Senator Feinstein Introduces Gun Licensing and Record of Sale Bill
May 9, 2000

WASHINGTON, DC -- Flanked by mothers in Washington for the Million Mom March, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced legislation today to require that all purchasers of handguns and semi-automatic firearms that take detachable ammunition clips be licensed and a record of the sale be retained.

“On any given day in America 80 people are killed by gun violence, 12 of them children. The time has come to say enough is enough and demand of Congress the passage of common sense gun laws,” Senator Feinstein said.

The Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act, is cosponsored by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

The bill also sets in place a method to ensure that gun owners are responsible and trained in the use and care of firearms and enhances the ability of law enforcement to trace guns used in crimes.

“In this country, when you want to hunt, you get a hunting license; when you want to fish, you get a fishing license,” Senator Feinstein said. “But when you want to buy a gun, no license is necessary. That makes no sense.”

“We register cars and license drivers; we register pesticides and license exterminators; we register animal carriers and researchers; we register gambling devices; and we register a whole host of other goods and activities -- even ‘international expositions,’ believe it or not, must be registered with the Bureau of International Expositions!” Senator Feinstein said. “But when it comes to guns and gun owners -- no license and no registration is currently required, despite the loss of more than 32,000 lives a year from gun violence.”

“To this end, I have worked with law enforcement officials and other experts in drafting the bill we are introducing today. Upon enactment of this legislation, anyone purchasing a handgun or semi-automatic weapon that takes detachable ammunition clips will be required to have a license. Current owners of these weapons will have up to 10 years to obtain a license.

The bill sets up a federal system, but allows states to opt out if they adopt a system at least as effective as the federal program.

Under this bill, anyone wishing to obtain a firearm license will need to go to a federally licensed firearms dealer – there are currently more than 100,000 such dealers -- or a State-designated entity (if the state has a certified program of its own). The purchaser will need to:

• Provide information as to date and place of birth and name and address;
• Submit a thumb print;
• Submit a current photograph;
• Sign, under penalty of perjury, that all of the submitted information is true and that the applicant is qualified under federal law to possess a firearm;
• Pass a written firearms safety test, requiring knowledge of the safe storage and handling of firearms, the legal responsibilities of firearm ownership, and other factors as determined by the state or federal authority;
• Sign a pledge to keep any firearm safely stored and out of the hands of juveniles (this pledge will be backed up by criminal penalties of up to three years in jail for anyone failing to do so);
• Undergo state and federal background checks.
• Licenses will be renewable every five years, and can be revoked at any time if the licensee becomes disqualified under federal law from owning or possessing a gun.
• The fee for a license is $25.

Once the bill takes effect, all future sales and transfers of firearms falling within the scope of the bill will have to be recorded through a federally licensed firearms dealer, with an accompanying background check.”

Scheduled to join Senator Feinstein and speak at a news conference announcing the bill today were: Senators Lautenberg and Boxer; Rep. Marty Meehan, (D-Mass) who is introducing the bill in the House; Donna Dees-Thomases, founder of the Million Mom March; Charles Ramsey, Washington District of Columbia Chief of Police; Mary Leigh Bleck, whose son was killed by gun violence and is President of the Bell Campaign, an organization dedicated to reducing gun violence; Claudette Perry, a local District of Columbia woman who is involved in the March and whose godson was shot and killed in November 1998; Michael Barnes, a former Congressman and President of Handgun Control, Inc.; and Michael Beard, President of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.