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  • Virginia gun dealers: Small number supply most guns tied to crimes

    Virginia gun dealers: Small number supply most guns tied to crimes

    By David S. Fallis
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Monday, October 25, 2010; 1:29 AM

    A man walked into Roanoke Firearms one summer day in 2004 to buy a Glock 17 handgun with a laser sight and high-capacity magazine. Three nights later, he unleashed a jackhammer of gunfire - 33 rounds - into a crowded parking lot up the road, killing one and wounding two.

    At Bob's Gun Shop in Norfolk, a woman accompanied by an 18-year-old with a long rap sheet bought a "Baby 9" for protection in November 2006. Seven weeks later, the teen stole a truck and used the 9mm pistol to execute a man who intervened.

    Outside an Ace Hardware in Lynchburg, a teen paid a man $70 to buy a Hi-Point handgun for him in April 2008. Seven days later, the teen's gang stormed a gas mart, shot the clerk in the head and fled with wads of bloody cash.

    These three guns tell part of the hidden story of how firearms move from gun dealers to crime scenes across Virginia.

    A year-long Washington Post investigation broke through the congressionally imposed secrecy surrounding federal gun tracing and, for the first time, has identified the dealers that sell the majority of "crime guns" in Virginia. There have been thousands of firearms dealers licensed in the state since 1998, but 60 percent of the 6,800 guns sold in Virginia in that time and later seized by police can be traced to just 40 dealers. The merchants include mom-and-pop gun shops, inner-city pawn dealers and suburban sporting-goods outlets.

    The data highlight long-standing questions about the role of gun sellers in fueling crime. Do these dealers bear any responsibility for how their guns are used? Is law enforcement sufficiently focused on whether they are doing enough to prevent "straw purchases" for criminals?

    Academic experts and law enforcement officials argue that gun traces can be used to help identify dealers that, knowingly or not, are selling guns to traffickers. Gun rights activists counter that the tracing unfairly tarnishes dealers and merely reflects the volume of weapons sold. But the Virginia records reinforce studies by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and others that show volume is only part of the equation. The 40 dealers account for about 30 percent of the state's gun sales, but their guns make up almost two-thirds of those seized and reported to State Police.

    "We are aware of the dealers that have higher numbers of traces," Special Agent Mike Campbell of the ATF's Washington Field Division said of The Post's findings. "It is one of the factors that causes us to take a closer look. . . . If they are following the law and our inspections find their paperwork is in order, that's a lot of traces, but there's not a whole lot we can do."

    Gun dealers say they work hard to prevent illegal sales. "It's not to our advantage to sell guns in a mercenary way," said Mitchell Dunbar, who operates two Superior Pawn shops, in Virginia Beach and Hampton, that are among the leading sources of traced firearms. "We drive the same streets."
    Politically sensitive

    Gun tracing is such a politically sensitive issue that Congress in 2003 banned the release of any federal data connecting dealers to guns seized in crimes. Lawmakers also prohibited the use of such tracing information in lawsuits against dealers. Current and former federal agents say that targeting suspect dealers is time-consuming and politically sensitive and that cases are difficult to prove.

    "I can tell you that most of the gun dealers are not bad gun dealers - they help us get the traffickers," James Cavanaugh, a now-retired ATF special agent, told a group of police chiefs at a crime summit last year. "But to really put this in perspective, a bad gun dealer is like a bad cop. He can really hurt us because he can really pump the guns out."

    The Post identified the Virginia dealers by using public information requests to obtain copies of a little-known state database of seized firearms. The Post also reviewed ATF regulatory files, mined trafficking cases, surveyed gun sales, visited shops and interviewed dealers and criminals caught with their guns. The newspaper obtained tracing data from local police to help fill gaps in state records.

    Scattered across the state, the 40 dealers linked to the most crime guns have sold more than 800,000 new and used guns since 1998. Four of the 40 are in Northern Virginia, but one of those is now closed.

    Local police have swept up guns from the top 40 in a sprawl of investigations: 40 homicide cases, 63 robberies, 96 suicides or attempts, 173 brandishings, 301 shootings with or without injuries, 655 drug probes and 1,043 weapons-related violations.

    ATF inspectors have found regulatory violations at most of the 40 dealers dating back to the early 1990s. Infractions ranged from minor paperwork errors to sales to people prohibited by law from buying guns. All but eight merchants have been warned by the government - 73 times combined - that continued violations jeopardized their gun licenses. Four stores have had their licenses revoked, but all are still able to legally sell guns today at the same locations after transferring licenses, re-applying or re-licensing under new operators.

    Because of the secrecy Congress imposed, the details of what the ATF uncovered when inspecting dealers are generally redacted from the thousands of pages disclosed to The Post under the Freedom of Information Act. The lack of transparency has fueled complaints from gun-control groups that the ATF is reluctant to crack down on troubled dealers.

    Revocations of licenses are infrequent, averaging 110 a year across the nation out of about 60,000 licensed dealers. Federal prosecutions of dealers are even rarer, averaging about 15 a year nationally, including three over the past nine years in Virginia, records show.

    When the ATF does step up enforcement, it can lead to political pressure on the agency to ease off. For example, the ATF found that about 400 guns sold by licensed dealers at gun shows in the Richmond area were seized in criminal investigations between 2002 and 2005.

    One of them was an AK-47 sold to a straw buyer at a 2004 show in the Richmond area. The seller was Dark Sun Surplus, one of the top 40 dealers in The Post's study. The gun was used nine days later by a drug dealer settling a debt. He shot up a car on a Richmond street, killing one man and injuring two others.

    When ATF agents tried to track buyers they suspected of straw purchases at Richmond-area gun shows, the operators complained to the National Rifle Association. Top ATF officials were called before Congress and asked to explain themselves.

    "What we did worked," said Mike Bouchard, a former ATF assistant director for field operations. "But we got our butts kicked for doing it. They were baseless allegations. But you can see the impact of the gun lobby in Virginia, which has one of the biggest problems with crime guns."
    New York City sues

    One of the toughest public actions against Virginia gun dealers came from outside the state.

    Five of these 40 Virginia merchants were sued in civil court in 2006 by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who investigated them after 137 guns they sold were linked to crimes in New York. The suits included evidence from videotaped stings to see if merchants sold guns to simulated straw buyers. In a settlement, 21 dealers up and down the Interstate 95 corridor agreed to accept court monitoring of their business practices.

    One of the top 40 was forced out of business by state authorities, not federal, over paperwork violations of state law.

    Richard Norad, who sold thousands of guns a year as R and B Guns out of his Hampton home in the 1990s, pleaded guilty in 2001 to a felony for failing to obtain the required second piece of identification from a gun buyer. At least 1,400 of Norad's guns have been traced. In 2007, a man armed with one killed a New York City police officer, according to news reports.

    Shawn Pettaway, a convicted trafficker now in prison in New York, was part of a ring that targeted Hampton Roads dealers, including R and B, in a scheme that police said ran more than 100 guns to the Bronx in the early 2000s. He told The Post he would scope out the gun shops and recruit female buyers so he could circumvent the state's one-a-month limit on handgun purchases.

    Norad did not respond to requests for comment.

    Overall, more than half of the 40 Virginia dealers were the source of weapons purchased by suspected traffickers moving guns within and outside the state, federal prosecutions show. Combined, the dealers have sold almost 400 guns to accused traffickers since 1993. Gun runners in some cases accompanied straw buyers to stores and traded cash or drugs for guns in the parking lots. One of those straw purchasers obtained a 9mm handgun at Superior Pawn in Hampton in 2005. Eleven days later, it was dropped by a gunman in a shootout with police in Jamaica.

    The fact that a store sold guns later used in crimes does not necessarily mean the dealer did anything wrong or illegal. Catching dealers that break the law is not as simple as adding up traces, experts caution. The type and numbers of guns sold, a store's location, its clientele, how it screens buyers, and even police tracing practices all affect the numbers.

    "Some dealers are just bad-guy magnets," said Garen Wintemute, who heads up the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California at Davis and studies tracing. "They are more likely to sell inexpensive handguns, to be pawnbrokers, to be located in urban areas, and to be patronized by would-be gun buyers who . . . are prohibited from owning guns."

    Because federal law requires that all guns must be purchased from a federally licensed dealer, the ATF looks to the 60,000 regulated merchants as the front-line defense against gun trafficking. Law enforcement officials agree that the vast majority of dealers strive to keep their guns away from criminals.

    "If this was a drugstore and we had narcotic drugs behind the counter, we would want to make sure they are getting into the right hands," said Robert Marcus, whose Norfolk gun shop is one of the larger sources of guns traced in Virginia. But, Marcus noted, once guns leave his shop, "we have no control over the product. We can't go home with it."

    That is why dealers often say that holding them accountable if a gun they legally sold is used in a crime is as absurd as blaming a car dealer for traffic crashes. Licensed dealers say buyers must pass background checks and often resell guns or lose them to thieves.

    "Do I feel responsible for someone using a gun in a crime? Honestly, I don't," said Mark Bailey, a gun merchant from Tazewell, Va., who sells at Richmond gun shows and is one the top 40 Virginia dealers. "If somebody goes down to Lowe's and buys a lead pipe and goes out here and beats somebody to death . . . nobody in Lowe's feels responsible for that."

    Ron Hess has sold guns for decades from his store in Norfolk, moving about 900 a year. The shop is also one of the top 40. In 2008, police traced at least 72 firearms back to his counters.

    Hess said suspicious customers get the boot. Like many dealers, he complained that not all traced guns are "crime guns," the term used by the ATF. Hess questioned why a gun stolen from a customer, then found and traced, is a crime gun. "That really [ticks] me off," Hess said. "It's a 'lost, stolen' gun."

    The ATF defines crime gun as one used or suspected to have been used in a crime or illegally possessed. Even "found" guns are likely crime guns, said Charles Houser, who runs the ATF's National Tracing Center in West Virginia, because lawful owners don't abandon guns. "A reasonable person would argue that a crime probably has been committed," he said. "We just don't know which one yet."
    The minimum or more

    About once a day, the staff at Bob's Gun Shop in downtown Norfolk refuses to sell a firearm because something isn't right. "They are constantly testing and probing and pushing," Marcus said of criminals trying to secure guns. "Our license is too valuable to risk it over one sale."

    Still, this 65-year-old shop is one of the leading sources of crime guns in Virginia, with Norfolk police alone recovering 88 of its guns in 2008. Marcus said he gets about one trace request day. But he said the store's trace numbers are probably fed by Norfolk's demographics and the fact that it has sold more than 32,000 guns since 1998. His staff is vigilant, he said, in looking for telltale signs of a straw purchase, such as one person asking all the questions but another person filling out the paperwork. He has long tracked inventory by computer and surveils the shop with video.

    Those steps exemplify the approach the ATF encourages. The agency's strategy has been to partner with dealers and the National Shooting Sports Foundation in the "Don't Lie for the Other Guy" campaign to help identify straw-purchase attempts. But the ATF's reach is limited. It can't force dealers to screen customers beyond the background check, to inventory stock so guns do not go missing, or to install security measures to thwart burglaries.

    "The dealers have a choice: they can do the bare minimum, or they can do more," said Campbell, the ATF agent.

    Some dealers say they curb or limit the sales of inexpensive handguns, such as those made by Hi-Point Firearms. ATF officials say that years of tracing has shown that low-priced handguns have greater appeal to violent criminals and gun traffickers.

    No other dealer in state records is listed as the source of as many traced Hi-Point pistols as Sonny's, a Portsmouth pawnshop down the street from a neighborhood where a fast-growing drug gang made headlines last year.

    Sonny's has sold more than 5,000 guns in the past 12 years. Of those, at least 230 were later traced - more than 140 of them Hi-Points.

    The ATF moved to revoke the shop's license in 2004, citing chronic violations. As the process played out, different operators secured a new ATF license, keeping the doors open and changing the name on the license from Sonny's Coins and Hobbies to Sonny's Pawn Shop. Gun traces, including ones involving Hi-Point handguns, have continued. The new operators of Sonny's declined to be interviewed, saying that tracing is "confidential."
    Few questions asked

    More than 1,200 guns recovered by police have been traced back to businesses run by Norman Gladden in the Hampton Roads area. One of the first shops he opened was A&P Arms, housed in a square cinder-block building in Virginia Beach. In 2006, ATF inspectors found that guns were missing and records were in disarray. An inspection the year before at Gladden's shop in Hampton also uncovered problems, including 13 "straw purchasers, and suspicious purchasers," records show. The ATF warned Gladden that his licenses were in jeopardy.

    Gladden told the ATF during the inspection in Virginia Beach that he "questioned the impact that straw purchases have on crime," inspectors wrote, noting that he worried about angering legitimate customers.

    But straw buyers frequented his counters, court records show, securing 15 guns from 2004 to 2007 that led to trafficking prosecutions.

    One of those traffickers, Trevor Charles Fisher, was convicted in a drugs-for-guns scheme that included two straw purchases at A&P. The dealer was chosen "due to the fact the guns were dirt cheap and there were very little questions asked," Fisher, now in a New York prison, wrote in a letter.

    One of Gladden's own employees was peddling A&P guns on the side. The employee sold, traded or gave away 59 guns worth $70,000. Gladden discovered and reported the theft to the ATF in 2007. When ATF inspectors returned to the Virginia Beach shop to re-inspect, they documented 240 missing guns and repeat violations. They revoked his store's license.

    Gladden simply transferred another license he held from his residence on the Eastern Shore to the Virginia Beach storefront, records show. Since then, the shop has sold thousands of guns. In response to questions, an attorney for Gladden said The Post's information contained "factual inaccuracies, half-truths, dated information, unsubstantiated allegations by convicted felons and hearsay."

    Reached by phone, Gladden declined to be interviewed. "History has told us that there is no good that comes out of us giving out information," he said.

    Contributing to this report were staff writers James V. Grimaldi and Sari Horwitz, staff video journalist Ben de la Cruz, staff researcher Julie Tate and former staff researcher Meg Smith.
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

  • #2
    I am a huge 2nd-Amendment supporter, but even I would be in favor of some sort of vetting process for firearms ownership. I might even be in favor of requiring a dealer to be involved in private transactions, but that would depend upon the technicalities of the transaction. But NOTHING beyond that. Nothing like "storing the gun at an approved club" type of nonsense.

    NFA firearms (machine guns, silencers, short-barreled rifles, etc) have had such a process since 1934, and the record of these firearms being kept out of criminal hands is superlative. IIRC, only one has ever been used in a crime, and that was a full-auto MAC being used by a cop to commit a murder.

    Comment


    • #3
      Perhaps something similar to a hunting license, sold by gun dealers, certifying the person was qualified to own a gun, not specifying how many or specific guns, as a preqrequiste? I'd like to see something about mental health involved, other than the buyer saying he is fine - maybe his family doctor could sign that the person is not known to be mentally ill.

      My housemate was a victim of a brandishing incident on the road Friday - the brandisher appeared to be mentally ill - angry that a car was behind him as he crept along at 5 mph on a public highway... He stopped, blocking the road, and got out and menaced her with a large caliber handgun.
      Last edited by USSWisconsin; 25 Oct 10,, 22:44.
      sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
      If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

      Comment


      • #4
        All I know is Kommiefornia gun laws suck.
        "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Chogy View Post
          I am a huge 2nd-Amendment supporter
          Which is why you're ready to beat down the door for licensing and registration, and treat existing background checks as inadequate and irrelevant, yes?

          Originally posted by USSWisconsin View Post
          Perhaps something similar to a hunting license, sold by gun dealers, certifying the person was qualified to own a gun, not specifying how many or specific guns, as a preqrequiste? I'd like to see something about mental health involved, other than the buyer saying he is fine - maybe his family doctor could sign that the person is not known to be mentally ill.
          And you. What does this accomplish that is any different from existing background check apparatus other then you demand licensing and registration?


          Is this what this forum has sunk to? A story about corrupt government authorized Federal Firearm License holders and its immediately license and registration will save you, because the government clearly just showed their process is impervious hence the corrupt FFL holders that have inspired you.
          Last edited by FOG3; 06 Nov 10,, 18:08.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by FOG3 View Post
            ?

            And you. What does this accomplish that is any different from existing background check apparatus other then you demand licensing and registration?

            Is this what this forum has sunk to? A story about corrupt government authorized Federal Firearm License holders and its immediately license and registration will save you, because the government clearly just showed their process is impervious hence the corrupt FFL holders that have inspired you.
            Being mentally ill isn't a crime and isn't documented for background checks until someone gets in trouble, I have heard about mentally ill people buying guns and killing people. The man at Virginia Tech is a prime example. I'd like to see it become harder for mentally ill people to buy guns. I know people with mental illness, and they are not likely to admit it on a questionnaire if they wanted to buy a gun. The system isn't perfect, what is wrong with talking about improving it? I suggested a permit to buy guns, with medical certification that the person is not known to be mentally ill, not licensing and registration of guns. History has demonstrated that the registration of firearms can be abused by governments to help seize them. I believe that anyone who is qualified to own a gun (not a felon or mentally ill) should be able to have as many as they want and can legally purchase and the government doesn't need to track each one to its lawful owner. I had no intention of reducing the quaility of discussion or trying to persuade anyone to agree with me if they disagree.
            Last edited by USSWisconsin; 06 Nov 10,, 22:50. Reason: added
            sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
            If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

            Comment


            • #7
              unlawful acts

              If it can be shown that someone's mental illness excessively endangers society, then lock the nutjob up and provide treatment, and don't release him back into free society until he can be trusted to not be a danger to others. Laws on firearms should have nothing to do with that. Unarmed violence can do much harm.

              Regardless the law, it can be reasonably expected that anyone in US society who wants to obtain a firearm can do so with a little time, money, and effort. That includes people newly released from prisons or mental hospitals. So I would suggest that we shouldn't release convicts or crazies out into free society until we can reasonably trust them to possess a firearm, including a conceiled handgun.

              There is no shortage of Federal law on firearms, below is a portion. There is no shortage of crime involving firearms, much of it by offenders who are not new to their illegal activity. Further regulation of law abiding people isn't likely to produce positive results.
              U.S. Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 44, Section 922
              (18 U.S.C. § 922 : US Code - Section 922): Unlawful acts

              (a) It shall be unlawful -
              (1) for any person -
              (A) except a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or
              licensed dealer, to engage in the business of importing,
              manufacturing, or dealing in firearms, or in the course of such
              business to ship, transport, or receive any firearm in
              interstate or foreign commerce; or
              (B) except a licensed importer or licensed manufacturer, to
              engage in the business of importing or manufacturing
              ammunition, or in the course of such business, to ship,
              transport, or receive any ammunition in interstate or foreign
              commerce;
              (2) for any importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector
              licensed under the provisions of this chapter to ship or
              transport in interstate or foreign commerce any firearm to any
              person other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer,
              licensed dealer, or licensed collector, except that -
              (A) this paragraph and subsection (b)(3) shall not be held to
              preclude a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed
              dealer, or licensed collector from returning a firearm or
              replacement firearm of the same kind and type to a person from
              whom it was received; and this paragraph shall not be held to
              preclude an individual from mailing a firearm owned in
              compliance with Federal, State, and local law to a licensed
              importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed
              collector;
              (B) this paragraph shall not be held to preclude a licensed
              importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer from
              depositing a firearm for conveyance in the mails to any
              officer, employee, agent, or watchman who, pursuant to the
              provisions of section 1715 of this title, is eligible to
              receive through the mails pistols, revolvers, and other
              firearms capable of being concealed on the person, for use in
              connection with his official duty; and
              (C) nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as applying
              in any manner in the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
              Puerto Rico, or any possession of the United States differently
              than it would apply if the District of Columbia, the
              Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the possession were in fact a
              State of the United States;
              (3) for any person, other than a licensed importer, licensed
              manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to transport
              into or receive in the State where he resides (or if the person
              is a corporation or other business entity, the State where it
              maintains a place of business) any firearm purchased or otherwise
              obtained by such person outside that State, except that this
              paragraph (A) shall not preclude any person who lawfully acquires
              a firearm by bequest or intestate succession in a State other
              than his State of residence from transporting the firearm into or
              receiving it in that State, if it is lawful for such person to
              purchase or possess such firearm in that State, (B) shall not
              apply to the transportation or receipt of a firearm obtained in
              conformity with subsection (b)(3) of this section, and (C) shall
              not apply to the transportation of any firearm acquired in any
              State prior to the effective date of this chapter;
              (4) for any person, other than a licensed importer, licensed
              manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector, to
              transport in interstate or foreign commerce any destructive
              device, machinegun (as defined in section 5845 of the Internal
              Revenue Code of 1986), short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled
              rifle, except as specifically authorized by the Attorney General
              consistent with public safety and necessity;
              (5) for any person (other than a licensed importer, licensed
              manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector) to
              transfer, sell, trade, give, transport, or deliver any firearm to
              any person (other than a licensed importer, licensed
              manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector) who the
              transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not
              reside in (or if the person is a corporation or other business
              entity, does not maintain a place of business in) the State in
              which the transferor resides; except that this paragraph shall
              not apply to (A) the transfer, transportation, or delivery of a
              firearm made to carry out a bequest of a firearm to, or an
              acquisition by intestate succession of a firearm by, a person who
              is permitted to acquire or possess a firearm under the laws of
              the State of his residence, and (B) the loan or rental of a
              firearm to any person for temporary use for lawful sporting
              purposes;
              (6) for any person in connection with the acquisition or
              attempted acquisition of any firearm or ammunition from a
              licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or
              licensed collector, knowingly to make any false or fictitious
              oral or written statement or to furnish or exhibit any false,
              fictitious, or misrepresented identification, intended or likely
              to deceive such importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector with
              respect to any fact material to the lawfulness of the sale or
              other disposition of such firearm or ammunition under the
              provisions of this chapter;
              (7) for any person to manufacture or import armor piercing
              ammunition, unless -
              (A) the manufacture of such ammunition is for the use of the
              United States, any department or agency of the United States,
              any State, or any department, agency, or political subdivision
              of a State;
              (B) the manufacture of such ammunition is for the purpose of
              exportation; or
              (C) the manufacture or importation of such ammunition is for
              the purpose of testing or experimentation and has been
              authorized by the Attorney General;
              (8) for any manufacturer or importer to sell or deliver armor
              piercing ammunition, unless such sale or delivery -
              (A) is for the use of the United States, any department or
              agency of the United States, any State, or any department,
              agency, or political subdivision of a State;
              (B) is for the purpose of exportation; or
              (C) is for the purpose of testing or experimentation and has
              been authorized by the Attorney General; (!1)
              (9) for any person, other than a licensed importer, licensed
              manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector, who does
              not reside in any State to receive any firearms unless such
              receipt is for lawful sporting purposes.
              (b) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed
              manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to sell or
              deliver -
              (1) any firearm or ammunition to any individual who the
              licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than
              eighteen years of age, and, if the firearm, or ammunition is
              other than a shotgun or rifle, or ammunition for a shotgun or
              rifle, to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable
              cause to believe is less than twenty-one years of age;
              (2) any firearm to any person in any State where the purchase
              or possession by such person of such firearm would be in
              violation of any State law or any published ordinance applicable
              at the place of sale, delivery or other disposition, unless the
              licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the
              purchase or possession would not be in violation of such State
              law or such published ordinance;
              (3) any firearm to any person who the licensee knows or has
              reasonable cause to believe does not reside in (or if the person
              is a corporation or other business entity, does not maintain a
              place of business in) the State in which the licensee's place of
              business is located, except that this paragraph (A) shall not
              apply to the sale or delivery of any rifle or shotgun to a
              resident of a State other than a State in which the licensee's
              place of business is located if the transferee meets in person
              with the transferor to accomplish the transfer, and the sale,
              delivery, and receipt fully comply with the legal conditions of
              sale in both such States (and any licensed manufacturer, importer
              or dealer shall be presumed, for purposes of this subparagraph,
              in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to have had actual
              knowledge of the State laws and published ordinances of both
              States), and (B) shall not apply to the loan or rental of a
              firearm to any person for temporary use for lawful sporting
              purposes;
              (4) to any person any destructive device, machinegun (as
              defined in section 5845 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986),
              short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled rifle, except as
              specifically authorized by the Attorney General consistent with
              public safety and necessity; and
              (5) any firearm or armor-piercing ammunition to any person
              unless the licensee notes in his records, required to be kept
              pursuant to section 923 of this chapter, the name, age, and place
              of residence of such person if the person is an individual, or
              the identity and principal and local places of business of such
              person if the person is a corporation or other business entity.
              Paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) of this subsection shall not
              apply to transactions between licensed importers, licensed
              manufacturers, licensed dealers, and licensed collectors. Paragraph
              (4) of this subsection shall not apply to a sale or delivery to any
              research organization designated by the Attorney General.
              (c) In any case not otherwise prohibited by this chapter, a
              licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer may
              sell a firearm to a person who does not appear in person at the
              licensee's business premises (other than another licensed importer,
              manufacturer, or dealer) only if -
              (1) the transferee submits to the transferor a sworn statement
              in the following form:
              "Subject to penalties provided by law, I swear that, in the
              case of any firearm other than a shotgun or a rifle, I am
              twenty-one years or more of age, or that, in the case of a
              shotgun or a rifle, I am eighteen years or more of age; that I
              am not prohibited by the provisions of chapter 44 of title 18,
              United States Code, from receiving a firearm in interstate or
              foreign commerce; and that my receipt of this firearm will not
              be in violation of any statute of the State and published
              ordinance applicable to the locality in which I reside.
              Further, the true title, name, and address of the principal law
              enforcement officer of the locality to which the firearm will
              be delivered are ____________
              _______________________
              Signature _________ Date ____."
              and containing blank spaces for the attachment of a true copy of
              any permit or other information required pursuant to such statute
              or published ordinance;
              (2) the transferor has, prior to the shipment or delivery of
              the firearm, forwarded by registered or certified mail (return
              receipt requested) a copy of the sworn statement, together with a
              description of the firearm, in a form prescribed by the Attorney
              General, to the chief law enforcement officer of the transferee's
              place of residence, and has received a return receipt evidencing
              delivery of the statement or has had the statement returned due
              to the refusal of the named addressee to accept such letter in
              accordance with United States Post Office Department regulations;
              and
              (3) the transferor has delayed shipment or delivery for a
              period of at least seven days following receipt of the
              notification of the acceptance or refusal of delivery of the
              statement.
              A copy of the sworn statement and a copy of the notification to the
              local law enforcement officer, together with evidence of receipt or
              rejection of that notification shall be retained by the licensee as
              a part of the records required to be kept under section 923(g).
              (d) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise
              dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or
              having reasonable cause to believe that such person -
              (1) is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any court
              of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one
              year;
              (2) is a fugitive from justice;
              (3) is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled
              substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances
              Act (21 U.S.C. 802));
              (4) has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been
              committed to any mental institution;
              (5) who, being an alien -
              (A) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or
              (B) except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been
              admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as
              that term is defined in section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration
              and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(26)));
              (6) who (!2) has been discharged from the Armed Forces under
              dishonorable conditions;
              (7) who, having been a citizen of the United States, has
              renounced his citizenship;
              (8) is subject to a court order that restrains such person from
              harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such
              person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging
              in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in
              reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child, except
              that this paragraph shall only apply to a court order that -
              (A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received
              actual notice, and at which such person had the opportunity to
              participate; and
              (B)(i) includes a finding that such person represents a
              credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner
              or child; or
              (ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted
              use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate
              partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause
              bodily injury; or
              (9) has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of
              domestic violence.
              This subsection shall not apply with respect to the sale or
              disposition of a firearm or ammunition to a licensed importer,
              licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector who
              pursuant to subsection (b) of section 925 of this chapter is not
              precluded from dealing in firearms or ammunition, or to a person
              who has been granted relief from disabilities pursuant to
              subsection (c) of section 925 of this chapter.
              (e) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to deliver or
              cause to be delivered to any common or contract carrier for
              transportation or shipment in interstate or foreign commerce, to
              persons other than licensed importers, licensed manufacturers,
              licensed dealers, or licensed collectors, any package or other
              container in which there is any firearm or ammunition without
              written notice to the carrier that such firearm or ammunition is
              being transported or shipped; except that any passenger who owns or
              legally possesses a firearm or ammunition being transported aboard
              any common or contract carrier for movement with the passenger in
              interstate or foreign commerce may deliver said firearm or
              ammunition into the custody of the pilot, captain, conductor or
              operator of such common or contract carrier for the duration of the
              trip without violating any of the provisions of this chapter. No
              common or contract carrier shall require or cause any label, tag,
              or other written notice to be placed on the outside of any package,
              luggage, or other container that such package, luggage, or other
              container contains a firearm.
              (f)(1) It shall be unlawful for any common or contract carrier to
              transport or deliver in interstate or foreign commerce any firearm
              or ammunition with knowledge or reasonable cause to believe that
              the shipment, transportation, or receipt thereof would be in
              violation of the provisions of this chapter.
              (2) It shall be unlawful for any common or contract carrier to
              deliver in interstate or foreign commerce any firearm without
              obtaining written acknowledgement of receipt from the recipient of
              the package or other container in which there is a firearm.
              (g) It shall be unlawful for any person -
              (1) who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable
              by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
              (2) who is a fugitive from justice;
              (3) who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled
              substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances
              Act (21 U.S.C. 802));
              (4) who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has
              been committed to a mental institution;
              (5) who, being an alien -
              (A) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or
              (B) except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been
              admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as
              that term is defined in section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration
              and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(26)));
              (6) who has been discharged from the Armed Forces under
              dishonorable conditions;
              (7) who, having been a citizen of the United States, has
              renounced his citizenship;
              (8) who is subject to a court order that -
              (A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received
              actual notice, and at which such person had an opportunity to
              participate;
              (B) restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or
              threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such
              intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that
              would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily
              injury to the partner or child; and
              (C)(i) includes a finding that such person represents a
              credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner
              or child; or
              (ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted
              use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate
              partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause
              bodily injury; or
              (9) who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime
              of domestic violence,
              to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess
              in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive
              any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in
              interstate or foreign commerce.
              (h) It shall be unlawful for any individual, who to that
              individual's knowledge and while being employed for any person
              described in any paragraph of subsection (g) of this section, in
              the course of such employment -
              (1) to receive, possess, or transport any firearm or ammunition
              in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce; or
              (2) to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped
              or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
              (i) It shall be unlawful for any person to transport or ship in
              interstate or foreign commerce, any stolen firearm or stolen
              ammunition, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the
              firearm or ammunition was stolen.
              (j) It shall be unlawful for any person to receive, possess,
              conceal, store, barter, sell, or dispose of any stolen firearm or
              stolen ammunition, or pledge or accept as security for a loan any
              stolen firearm or stolen ammunition, which is moving as, which is a
              part of, which constitutes, or which has been shipped or
              transported in, interstate or foreign commerce, either before or
              after it was stolen, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe
              that the firearm or ammunition was stolen.
              (k) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to transport,
              ship, or receive, in interstate or foreign commerce, any firearm
              which has had the importer's or manufacturer's serial number
              removed, obliterated, or altered or to possess or receive any
              firearm which has had the importer's or manufacturer's serial
              number removed, obliterated, or altered and has, at any time, been
              shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
              (l) Except as provided in section 925(d) of this chapter, it
              shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to import or bring into
              the United States or any possession thereof any firearm or
              ammunition; and it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to
              receive any firearm or ammunition which has been imported or
              brought into the United States or any possession thereof in
              violation of the provisions of this chapter.
              (m) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed
              manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector knowingly to
              make any false entry in, to fail to make appropriate entry in, or
              to fail to properly maintain, any record which he is required to
              keep pursuant to section 923 of this chapter or regulations
              promulgated thereunder.
              (n) It shall be unlawful for any person who is under indictment
              for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one
              year to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce any
              firearm or ammunition or receive any firearm or ammunition which
              has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
              (o)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), it shall be unlawful
              for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun.
              (2) This subsection does not apply with respect to -
              (A) a transfer to or by, or possession by or under the
              authority of, the United States or any department or agency
              thereof or a State, or a department, agency, or political
              subdivision thereof; or
              (B) any lawful transfer or lawful possession of a machinegun
              that was lawfully possessed before the date this subsection takes
              effect.
              (p)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture,
              import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive any
              firearm -
              (A) that, after removal of grips, stocks, and magazines, is not
              as detectable as the Security Exemplar, by walk-through metal
              detectors calibrated and operated to detect the Security
              Exemplar; or
              (B) any major component of which, when subjected to inspection
              by the types of x-ray machines commonly used at airports, does
              not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the
              component. Barium sulfate or other compounds may be used in the
              fabrication of the component.
              (2) For purposes of this subsection -
              (A) the term "firearm" does not include the frame or receiver
              of any such weapon;
              (B) the term "major component" means, with respect to a
              firearm, the barrel, the slide or cylinder, or the frame or
              receiver of the firearm; and
              (C) the term "Security Exemplar" means an object, to be
              fabricated at the direction of the Attorney General, that is -
              (i) constructed of, during the 12-month period beginning on
              the date of the enactment of this subsection, 3.7 ounces of
              material type 17-4 PH stainless steel in a shape resembling a
              handgun; and
              (ii) suitable for testing and calibrating metal detectors:
              Provided, however, That at the close of such 12-month period, and
              at appropriate times thereafter the Attorney General shall
              promulgate regulations to permit the manufacture, importation,
              sale, shipment, delivery, possession, transfer, or receipt of
              firearms previously prohibited under this subparagraph that are
              as detectable as a "Security Exemplar" which contains 3.7 ounces
              of material type 17-4 PH stainless steel, in a shape resembling a
              handgun, or such lesser amount as is detectable in view of
              advances in state-of-the-art developments in weapons detection
              technology.
              (3) Under such rules and regulations as the Attorney General
              shall prescribe, this subsection shall not apply to the
              manufacture, possession, transfer, receipt, shipment, or delivery
              of a firearm by a licensed manufacturer or any person acting
              pursuant to a contract with a licensed manufacturer, for the
              purpose of examining and testing such firearm to determine whether
              paragraph (1) applies to such firearm. The Attorney General shall
              ensure that rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this
              paragraph do not impair the manufacture of prototype firearms or
              the development of new technology.
              (4) The Attorney General shall permit the conditional importation
              of a firearm by a licensed importer or licensed manufacturer, for
              examination and testing to determine whether or not the
              unconditional importation of such firearm would violate this
              subsection.
              (5) This subsection shall not apply to any firearm which -
              (A) has been certified by the Secretary of Defense or the
              Director of Central Intelligence, after consultation with the
              Attorney General and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation
              Administration, as necessary for military or intelligence
              applications; and
              (B) is manufactured for and sold exclusively to military or
              intelligence agencies of the United States.
              (6) This subsection shall not apply with respect to any firearm
              manufactured in, imported into, or possessed in the United States
              before the date of the enactment of the Undetectable Firearms Act
              of 1988.
              (q)(1) The Congress finds and declares that -
              (A) crime, particularly crime involving drugs and guns, is a
              pervasive, nationwide problem;
              (B) crime at the local level is exacerbated by the interstate
              movement of drugs, guns, and criminal gangs;
              (C) firearms and ammunition move easily in interstate commerce
              and have been found in increasing numbers in and around schools,
              as documented in numerous hearings in both the Committee on the
              Judiciary (!3) the House of Representatives and the Committee on
              the Judiciary of the Senate;
              (D) in fact, even before the sale of a firearm, the gun, its
              component parts, ammunition, and the raw materials from which
              they are made have considerably moved in interstate commerce;
              (E) while criminals freely move from State to State, ordinary
              citizens and foreign visitors may fear to travel to or through
              certain parts of the country due to concern about violent crime
              and gun violence, and parents may decline to send their children
              to school for the same reason;
              (F) the occurrence of violent crime in school zones has
              resulted in a decline in the quality of education in our country;
              (G) this decline in the quality of education has an adverse
              impact on interstate commerce and the foreign commerce of the
              United States;
              (H) States, localities, and school systems find it almost
              impossible to handle gun-related crime by themselves - even
              States, localities, and school systems that have made strong
              efforts to prevent, detect, and punish gun-related crime find
              their efforts unavailing due in part to the failure or inability
              of other States or localities to take strong measures; and
              (I) the Congress has the power, under the interstate commerce
              clause and other provisions of the Constitution, to enact
              measures to ensure the integrity and safety of the Nation's
              schools by enactment of this subsection.
              (2)(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to
              possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects
              interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual
              knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.
              (B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the possession of a
              firearm -
              (i) on private property not part of school grounds;
              (ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do
              so by the State in which the school zone is located or a
              political subdivision of the State, and the law of the State or
              political subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains
              such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the State or
              political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified
              under law to receive the license;
              (iii) that is -
              (I) not loaded; and
              (II) in a locked container, or a locked firearms rack that is
              on a motor vehicle;
              (iv) by an individual for use in a program approved by a school
              in the school zone;
              (v) by an individual in accordance with a contract entered into
              between a school in the school zone and the individual or an
              employer of the individual;
              (vi) by a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official
              capacity; or
              (vii) that is unloaded and is possessed by an individual while
              traversing school premises for the purpose of gaining access to
              public or private lands open to hunting, if the entry on school
              premises is authorized by school authorities.
              (3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it shall be
              unlawful for any person, knowingly or with reckless disregard for
              the safety of another, to discharge or attempt to discharge a
              firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or
              foreign commerce at a place that the person knows is a school zone.
              (B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the discharge of a firearm
              -
              (i) on private property not part of school grounds;
              (ii) as part of a program approved by a school in the school
              zone, by an individual who is participating in the program;
              (iii) by an individual in accordance with a contract entered
              into between a school in a school zone and the individual or an
              employer of the individual; or
              (iv) by a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official
              capacity.
              (4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as preempting
              or preventing a State or local government from enacting a statute
              establishing gun free school zones as provided in this subsection.
              (r) It shall be unlawful for any person to assemble from imported
              parts any semiautomatic rifle or any shotgun which is identical to
              any rifle or shotgun prohibited from importation under section
              925(d)(3) of this chapter as not being particularly suitable for or
              readily adaptable to sporting purposes except that this subsection
              shall not apply to -
              (1) the assembly of any such rifle or shotgun for sale or
              distribution by a licensed manufacturer to the United States or
              any department or agency thereof or to any State or any
              department, agency, or political subdivision thereof; or
              (2) the assembly of any such rifle or shotgun for the purposes
              of testing or experimentation authorized by the Attorney General.
              (s)(1) Beginning on the date that is 90 days after the date of
              enactment of this subsection and ending on the day before the date
              that is 60 months after such date of enactment, it shall be
              unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or
              licensed dealer to sell, deliver, or transfer a handgun (other than
              the return of a handgun to the person from whom it was received) to
              an individual who is not licensed under section 923, unless -
              (A) after the most recent proposal of such transfer by the
              transferee -
              (i) the transferor has -
              (I) received from the transferee a statement of the
              transferee containing the information described in paragraph
              (3);
              (II) verified the identity of the transferee by examining
              the identification document presented;
              (III) within 1 day after the transferee furnishes the
              statement, provided notice of the contents of the statement
              to the chief law enforcement officer of the place of
              residence of the transferee; and
              (IV) within 1 day after the transferee furnishes the
              statement, transmitted a copy of the statement to the chief
              law enforcement officer of the place of residence of the
              transferee; and
              (ii)(I) 5 business days (meaning days on which State offices
              are open) have elapsed from the date the transferor furnished
              notice of the contents of the statement to the chief law
              enforcement officer, during which period the transferor has not
              received information from the chief law enforcement officer
              that receipt or possession of the handgun by the transferee
              would be in violation of Federal, State, or local law; or
              (II) the transferor has received notice from the chief law
              enforcement officer that the officer has no information
              indicating that receipt or possession of the handgun by the
              transferee would violate Federal, State, or local law;
              (B) the transferee has presented to the transferor a written
              statement, issued by the chief law enforcement officer of the
              place of residence of the transferee during the 10-day period
              ending on the date of the most recent proposal of such transfer
              by the transferee, stating that the transferee requires access to
              a handgun because of a threat to the life of the transferee or of
              any member of the household of the transferee;
              (C)(i) the transferee has presented to the transferor a permit
              that -
              (I) allows the transferee to possess or acquire a handgun;
              and
              (II) was issued not more than 5 years earlier by the State in
              which the transfer is to take place; and
              (ii) the law of the State provides that such a permit is to be
              issued only after an authorized government official has verified
              that the information available to such official does not indicate
              that possession of a handgun by the transferee would be in
              violation of the law;
              (D) the law of the State requires that, before any licensed
              importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer completes the
              transfer of a handgun to an individual who is not licensed under
              section 923, an authorized government official verify that the
              information available to such official does not indicate that
              possession of a handgun by the transferee would be in violation
              of law;
              (E) the Attorney General has approved the transfer under
              section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or
              (F) on application of the transferor, the Attorney General has
              certified that compliance with subparagraph (A)(i)(III) is
              impracticable because -
              (i) the ratio of the number of law enforcement officers of
              the State in which the transfer is to occur to the number of
              square miles of land area of the State does not exceed 0.0025;
              (ii) the business premises of the transferor at which the
              transfer is to occur are extremely remote in relation to the
              chief law enforcement officer; and
              (iii) there is an absence of telecommunications facilities in
              the geographical area in which the business premises are
              located.
              (2) A chief law enforcement officer to whom a transferor has
              provided notice pursuant to paragraph (1)(A)(i)(III) shall make a
              reasonable effort to ascertain within 5 business days whether
              receipt or possession would be in violation of the law, including
              research in whatever State and local recordkeeping systems are
              available and in a national system designated by the Attorney
              General.
              (3) The statement referred to in paragraph (1)(A)(i)(I) shall
              contain only -
              (A) the name, address, and date of birth appearing on a valid
              identification document (as defined in section 1028(d)(1) (!4))
              of the transferee containing a photograph of the transferee and a
              description of the identification used;
              (B) a statement that the transferee -
              (i) is not under indictment for, and has not been convicted
              in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term
              exceeding 1 year, and has not been convicted in any court of a
              misdemeanor crime of domestic violence;
              (ii) is not a fugitive from justice;
              (iii) is not an unlawful user of or addicted to any
              controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the
              Controlled Substances Act);
              (iv) has not been adjudicated as a mental defective or been
              committed to a mental institution;
              (v) is not an alien who -
              (I) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or
              (II) subject to subsection (y)(2), has been admitted to the
              United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as that term is
              defined in section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration and
              Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(26)));
              (vi) has not been discharged from the Armed Forces under
              dishonorable conditions; and
              (vii) is not a person who, having been a citizen of the
              United States, has renounced such citizenship;
              (C) the date the statement is made; and
              (D) notice that the transferee intends to obtain a handgun from
              the transferor.
              (4) Any transferor of a handgun who, after such transfer,
              receives a report from a chief law enforcement officer containing
              information that receipt or possession of the handgun by the
              transferee violates Federal, State, or local law shall, within 1
              business day after receipt of such request, communicate any
              information related to the transfer that the transferor has about
              the transfer and the transferee to -
              (A) the chief law enforcement officer of the place of business
              of the transferor; and
              (B) the chief law enforcement officer of the place of residence
              of the transferee.
              (5) Any transferor who receives information, not otherwise
              available to the public, in a report under this subsection shall
              not disclose such information except to the transferee, to law
              enforcement authorities, or pursuant to the direction of a court of
              law.
              (6)(A) Any transferor who sells, delivers, or otherwise transfers
              a handgun to a transferee shall retain the copy of the statement of
              the transferee with respect to the handgun transaction, and shall
              retain evidence that the transferor has complied with subclauses
              (III) and (IV) of paragraph (1)(A)(i) with respect to the
              statement.
              (B) Unless the chief law enforcement officer to whom a statement
              is transmitted under paragraph (1)(A)(i)(IV) determines that a
              transaction would violate Federal, State, or local law -
              (i) the officer shall, within 20 business days after the date
              the transferee made the statement on the basis of which the
              notice was provided, destroy the statement, any record containing
              information derived from the statement, and any record created as
              a result of the notice required by paragraph (1)(A)(i)(III);
              (ii) the information contained in the statement shall not be
              conveyed to any person except a person who has a need to know in
              order to carry out this subsection; and
              (iii) the information contained in the statement shall not be
              used for any purpose other than to carry out this subsection.
              (C) If a chief law enforcement officer determines that an
              individual is ineligible to receive a handgun and the individual
              requests the officer to provide the reason for such determination,
              the officer shall provide such reasons to the individual in writing
              within 20 business days after receipt of the request.
              (7) A chief law enforcement officer or other person responsible
              for providing criminal history background information pursuant to
              this subsection shall not be liable in an action at law for damages
              -
              (A) for failure to prevent the sale or transfer of a handgun to
              a person whose receipt or possession of the handgun is unlawful
              under this section; or
              (B) for preventing such a sale or transfer to a person who may
              lawfully receive or possess a handgun.
              (8) For purposes of this subsection, the term "chief law
              enforcement officer" means the chief of police, the sheriff, or an
              equivalent officer or the designee of any such individual.
              (9) The Attorney General shall take necessary actions to ensure
              that the provisions of this subsection are published and
              disseminated to licensed dealers, law enforcement officials, and
              the public.
              (t)(1) Beginning on the date that is 30 days after the Attorney
              General notifies licensees under section 103(d) of the Brady
              Handgun Violence Prevention Act that the national instant criminal
              background check system is established, a licensed importer,
              licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer shall not transfer a
              firearm to any other person who is not licensed under this chapter,
              unless -
              (A) before the completion of the transfer, the licensee
              contacts the national instant criminal background check system
              established under section 103 of that Act;
              (B)(i) the system provides the licensee with a unique
              identification number; or
              (ii) 3 business days (meaning a day on which State offices are
              open) have elapsed since the licensee contacted the system, and
              the system has not notified the licensee that the receipt of a
              firearm by such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n)
              of this section; and
              (C) the transferor has verified the identity of the transferee
              by examining a valid identification document (as defined in
              section 1028(d) of this title) of the transferee containing a
              photograph of the transferee.
              (2) If receipt of a firearm would not violate subsection (g) or
              (n) or State law, the system shall -
              (A) assign a unique identification number to the transfer;
              (B) provide the licensee with the number; and
              (C) destroy all records of the system with respect to the call
              (other than the identifying number and the date the number was
              assigned) and all records of the system relating to the person or
              the transfer.
              (3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a firearm transfer between a
              licensee and another person if -
              (A)(i) such other person has presented to the licensee a permit
              that -
              (I) allows such other person to possess or acquire a firearm;
              and
              (II) was issued not more than 5 years earlier by the State in
              which the transfer is to take place; and
              (ii) the law of the State provides that such a permit is to be
              issued only after an authorized government official has verified
              that the information available to such official does not indicate
              that possession of a firearm by such other person would be in
              violation of law;
              (B) the Attorney General has approved the transfer under
              section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or
              (C) on application of the transferor, the Attorney General has
              certified that compliance with paragraph (1)(A) is impracticable
              because -
              (i) the ratio of the number of law enforcement officers of
              the State in which the transfer is to occur to the number of
              square miles of land area of the State does not exceed 0.0025;
              (ii) the business premises of the licensee at which the
              transfer is to occur are extremely remote in relation to the
              chief law enforcement officer (as defined in subsection
              (s)(8)); and
              (iii) there is an absence of telecommunications facilities in
              the geographical area in which the business premises are
              located.
              (4) If the national instant criminal background check system
              notifies the licensee that the information available to the system
              does not demonstrate that the receipt of a firearm by such other
              person would violate subsection (g) or (n) or State law, and the
              licensee transfers a firearm to such other person, the licensee
              shall include in the record of the transfer the unique
              identification number provided by the system with respect to the
              transfer.
              (5) If the licensee knowingly transfers a firearm to such other
              person and knowingly fails to comply with paragraph (1) of this
              subsection with respect to the transfer and, at the time such other
              person most recently proposed the transfer, the national instant
              criminal background check system was operating and information was
              available to the system demonstrating that receipt of a firearm by
              such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of this
              section or State law, the Attorney General may, after notice and
              opportunity for a hearing, suspend for not more than 6 months or
              revoke any license issued to the licensee under section 923, and
              may impose on the licensee a civil fine of not more than $5,000.
              (6) Neither a local government nor an employee of the Federal
              Government or of any State or local government, responsible for
              providing information to the national instant criminal background
              check system shall be liable in an action at law for damages -
              (A) for failure to prevent the sale or transfer of a firearm to
              a person whose receipt or possession of the firearm is unlawful
              under this section; or
              (B) for preventing such a sale or transfer to a person who may
              lawfully receive or possess a firearm.
              (u) It shall be unlawful for a person to steal or unlawfully take
              or carry away from the person or the premises of a person who is
              licensed to engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or
              dealing in firearms, any firearm in the licensee's business
              inventory that has been shipped or transported in interstate or
              foreign commerce.
              [(v), (w) Repealed. Pub. L. 103-322, title XI, Sec. 110105(2),
              Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2000.]
              (x)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to sell, deliver, or
              otherwise transfer to a person who the transferor knows or has
              reasonable cause to believe is a juvenile -
              (A) a handgun; or
              (B) ammunition that is suitable for use only in a handgun.
              (2) It shall be unlawful for any person who is a juvenile to
              knowingly possess -
              (A) a handgun; or
              (B) ammunition that is suitable for use only in a handgun.
              (3) This subsection does not apply to -
              (A) a temporary transfer of a handgun or ammunition to a
              juvenile or to the possession or use of a handgun or ammunition
              by a juvenile if the handgun and ammunition are possessed and
              used by the juvenile -
              (i) in the course of employment, in the course of ranching or
              farming related to activities at the residence of the juvenile
              (or on property used for ranching or farming at which the
              juvenile, with the permission of the property owner or lessee,
              is performing activities related to the operation of the farm
              or ranch), target practice, hunting, or a course of instruction
              in the safe and lawful use of a handgun;
              (ii) with the prior written consent of the juvenile's parent
              or guardian who is not prohibited by Federal, State, or local
              law from possessing a firearm, except -
              (I) during transportation by the juvenile of an unloaded
              handgun in a locked container directly from the place of
              transfer to a place at which an activity described in clause
              (i) is to take place and transportation by the juvenile of
              that handgun, unloaded and in a locked container, directly
              from the place at which such an activity took place to the
              transferor; or
              (II) with respect to ranching or farming activities as
              described in clause (i), a juvenile may possess and use a
              handgun or ammunition with the prior written approval of the
              juvenile's parent or legal guardian and at the direction of
              an adult who is not prohibited by Federal, State or local law
              from possessing a firearm;
              (iii) the juvenile has the prior written consent in the
              juvenile's possession at all times when a handgun is in the
              possession of the juvenile; and
              (iv) in accordance with State and local law;
              (B) a juvenile who is a member of the Armed Forces of the
              United States or the National Guard who possesses or is armed
              with a handgun in the line of duty;
              (C) a transfer by inheritance of title (but not possession) of
              a handgun or ammunition to a juvenile; or
              (D) the possession of a handgun or ammunition by a juvenile
              taken in defense of the juvenile or other persons against an
              intruder into the residence of the juvenile or a residence in
              which the juvenile is an invited guest.
              (4) A handgun or ammunition, the possession of which is
              transferred to a juvenile in circumstances in which the transferor
              is not in violation of this subsection shall not be subject to
              permanent confiscation by the Government if its possession by the
              juvenile subsequently becomes unlawful because of the conduct of
              the juvenile, but shall be returned to the lawful owner when such
              handgun or ammunition is no longer required by the Government for
              the purposes of investigation or prosecution.
              (5) For purposes of this subsection, the term "juvenile" means a
              person who is less than 18 years of age.
              (6)(A) In a prosecution of a violation of this subsection, the
              court shall require the presence of a juvenile defendant's parent
              or legal guardian at all proceedings.
              (B) The court may use the contempt power to enforce subparagraph
              (A).
              (C) The court may excuse attendance of a parent or legal guardian
              of a juvenile defendant at a proceeding in a prosecution of a
              violation of this subsection for good cause shown.
              (y) Provisions Relating to Aliens Admitted Under Nonimmigrant
              Visas. -
              (1) Definitions. - In this subsection -
              (A) the term "alien" has the same meaning as in section
              101(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
              1101(a)(3)); and
              (B) the term "nonimmigrant visa" has the same meaning as in
              section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
              U.S.C. 1101(a)(26)).
              (2) Exceptions. - Subsections (d)(5)(B), (g)(5)(B), and
              (s)(3)(B)(v)(II) do not apply to any alien who has been lawfully
              admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa, if that
              alien is -
              (A) admitted to the United States for lawful hunting or
              sporting purposes or is in possession of a hunting license or
              permit lawfully issued in the United States;
              (B) an official representative of a foreign government who is
              -
              (i) accredited to the United States Government or the
              Government's mission to an international organization having
              its headquarters in the United States; or
              (ii) en route to or from another country to which that
              alien is accredited;
              (C) an official of a foreign government or a distinguished
              foreign visitor who has been so designated by the Department of
              State; or
              (D) a foreign law enforcement officer of a friendly foreign
              government entering the United States on official law
              enforcement business.
              (3) Waiver. -
              (A) Conditions for waiver. - Any individual who has been
              admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa may
              receive a waiver from the requirements of subsection (g)(5), if
              -
              (i) the individual submits to the Attorney General a
              petition that meets the requirements of subparagraph (C); and
              (ii) the Attorney General approves the petition.
              (B) Petition. - Each petition under subparagraph (B) shall -
              (i) demonstrate that the petitioner has resided in the
              United States for a continuous period of not less than 180
              days before the date on which the petition is submitted under
              this paragraph; and
              (ii) include a written statement from the embassy or
              consulate of the petitioner, authorizing the petitioner to
              acquire a firearm or ammunition and certifying that the alien
              would not, absent the application of subsection (g)(5)(B),
              otherwise be prohibited from such acquisition under
              subsection (g).
              (C) Approval of petition. - The Attorney General shall
              approve a petition submitted in accordance with this paragraph,
              if the Attorney General determines that waiving the
              requirements of subsection (g)(5)(B) with respect to the
              petitioner -
              (i) would be in the interests of justice; and
              (ii) would not jeopardize the public safety.
              (z) Secure Gun Storage or Safety Device. -
              (1) In general. - Except as provided under paragraph (2), it
              shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed
              manufacturer, or licensed dealer to sell, deliver, or transfer
              any handgun to any person other than any person licensed under
              this chapter, unless the transferee is provided with a secure gun
              storage or safety device (as defined in section 921(a)(34)) for
              that handgun.
              (2) Exceptions. - Paragraph (1) shall not apply to -
              (A)(i) the manufacture for, transfer to, or possession by,
              the United States, a department or agency of the United States,
              a State, or a department, agency, or political subdivision of a
              State, of a handgun; or
              (ii) the transfer to, or possession by, a law enforcement
              officer employed by an entity referred to in clause (i) of a
              handgun for law enforcement purposes (whether on or off duty);
              or
              (B) the transfer to, or possession by, a rail police officer
              employed by a rail carrier and certified or commissioned as a
              police officer under the laws of a State of a handgun for
              purposes of law enforcement (whether on or off duty);
              (C) the transfer to any person of a handgun listed as a curio
              or relic by the Secretary pursuant to section 921(a)(13); or
              (D) the transfer to any person of a handgun for which a
              secure gun storage or safety device is temporarily unavailable
              for the reasons described in the exceptions stated in section
              923(e), if the licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or
              licensed dealer delivers to the transferee within 10 calendar
              days from the date of the delivery of the handgun to the
              transferee a secure gun storage or safety device for the
              handgun.
              (3) Liability for use. -
              (A) In general. - Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
              a person who has lawful possession and control of a handgun,
              and who uses a secure gun storage or safety device with the
              handgun, shall be entitled to immunity from a qualified civil
              liability action.
              (B) Prospective actions. - A qualified civil liability action
              may not be brought in any Federal or State court.
              (C) Defined term. - As used in this paragraph, the term
              "qualified civil liability action" -
              (i) means a civil action brought by any person against a
              person described in subparagraph (A) for damages resulting
              from the criminal or unlawful misuse of the handgun by a
              third party, if -
              (I) the handgun was accessed by another person who did
              not have the permission or authorization of the person
              having lawful possession and control of the handgun to have
              access to it; and
              (II) at the time access was gained by the person not so
              authorized, the handgun had been made inoperable by use of
              a secure gun storage or safety device; and
              (ii) shall not include an action brought against the person
              having lawful possession and control of the handgun for
              negligent entrustment or negligence per se.
              .
              .
              .

              Comment


              • #8
                unlawful acts

                From that, note the excerpt below that is likely familiar to those who have answered the questions we answer when we purchase firearms from a licensed dealer in the US:
                (g) It shall be unlawful for any person -
                (1) who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable
                by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
                (2) who is a fugitive from justice;
                (3) who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled
                substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances
                Act (21 U.S.C. 802));
                (4) who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has
                been committed to a mental institution;

                Most all of that is related to people where it has already been shown with due process in a court of law that they fit within those categories. They have already been identified.


                .
                Last edited by JRT; 16 Nov 10,, 06:29.
                .
                .
                .

                Comment


                • #9
                  Point taken, enforcement of existing laws pertaining to metal illness would be sufficient provided the mentally ill could be identified. Mental illness is a sickness, we don't need sick people in jail, there are already enough people in jail, some who don't belong there, like pot smokers. If steps were taken to enforce these laws, such as the ones I suggested, medical proof of freedom from ongoing mental illness, and drug tests for truly dangerous drugs -already linked with violence like meth, PCP, and heroin, the existing laws would work fine.
                  sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
                  If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Dear Mr Fog3: Since you are apparently convinced I am some sort of 2nd amendment turncoat, what is YOUR answer to the problem in the first post? It IS a problem. To deny otherwise is to bury your head in the sand.
                    Last edited by Chogy; 17 Nov 10,, 01:01. Reason: clarification...

                    Comment

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