Bill To Repeal "Sporting Purposes" Clause

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has introduced H.R. 1703 on April 19, 2005.

This bill goes through the endless lists of U.S. gun law and removes the phrase "for suitable sporting purposes" wherever such a phrase occurs.

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 1703
To restore the second amendment rights of all Americans.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 19, 2005
Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A BILL
To restore the second amendment rights of all Americans.


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 `Second Amendment Protection Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF FEDERAL HARASSMENT PERIOD.

Public Law 103-159 is repealed, and any provisions of law amended or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such Act had not been enacted.

SEC. 3. REPEAL OF UNCONSTITUTIONAL DISTINCTION.

(a) Section 5845(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--

(1) by striking `which the Secretary finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes'; and

(2) by striking `which the owner intends to use solely for sporting purposes'.

(b) Section 921(a)(4)(B) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking `which the Attorney General finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes'.

(c) Section 921(a)(4) of such title is amended in the 2nd sentence by striking `which the owner intends to use solely for sporting, recreational, or cultural purposes'.

(d) Section 921(a)(17)(C) of such title is amended by striking `a projectile which the Attorney General finds is primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes,'.

(e) Section 923(j) of such title is amended by striking `devoted to the collection, competitive use, or other sporting use of firearms in the community'.

(f) Section 922(r) of such title is amended by striking `of this chapter as not being particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes'.

(g) Section 925(a)(3) of such title is amended by striking `determined by the Attorney General to be generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes and'.

(h) Section 925(a)(4) of such title is amended by striking `(A) determined by the Attorney General to be generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes, or determined by the Department of Defense to be a type of firearm normally classified as a war souvenir, and (B)'.

(i) Section 925(d)(3) of such title is amended by striking `and is generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes'.

(j) Section 925(e)(2) of such title is amended by striking `provided that such handguns are generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes'.

(k) Section 922 of such title is amended in each of subsections (a)(5), (a)(9), and (b)(3) by striking `lawful sporting purposes' and inserting `lawful purposes'.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

The provisions of this Act shall take effect immediately upon enactment.

The bill was sent to both the Judiciary and Ways & Means committees, so there may be some potential to piggyback onto a larger budget related measure.

This would be a huge victory for gun owners since it eliminates the basis in law for the idea that the only guns that are protected by the Second Amendment are those with "suitable sporting purpose".

Please take a moment to contact your Congressional Representative and encourage them to sponsor this bill (unless your Rep is a known anti, in which case, let's just keep quiet about it for now).
http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.html

If you don't know who your Representative is, you can check here:
http://www.house.gov/zip/ZIP2Rep.html

 

[cosmos7]

I wish Ron Paul was my representative. Instead I've got Lois Capps...

 

[jefnvk]

So, how would this affect import laws?

 

[El Tejon]

jef, the elimination of the "sporting purposes" test for imported firearms and elimination of the "point system" for pistols.

Everyone here needs to write and call. Write, do not e-mail, your Senator and Congressman. Tell your friends. Post this at the gun store, range, etc.

Everyone needs to write and call the NRA and tell them we want this. Write and call, be clear, be polite, be firm.

 

[Zedicus]

I think we need to hit this one harder than the AWB peeps, this is the second most important piece of gun control Legislation we need to eliminate next to the GCA and the NFA.

 

[El Tejon]

Zed, amen. Harlon Carter once said that the "sporting purpose" clause was the worst thing Teddy Kennedy ever did to us as it transformed a Constitutional right into a hobby.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Would a mod please make this a sticky?

 

[Dadx4]

No use in me wasting the paper....my district (not me personally) is represented by Cynthia McKinney..... :banghead:

 

[El Tejon]

Dad, then write the NRA and tell them this is something that you want them to get behind.

 

[roo_ster]

I just emailed my congresscritter, Pete Sessions. Pete is good folk and I bet he'll support this.

 

[itgoesboom]

I will be calling my rep, although I am less than optimistic. I just moved into this district, and just found out that we have a (D) Rep. :banghead:

Anyone know where I can find out how she has voted on gun issues in the past?

I.G.B.

 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Is there a similar bill in the senate?

 

[jefnvk]

So, by eliminating the sporting clause, I could now add folding stocks and high cap mags to my Yugo SKS w/o worrying about parts count?

Or, even better, I could now buy an HK UMP (semi-auto, of course)? Or, am I thinking about different import laws?

 

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

Roger that on Pete Sessions. Ron Paul has nearly the biggest set in DC and I wish we had more like him.

Regards,
Rabbit.

 

[cidirkona]

Would I be able to get a glock in 380 then?
-Colin

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Anyone know where I can find out how she has voted on gun issues in the past?

http://www.gunowners.org/108hrat.htm

Is there a similar bill in the senate?

Not at this time; but this bill is only 8 days old (including weekends) and has no cosponsors in the House yet.

The bill is a bit of a longshot; but we do potentially have the votes and with the Dems focused on social security and judicial nominations, we stand a decent chance of pushing this forward with a little work on our part - particularly if it gets attached to a budgetary measure.

Concerning the Glock .380, SKS and H&K UMP. The answers are yes, yes, and yes.

 

[foghornl]

My letter to my US Rep (Steven LaTourette):

It has come to my attention that Rep. Ron Paul has introduced bill number
H. R. 1703, for the purpose of restoring the second amendment rights of all Americans.

I would strongly urge you to support and co-sponsor this important legislation. The American Citizen has been, for lack of a better term, held hostage by so-called 'gun control' laws, which have done less than nothing to reduce crime and make everyone safer. The recently expired "Assault Weapons Ban" was at the very best, a laughing stock example of 'feel-good' law. Passage of Representative Paul's measure will also level the playing field by making gun laws consistant across America.

I do not know how much contact you have with Senators DeWine and Voinovich, but should you meet with them in the near future, please urge them to also support this measure when it comes to the Senate.

Thank you for your time and attention.

[signature here]

 

[SLCDave]

Sent a letter to my rep today as well.

 

[heypete]

Tom Lantos just got a letter from me.

Yeah, like that'll do anything...

 

[woerm]

*bronx cheer*



the reptile I'm confronted with while not quite RINO

has a staff that doesn't or won't comprehend what a civilian wants with imported weapons (bet half of them have BMW or Lexi :banghead: )

won't or can't understand why I'm PO'd at the jerks at ftroop (perjury, Glover Wren etc)

have to start all over w/ Mr Savage and find out who at Johnson's staff he was talking to.

have duly lit up the phones email will follow, I'm not confident as per thomas leg database hr47 was referred to: you guessed it the terrorism/homeland defenceless subcommittee.

 

[Correia]

As for sticking it, great idea. Done. This is a good one.

 

[Kestrel]

No use in me wasting the paper....my district (not me personally) is represented by Cynthia McKinney.....

Cynthia McKinney! That vile Marxist, masquerading as a female, is one of the most mindless socialists I've ever seen. She's like a Maxine Waters, only more juvenile. A mindless mouth. It's incredible someone like her can hold a political office.

She was such a Clinton sycophant, she wet her pants any time his name was mentioned, trying to vie for his approval. I can't speak in low enough terms to quantify her. (And I'm not even in her district.)

dadx4 - I feel for you.

 

[mons meg]

Well, I checked out Frank Lucas (R-OK) and he has an A from the GOA page...sent him a letter.

 

[ColoradoJeff]

What does 1703 Do?

There is an analysis at House Bill 1703.

It appears that:
1) importation of firearms would not be dependent upon 'SU'
2) All shotguns would not be 'destructive devices', so cylinder fed shotguns would no longer be NFA devices (Street Sweeper).
3) Brady Bill (NICS) would be gone.
etc.

I would expect that NICS would be available to states who wished to enact state level legislation.

 

[NHBB]

ted kennedy and his sporting purposes.. lol

as messed as that is, I think he has a few more things sitting on his soul that he gets to explain come judgement day.