S 3265 · 111th Congress 2009โ€“2011, ended

Second Amendment Enforcement Act

Latest action · Apr 27, 2010 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedApr 27, 2010
  2. Passed SenateNot reached
  3. Passed HouseNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Second Amendment Enforcement Act - Amends specified law prohibiting the killing of wild birds and wild animals in the District of Columbia to declare that nothing in it or any other provision of law shall authorize or be construed to permit the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or regulatory authority of the District to prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons otherwise not prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law from acquiring, possessing in their homes or businesses, transporting for legitimate purposes, or using for sporting, self-protection or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited by federal law nor subject to the National Firearms Act. Denies the District any authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms.

Declares that nothing in such prohibitions shall be construed to prohibit the District from regulating 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.

Amends the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 (FCRA) to repeal the definition of a machine gun as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading. (Thus repeals the ban on semiautomatic weapons.)

Redefines "machine gun" as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot automatically, more than one shot without manual reloading by a single function of the trigger. Includes also the frame or receiver of any such firearm, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a firearm 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.

Repeals the District's: (1) registration requirement for possession of firearms; and (2) requirement that licensed firearms dealers keep records of ammunition received into inventory and ammunition sold or transferred.

Maintains the current ban on the possession and control of a sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, or short-barreled rifle.

Permits a licensed firearms dealer to sell or transfer ammunition, excluding restricted pistol bullets, to persons not otherwise prohibited from possessing or receiving ammunition.

Declares that, in the case of a sale or transfer of a handgun to a District resident, a federally licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer of firearms in Maryland or Virginia shall be treated as a dealer licensed under this Act if: (1) the transferee meets in person with the transferor to accomplish the transfer; and (2) the sale, delivery, and receipt fully comply with the legal conditions of sale in both the District and the jurisdiction in which the transfer occurs.

Amends FCRA to allow an individual to possess ammunition in the District if the individual owns (currently, holds the valid registration certificate for) a firearm of the same gauge or caliber as such ammunition. (In effect, repeals the handgun ammunition ban.)

Repeals the requirement that firearms in the possession of individuals (other than law enforcement personnel) must be kept unloaded, disassembled, or with the trigger locked, unless the firearm is kept at an individual's place of business, or while being used for lawful recreational purposes within the District .

Continues current criminal penalties for allowing access of a minor (under age 16) to loaded firearms, except in specified circumstances. Repeals increased penalties for violations of the prohibition against allowing access of a minor to loaded firearms if injury or death results to the minor or another person. Requires the U.S. attorney, however, to consider both the extent of the minor's injuries and the effect of the minor's injury or death on both of the minor's parents when deciding whether to file charges. Prohibits any prosecution in such circumstances unless the person who committed the violation behaved in a grossly negligent manner, or unless similarly egregious circumstances exist.

Eliminates criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm.

Amends the District of Columbia Code to: (1) allow private persons or entities owning property in the District to prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on their property (other than authorized law enforcement personnel or lessees occupying residential or business premises); (2) prohibit unauthorized carrying of rifles or shotguns in the District; (3) authorize certain individuals to carry firearms in certain places and for certain purposes; (4) prescribe requirements for lawful transportation of firearms; and (5) prohibit the use of toy and antique pistols to commit a violent or dangerous crime.

Authorizes the District of Columbia to prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms (except to lessees occupying residential or business premises) within any building or structure under its control, or in any area of it, which has implemented security measures to identify and exclude unauthorized or hazardous persons or articles.

Amends the Office of Administrative Hearings Establishment Act of 2001 to grant jurisdiction to the Office of Administrative Hearings to hear cases pertaining to denial or revocation of firearm dealer licenses.

Repeals the Firearms Registration Amendment Act of 2008 and the Inoperable Pistol Amendment Act of 2008. Restores and revives any provision of law amended or repealed by such Acts as if such Acts had not been enacted into law.

Cosponsors 18

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 27, 2010 to Jul 29, 2010; 10 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
R-GAJohnny IsaksonOriginalApr 27, 2010
D-MTJon TesterOriginalApr 27, 2010
R-SCLindsey GrahamOriginalApr 27, 2010
D-AKMark BegichOriginalApr 27, 2010
R-UTOrrin G. HatchOriginalApr 27, 2010
R-NCRichard BurrOriginalApr 27, 2010
R-UTRobert F. BennettOriginalApr 27, 2010
R-MSRoger F. WickerOriginalApr 27, 2010
R-KSSam BrownbackOriginalApr 27, 2010
R-GASaxby ChamblissOriginalApr 27, 2010
D-MTMax BaucusApr 28, 2010
R-KSPat RobertsApr 28, 2010
R-SDJohn ThuneApr 29, 2010
R-NEMike JohannsApr 29, 2010
R-AKLisa MurkowskiMay 5, 2010

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

ChamberCommitteeWhat it did
SenateHomeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Referred Apr 27, 2010

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Apr 27, 2010Introduced in Senate
  2. Apr 27, 2010Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2710)
  3. Apr 27, 2010Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

In the Congressional Record 1

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

WhereIn the RecordMembersDate
SenateDebate and remarks S2710John McCain R-AZ, Jon Tester D-MTApr 27, 2010

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

CRS reports 1

Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.

Cite it 1

Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.

ProductTitleKindPublished
RL32842Gun Control Legislation ArchivedReportNov 14, 2012

Related bills 2

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
HR 5150To restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia.Identical billApr 27, 2010
HR 5162To restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia.Identical billApr 28, 2010

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced
A bill to restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia.
Short Titles as Introduced
Second Amendment Enforcement Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Apr 27, 2010Introduced in Senate

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.