[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 130 (Friday, July 7, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38543-38545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10601]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Bureau of Prisons

28 CFR Part 511

[BOP Docket No. BOP-1137]
RIN 1120-AB37


Possession or Introduction of Personal Firearms Prohibited on the 
Grounds of Bureau of Prisons Facilities

AGENCY: Federal Bureau of Prisons, DOJ.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: To help ensure the safe operation of Federal Prisons, this 
rule proposes prohibiting all persons from possessing or introducing 
personal firearms, or attempting, aiding, or abetting possession or 
introduction of personal firearms, on the grounds of Bureau of Prisons 
facilities, with exceptions for possession of personal firearms: (1) As 
required in the performance of official law enforcement duties; (2) on 
Bureau firing ranges by law enforcement personnel, as authorized by the 
Warden; and (3) in Warden-designated secure locations by Bureau 
employees who reside on Bureau grounds.

DATES: Please submit written comments no later than August 7, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Our e-mail address is [email protected]. Comments should be 
submitted to the Rules Unit, Office of General Counsel, Bureau of 
Prisons, 320 First Street, NW., Washington, DC 20534. You may view an 
electronic version of this rule at http://www.regulations.gov. You may 
also comment via the Internet to BOP at [email protected] or by using 
the http://www.regulations.gov comment form for this regulation. When 
submitting comments electronically you must include the BOP Docket No. 
in the subject box.

[[Page 38544]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To help ensure the safe operation of Federal 
Prisons, this rule proposes prohibiting all persons from possessing or 
introducing personal firearms, or attempting, aiding, or abetting 
possession or introduction of personal firearms, on the grounds of 
Bureau facilities, with the following exceptions: (1) Personal firearms 
are permitted as required in the performance of official law 
enforcement duties; (2) Law enforcement personnel are permitted to 
possess personal firearms on Bureau firing ranges as authorized by the 
Warden, where continuous possession and control of the firearm is 
maintained; and (3) An officer or employee of the Bureau who resides on 
Bureau grounds may store personal firearms in secure locations 
designated by the Warden. Residences must not be designated as secure 
location sites for personal firearms storage.
    18 U.S.C. 4042(a) gives the Bureau broad authority to ``have charge 
of the management and regulation of all Federal penal and correctional 
institutions,'' to ``provide for the safekeeping, care, and subsistence 
of all'' Federal offenders, and to ``provide for the protection, 
instruction, and discipline of all persons charged with or convicted of 
offenses against the United States.'' This provision authorizes the 
Bureau to issue regulations for the management of its institutions and 
for the safekeeping and protection of inmates.
    Currently, the Bureau's policy on searching, detaining, and 
arresting non-inmates requires an easily read sign to be posted at the 
commonly used entrances into each Bureau facility which indicates that 
``[i]t is a Federal crime to bring upon the institution grounds any 
firearm, destructive device, ammunition, other object designed to be 
used as a weapon, narcotic drug, controlled substance, alcoholic 
beverage, currency, or any other object without the knowledge and 
consent of the Warden.'' Through this rulemaking, the Bureau proposes 
to codify this principle.
    This regulation is necessary for the following reasons.
     The Bureau needs to clarify that all persons are 
prohibited from bringing personal firearms onto institution grounds, 
including storing them in motor vehicles driven onto or parked on 
institution grounds. Storage of personal firearms in motor vehicles is 
inadequate because vehicle security is easy to compromise, making 
firearms so stored accessible to inmates working on institution 
grounds, inmates being released, and members of the public.
     Personal firearms could be obtained by inmates or members 
of the public and used to injure persons or assist in inmate escapes.
     Prohibiting personal firearms on institution grounds 
creates a ``buffer zone'' between the community, where concealed 
personal firearms may be allowed, and the actual institution facility, 
where the presence of unauthorized firearms of any type creates a 
variety of serious potential management and security problems.
     Creating such a ``buffer zone'' through regulation will 
increase attention of Bureau staff and others to this prohibition and 
the attendant risks, and will reduce inadvertent introductions of 
personal firearms onto institution grounds.
    The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-277) 
(LEOSA) now exempts qualified current and retired law enforcement 
officers from State laws that prohibit carrying concealed personal 
firearms. Bureau staff employed at Federal penal and correctional 
institutions may qualify under LEOSA to carry concealed personal 
firearms in public. Therefore, the possible presence of concealed 
personal firearms on institution grounds is greater now than before 
LEOSA and the risk to the safety of inmates, Bureau staff, and the 
public is likewise heightened, as explained above.
    Although we highlight the general prohibition on concealed personal 
firearms on institution grounds, we also recognize that certain 
exceptions are necessary. Therefore, this rule will permit personal 
firearms in furtherance of official law enforcement functions. This 
exception contemplates only ``on-duty'' situations, such as instances 
in which local law enforcement officers are required to serve process 
at a Bureau institution, or when local law enforcement officers, who 
sometimes carry only personal firearms, are called upon to respond to 
emergency situations on Bureau grounds.
    The second exception in the rule permits law enforcement personnel 
to possess personal firearms on Bureau firing ranges as authorized by 
the Warden, where continuous personal possession and control of the 
firearm is maintained. This exception will allow staff to continue to 
have a place to safely and appropriately maintain the skills necessary 
for proper firearm use, as further regulated by local institutions.
    The third exception, permitting Bureau staff who reside on Bureau 
grounds to store personal firearms in secure locations designated by 
the Warden, other than residences, recognizes that such staff may 
simply have no other location to safely store personal firearms outside 
of Bureau grounds.
    To provide more comprehensive institutional security and reduce 
even further the likelihood that firearms on Bureau grounds will come 
into the possession of inmates, the Bureau proposes the additional 
security measures described above.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Director, Bureau of Prisons, in accordance with the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 605(b), has reviewed this rule and, by 
approving it, certifies that it will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities.

Executive Order 12866

    This rule has been drafted and reviewed in accordance with 
Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, Sec.  1(b), 
Principles of Regulation. The Director, Bureau of Prisons, has 
determined that this rule is a ``significant regulatory action'' under 
Executive Order 12866, section 3(f), and accordingly this rule has been 
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.

Executive Order 13132

    This rule will not have substantial direct effects on the States, 
on the relationship between the national government and the States, or 
on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various 
levels of government. This rule will only have minor effect on State 
law enforcement personnel carrying personal firearms who wish to enter 
upon Bureau grounds. Therefore, in accordance with Executive Order 
13132, it is determined that this rule does not have sufficient 
federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a federalism 
summary impact statement.

Executive Order 12988

    This regulation meets the applicable standards set forth in 
sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 
Reform.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    This rule will not result in the expenditure by State, local, and 
tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 
million or more in any one year, and it will not significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments. Therefore, no actions were deemed 
necessary under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 
1995.

[[Page 38545]]

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996

    This rule is not a major rule as defined by section 251 of the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), 5 
U.S.C. 804. This rule will not result in an annual effect on the 
economy of $100 million or more; a major increase in costs or prices; 
or significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, 
productivity, innovation, or the ability of United States-based 
companies to compete with foreign-based companies in domestic and 
export markets.

List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 511

    Prisoners.

Harley G. Lappin,
Director, Bureau of Prisons.

    Under rulemaking authority vested in the Attorney General in 5 
U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510 and delegated to the Director, Bureau of 
Prisons in 28 CFR 0.96, we propose to amend 28 CFR part 511 as follows.

SUBCHAPTER A--GENERAL MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

PART 511--GENERAL MANAGEMENT POLICY

    1. Revise the authority citation for 28 CFR part 511 to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 18 U.S.C. 751, 752, 1791, 1792, 1793, 
3050, 3621, 3622, 3624, 4001, 4012, 4042, 4081, 4082 (Repealed as to 
offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987), 5006-5024 
(Repealed October 12, 1984 as to offenses committed after that 
date), 5039; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510; Pub. L. 772, 80th Cong.; 18 U.S.C. 
1791 and 4042; Pub. L. 108-277 (18 U.S.C. 926B); 28 CFR part 6.

    2. Subpart A is added to read as follows:

Subpart A--Personal Firearms

Sec.
511.1 Possession or introduction of personal firearms prohibited on 
the grounds of Bureau of Prisons facilities.


Sec.  511.1  Possession or introduction of personal firearms prohibited 
on the grounds of Bureau of Prisons facilities.

    All persons are prohibited from possessing or introducing personal 
firearms, or attempting, aiding, or abetting possession or introduction 
of personal firearms, on the grounds of any Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) 
facility, with the following exceptions:
    (a) Personal firearms are permitted as required in the performance 
of official law enforcement duties;
    (b) Law enforcement personnel are permitted to possess personal 
firearms on Bureau firing ranges as authorized by the Warden, provided 
that continuous personal possession and control of the firearm is 
maintained; and
    (c) An officer or employee of the Bureau who resides on Bureau 
grounds may store personal firearms in secure locations designated by 
the Warden. Residences must not be designated as secure location sites 
for personal firearms storage.

[FR Doc. E6-10601 Filed 7-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-05-P