Details

• Sponsor - McCarthy
• Proposed - April 27, 2005
• Congressional Record Link - HR1931
• Amends - Chapter 44 of Title 18, United States Code
• Amendments - None.
• Vote - None yet.
• Results - No change in law.

Status

April 27, 2005 - Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

May 23, 2005 - McCarthy has remarks entered into the Congressional Record.

Synopsis

This bill is a simplistic update to the list of those prohibited from firearms ownership to include those who have been convicted in a foreign court of any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

Analysis

Introduced one day after the Small v. United States decision, this bill is a knee jerk reaction. It completely recognizes the validity of all foreign laws and foreign court proceedings. There is no test as to whether what a person is convicted of is considered any sort of crime in the US. There is no attempt to measure the validity of the conviction and there is no relief currently available.

So, conviction of the following crimes would permanently make you a prohibited person:

• Using a GPS in Russia.
• Importing Bibles into China.
• Defending yourself from attack in Italy.
• Violating French antitrust law.

Senate Bill 954 is a similar, but not identical bill introduced the day after this bill.

Remarks - May 23, 2005

[Page: H3749] GPO's PDF

   The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
   Mrs. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law preventing convicted felons from purchasing guns does not apply to individuals convicted of felonies in foreign countries.
   In the case of Small v. United States, the ruling stated the law needs to explicitly state that foreign felons are also prohibited from buying firearms. This ruling has opened the doors for dangerous criminals to purchase guns in this country with no questions asked. But the loophole can easily be fixed.
   That is why I have introduced H.R. 1931 , the Foreign Felons Gun Prohibition Act. My legislation will ensure our gun laws take crimes committed in other countries into consideration before allowing a firearm purchase to go forward.
   We cannot allow convicted drug dealers, murderers, rapists and even terrorists to purchase guns just because their crimes were committed in another country.
   Mr. Speaker, a convicted drug dealer from South America can purchase all of the guns and ammunition that he wants and can buy in this country legally. This loophole puts the lives of our police officers, ATF officers and innocent bystanders in danger. And as demonstrated in the recent GAO report, it is already too easy for individuals with terrorist ties to buy guns in this country. This loophole will allow someone actually convicted of assisting terrorists overseas to purchase weapons like an AK-47 or a 50 caliber sniper weapon that can shoot down a plane.
   I completely understand some felony convictions handed down by foreign courts have legitimacy questions. Convictions can be trumped up for political reasons by corrupt regimes. And nations involved in civil wars or other political disputes may have more than one illegitimate court administering justice. This legislation takes that into consideration.
   My bill allows individuals to challenge the legitimacy of foreign felony convictions in our courts. If the foreign felony is found to be out of bounds legally, the individual would be allowed to purchase that gun.
   This would do nothing to take away the right of someone to be able to own a gun. I want this bill to ensure that anyone charged with an illegitimate or a politically motivated foreign felony is not discriminated against. This may be inconvenient for some, but we must make sure that gun sales are limited to law-abiding citizens.
   Mr. Speaker, we are at war. We cannot allow our enemies in the war on terror to arm themselves within our borders just because of a loophole. This is a homeland security problem with a common-sense solution.
   Congress must work to close all of the loopholes in our pre-9/11 gun laws. It is too easy for person with ties to terrorism and criminal organizations to access guns in this Nation. Passing H.R. 1931 will help us win the war on terror and keep our streets safe from gangs and criminal.
   We should be working together to make this country as safe as possible, certainly for our police officers, our ATF agents and the innocent bystanders. We can do this, but we must learn to work together. We must change the rhetoric of the gun issue. We are working for gun safety, not taking away the right of someone to own a gun.
 

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