances will be fairly rare, but the bill 
does take them into account and will provide a complete defense to 
anyone with an invalid foreign conviction. In any event, it is clear 
that we should not keep in place a dangerous policy which essentially 
treats every foreign conviction as invalid.
  Ensuring that foreign convictions count as convictions under U.S. law 
is important for a second reason. When someone with a felony conviction 
is arrested for another crime, the government may charge that person 
with being a felon in possession of a firearm or may seek a sentence 
enhancement. However, if a foreign conviction is not treated as a 
conviction under our law, then the defendant may receive a 
significantly lower sentence than is appropriate given the number of 
convictions on his record.
  Particularly in these times, America cannot continue to give foreign-
convicted murderers, rapists, and even terrorists the right to buy 
firearms in the United States.
  With each passing day, we run a risk that foreign felons are 
exploiting this loophole in our law. This is unacceptable.
  Criminals convicted in foreign courts should not be able to have guns 
when U.S. law forbids those convicted of the same crimes on U.S. soil 
from possessing guns. We should not wait for lives to be lost before we 
act to close this loophole.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
                                 ______