PLEA ACT



By Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. SCHUMER, and Mrs. CLINTON):

S. 527. 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; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001 reminded us that police are heroes who risk their lives to protect us.

That's why it's so outrageous that a gun manufacturer would design and market a ``cop killer'' weapon.

Today on the streets of our cities there is a handgun, called the Five-SeveN, that was specifically designed to pierce bulletproof vests like the ones worn by police.

The web site for this gun actually brags that it can pierce protective armor--that it is a potential cop killer.

One of these weapons was recently confiscated by police officer in Camden, NJ, from a suspect charged with trafficking in large amounts of narcotics.

If there had been a gunfight, the police would have been outgunned.

Who knows how many cop-killer guns are on the streets of my State--or yours?

Police across the nation are alarmed by this weapon. The police chief of Jersey City, Robert Troy, recently pleaded with Congress to ban this gun.

That's why I have introduced the Protect Law Enforcement Armor (PLEA) Act to take ``cop-killer guns'' off the streets. And, I am pleased Senators CORZINE, SCHUMER and CLINTON are co-sponsors of this legislation.

There might be a place for this gun on a battlefield . . . but not near a playground.

Not on our streets.

The cop-killer gun isn't good for hunting. The last time I checked, deer didn't wear bulletproof vests.

It isn't for target shooting.

It isn't even a practical weapon for protection against home intruders.

The cop-killer gun was designed for one thing--piercing the protective armor worn by police officers.

This is a weapon a terrorist or criminal would love: light and easily concealed, yet so powerful that it can penetrate a bullet-proof vest from a distance of more than two football fields.

Armor-piercing bullets are already illegal, but the cop-killer gun has slipped through a loophole in the law.

Simply put, this gun skirts the law by delivering ammunition with unusual velocity, turning otherwise legal bullets into ``cop killers.''

We can't sit by. We must protect our police.

We must ban the cop-killer gun and close the loophole on cop-killer bullets.

Our police officers risk their lives to protect us . . . but we should reduce that risk as much as possible.

Let's get cop-killer guns off our streets.

Let's pass the PLEA Act.

The PLEA Act is simple. It would ban the Five-seven assault pistol, ban the special armor piecing FN 5.7 x 28mm S 192 ammunition, expand the federal definition of armor piercing ammunition, and require the Attorney General to test any ammunition that is capable of penetrating body armor.

The PLEA Act does not apply to the military and law enforcement. In fact, it specifically exempts sale of armor piercing ammunition to the military and law enforcement.

I encourage my colleagues to support it.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

S. 527

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:

[Page: S2041] GPO's PDF
``(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)''.

maybe he forgot that terrorist used planes instead of the 5-7 to kill people.

using 911 as a reference, in my mind was stupid.

I propose the following changes:

After the text - "The PLEA Act is simple. It would ban the Five-seven assault pistol, ban the special armor piecing FN 5.7 x 28mm S 192 ammunition, expand the federal definition of armor piercing ammunition, and require the Attorney General to test any ammunition that is capable of penetrating body armor."

insert the following phrase - "on Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. SCHUMER, and Mrs. CLINTON), or any other sponsor thereof."

Three things:

1. This bill would not only ban the FiveseveN, but it would also ban the your CZ52, AR pistols, etc.

2. It outlaws POSSESSION of the FiveseveN

3. There is no grandfather clause

Quoted: Three things: 1. This bill would not only ban the FiveseveN, but it would also ban the your CZ52, AR pistols, etc. 2. It outlaws POSSESSION of the FiveseveN 3. There is no grandfather clause

+1

Funny thing is that it bans the "AP"
ammo AND the gun. Huh?

"Mr and Mrs America, hand them in"

Since there is no grandfather clause, you can guarantee this bill is dead.

The internet is a wonderful thing...

Some time ago, stuff like this just waltzed into serious consideration without opposition.

BTT

S. 527 contains a performance-based armor piercing ammuntion ban, the NRA has a long history of working very hard to keep these off of the books.

In the 1980s Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-N.Y.) introduced "a bill to stop the proliferation of `cop-killer` bullets." Biaggi`s bill proposed a performance based prohibition, which would have outlawed any bullet that, when fired from a 5" barrelled handgun, would be capable of penetrating the equivalent of 18 layers of Kevlar.

Technical experts of the FBI, BATF, Secret Service and police forensic labs throughout the country warned that a performance based ban would be impractical and unenforceable. The National Rifle associaition (NRA) warned additionally that it would have affected more than 85% of commonplace, conventional hunting and target shooting rifle ammunition, in addition to the specialty handgun rounds that were the intended targets of the bill. NRA joined many in law enforcement in opposition to the bill.

This bill is just an outward expression of how asinine and pathetic some American "Leaders"are.

AmmoLab has tested the FN 5.7 and it's ammunition and wrote a correct FAQ to clear up all the fear mongering and misinformation the Brady Campaign has been participating in. After reading their FAQ side by side with the Brady FAQ, the Brady slant, lies, misinformation, and fear mongering is even more obvious. Personally, I think they and the politicians who proposed this bill should be held accountable for lying to the public, especially when part of their deception is designed to decieve the general public and our legislature. Here's the FAQ:

AmmoLab FN 5.7 FAQ

I would encourage everyone to email and distribute the information and bill above along with the FAQ I linked to with their friends, family, and politicians. It wouldn't be a bad idea to email it to ALL the politicians who will be voting on it. Most of our politicians aren't extremely well educated on firearms and ammunition and even some of the progun ones may vote for this if they believe the information to be acurate, in the hopes of protecting police officers. Due to that, this bill has a good chance of being passed if the truth isn't made known to them. On the other hand, if it comes out that Liberals Inc. have tried to decieve them and make use of fear mongering this bill will most likely fizzle.

I'm rather concerned about what would happen to certain rifle catridges which are used in pistols. Since they are capable of penetrating body armor would the catridge as a whole be banned along with the pistols that shoot them like the other high velocity pistol catridges would be? I really wonder how many years we have left before the liberals can advance their agenda enough that we will lose our ability to buy the types of firearms and ammunition we want on a federal level.

Man, I truly wish there was some way to legally or civilly "smack-down" politicians who try to use horrid tragedies to push their crap.

This idiot tried to use 9-11, we've got a politician here in Oregon who's trying to use Columbine and Thurston High Schools as an excuse for more restrictions on our concealed carry law.

There should be some kind of censure for these asshats who have no respect for the tragedies and attempt to blatantly exploit them.

I think we should do an ARFCOM group buy for FN pistols (I really don't like them much, but...) and tell them MOLON LABE!