[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1136 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1136
To protect the Nation's law enforcement officers by banning the Five-
seveN Pistol and 5.7 x 28mm SS190 and SS192 cartridges, testing
handguns and ammunition for capability to penetrate body armor, and
prohibiting the manufacture, importation, sale, or purchase of such
handguns or ammunition by civilians.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 7, 2005
Mr. Engel (for himself and Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect the Nation's law enforcement officers by banning the Five-
seveN Pistol and 5.7 x 28mm SS190 and SS192 cartridges, testing
handguns and ammunition for capability to penetrate body armor, and
prohibiting the manufacture, importation, sale, or purchase of such
handguns or ammunition by civilians.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protect Law Enforcement Armor Act''
or the ``PLEA Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Law enforcement is facing a new threat from handguns
and accompanying ammunition, which are designed to penetrate
police body armor, being marketed and sold to civilians.
(2) A Five-seveN Pistol and accompanying ammunition,
manufactured by FN Herstal of Belgium as the ``5.7 x 28 mm
System'', has recently been recovered by law enforcement on the
streets. The Five-seveN Pistol and 5.7 x 28mm SS192 cartridges
are legally available for purchase by civilians under current
law.
(3) The Five-seveN Pistol and 5.7 x 28mm SS192 cartridges
are capable of penetrating level IIA armor. The manufacturer
advertises that ammunition fired from the Five-seveN will
perforate 48 layers of Kevlar up to 200 meters and that the
ammunition travels at 2100 feet per second.
(4) The Five-seveN Pistol, and similar handguns designed to
use ammunition capable of penetrating body armor, pose a
devastating threat to law enforcement.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to protect the Nation's
law enforcement officers by--
(1) testing handguns and ammunition for capability to
penetrate body armor; and
(2) prohibiting the manufacture, importation, sale, or
purchase by civilians of the Five-seveN Pistol, ammunition for
such pistol, or any other handgun that uses ammunition found to
be capable of penetrating body armor.
SEC. 3. ARMOR PIERCING AMMUNITION.
(a) Expansion of Definition of Armor Piercing Ammunition.--Section
921(a)(17)(B) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in clause (i), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) a projectile that--
``(I) may be used in a handgun; and
``(II) the Attorney General determines,
pursuant to section 926(d), to be capable of
penetrating body armor.''.
(b) Determination of Capability of Projectiles to Penetrate Body
Armor.--Section 926 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(d)(1) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
subsection, the Attorney General shall promulgate standards for the
uniform testing of projectiles against Body Armor Exemplar.
``(2) The standards promulgated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
take into account, among other factors, variations in performance that
are related to the type of handgun used, the length of the barrel of
the handgun, the amount and kind of powder used to propel the
projectile, and the design of the projectile.
``(3) As used in paragraph (1), the term `Body Armor Exemplar'
means body armor that the Attorney General determines meets minimum
standards for the protection of law enforcement officers.''.
SEC. 4. ARMOR PIERCING HANDGUNS AND AMMUNITION.
(a) In General.--Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding after subsection (y):
``(z) Five-SeveN Pistol.--
``(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for any person to
manufacture, import, market, sell, ship, deliver, possess,
transfer, or receive--
``(A) the Fabrique Nationale Herstal Five-SeveN
Pistol;
``(B) 5.7 x 28mm SS190 and SS192 cartridges; or
``(C) any other handgun that uses armor piercing
ammunition.
``(2) Exceptions.--This subsection shall not apply to--
``(A) any firearm or armor piercing ammunition
manufactured for, and sold exclusively to, military,
law enforcement, or intelligence agencies of the United
States; and
``(B) the manufacture, possession, transfer,
receipt, shipment, or delivery of a firearm or armor
piercing ammunition 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 or ammunition to determine whether
paragraph (1) applies to such firearm.''.
(b) Penalties.--Section 924(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by striking ``or (q)'' and inserting ``(q), or (z)''.
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