HR 2865
HR 2865 IH
104th CONGRESS
2d Session
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the tax on
handguns and assault weapons, to increase the license application
fee for gun dealers, and to use the proceeds from those increases
to pay for medical care for gunshot victims.
                   IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                          January 23, 1996
Mrs. MEEK of Florida introduced the following bill; which was
    referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to
    the Committees on the Judiciary and Commerce, 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 amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the tax on
handguns and assault weapons, to increase the license application
fee for gun dealers, and to use the proceeds from those increases
to pay for medical care for gunshot victims.
 [Italic->]   Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, [<-Italic]
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  This Act may be cited as the `Firearm Victims Prevention Act of
1996'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
  (a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds that--
      (1) according to the Centers for Disease Control, an
    estimated 34,000 Americans die from firearm injuries each year,
    including 25,000 from handgun violence;
      (2) firearms rank as the 8th leading cause of death in the
    United States and less than 5 percent of fatal shootings are
    unintentional;
      (3) the National Center for Health Statistics reported in
    March 1993 that, among Americans age 15 through 24, firearms
    are the cause of more deaths than all natural causes combined;
      (4) from 1979 to 1989, the firearm homicide rate among
    children age 15 through 19 increased 61 percent, while the
    nonfirearm homicide rate fell 29 percent;
      (5) more than 135,000 students carry handguns to school
    everyday, and an additional 270,000 students have carried a
    firearm to school at least once;
      (6) the United States leads industrialized nations in the
    percentage of households with firearms and the number of
    homicides with firearms;
      (7) according to the Centers for Disease Control, the
    estimated lifetime costs for firearm injuries that occurred in
    1985 will be $14,400,000,000;
      (8) according to the 1991 Advisory Council on Social
    Security, the overall annual cost of firearms injury to the
    health care system in the United States is more than
    $4,000,000,000;
      (9) public funds pay for an estimated 85 percent of the cost
    of hospitalization for firearm injuries, excluding professional
    fees and the cost of ambulance, physical therapy, and other
    rehabilitative services;
      (10) the indirect costs of firearm-related injuries, such as
    disability payments, legal fees, and lost work time, are
    estimated to be 2 times the estimated annual direct cost of
    firearm injury;
      (11) more than 280,000 manufacturers, dealers and individuals
    are licensed to sell firearms in the United States; and
      (12) Federal firearm licenses are inexpensive, relatively
    easy to obtain, and may only be revoked upon criminal conviction.
  (b) PURPOSE- The purpose of this Act is to help alleviate the
public health care cost resulting from firearm-related injury and
death by--
      (1) establishing a transactional tax on the purchase of the
    firearms and ammunition most commonly associated with injury
    and death;
      (2) raising licensing fees for dealers who sell such firearms
    and ammunition; and
      (3) using funds generated from the transactional tax and
    licensing fees to help offset the health care cost resulting
    from firearm injury and death.
SEC. 3. INCREASE IN TAX ON HANDGUNS AND ASSAULT WEAPONS.
  (a) INCREASE IN MANUFACTURER'S TAX- Section 4181 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to imposition of tax on firearms) is
amended to read as follows:
`SEC. 4181. IMPOSITION OF TAX.
  `(a) IMPOSITION OF TAX- There is hereby imposed upon the sale by
the manufacturer, producer, or importer of any of the following
articles a tax equivalent to the specified percent of the price for
which so sold:
      `(1) ARTICLES TAXABLE AT 25 PERCENT- With respect to the
    following articles, the specified percent is 25 percent:
          `(A) Handguns.
          `(B) Assault weapons.
          `(C) Large capacity magazines.
          `(D) Shells and cartridges used in handguns and assault
        weapons.
      `(2) ARTICLES TAXABLE AT 11 PERCENT- With respect to the
    following articles the specified percent is 11 percent:
          `(A) Firearms (other than handguns, assault weapons, and
        pistols or revolvers).
          `(B) Shells and cartridges not taxable at 25 percent.
      `(3) ARTICLES TAXABLE AT 10 PERCENT- With respect to pistols
    and revolvers not taxable at 25 percent under paragraph (1),
    the specified percent is 10 percent.
  `(b) DEFINITIONS- For purposes of subsection (a)--
      `(1) HANDGUN- The term `handgun' means a firearm which, at
    the time of manufacture, had a barrel of less than 12 inches in
    length.
      `(2) ASSAULT WEAPON- The term `assault weapon' means--
          `(A) a firearm--
              `(i) which--
  `(I) has a barrel of between 12 and 18 inches in length, and
  `(II) is capable of receiving ammunition directly from a large
capacity ammunition magazine, or
              `(ii) which is a semiautomatic firearm which is--
  `(I) not recognized generally as particularly suitable for, or
readily adaptable to, sporting purposes, or
  `(II) concealable by a person, or
          `(B) a firearm which is substantially functionally
        equivalent to a firearm described in subparagraph (A).
      `(3) LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION MAGAZINE- The term `large
    capacity ammunition magazine' means a detachable magazine,
    belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device which has, or which
    may be readily restored (or converted) to a device which has, a
    capacity of 15 or more rounds of ammunition.'
  (b) RETAIL TAX ON SUBSEQUENT TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING ASSAULT
WEAPONS AND HANDGUNS-
      (1) IN GENERAL- Chapter 31 of the Internal Revenue Code of
    1986 (relating to retail excise taxes) is amended by adding at
    the end the following new subchapter:
    [BOLD->] `SUBCHAPTER D--HANDGUNS AND ASSAULT WEAPONS [<-BOLD]
              `SEC. 4056. HANDGUNS AND ASSAULT WEAPONS.
`SEC. 4056. HANDGUNS AND ASSAULT WEAPONS.
  `(a) IMPOSITION OF TAX- There is hereby imposed on any sale,
transfer, or other disposition by any person of a handgun, assault
weapon, large capacity magazine, or shell or cartridge used in
handguns and assault weapons a tax equal to 25 percent of the price
for which sold, transferred, or disposed of.
  `(b) EXCEPTIONS-
      `(1) COORDINATION WITH MANUFACTURER'S TAX- If tax has been
    paid under section 4181 with respect to any article, no tax
    shall be imposed under subsection (a) on such article until a
    sale, transfer, or disposition occurring after the first retail
    sale of the article.
      `(2) DEFENSE DEPARTMENT- No tax shall be imposed by
    subsection (a) on any sale described in section 4182(b).
  `(c) DEFINITIONS- For purposes of this section, the terms
`handgun', `assault weapon', and `large capacity magazine' have the
meanings given such terms by section 4181(b).'
      (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of subchapters for
    chapter 31 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the
    following new item:
            `SUBCHAPTER D. HANDGUNS AND ASSAULT WEAPONS.'
  (c) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendments made by this section shall
apply to sales, transfers, and other dispositions after the 30th
day after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. HEALTH CARE TRUST FUND.
  (a) IN GENERAL- Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to establishment of trust funds) is
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
`SEC. 9512. HEALTH CARE TRUST FUND.
  `(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUST FUND- There is established in the
Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the
`Health Care Trust Fund', consisting of such amounts as may be
appropriated or credited to such Trust Fund as provided in this
section or section 9602(b).
  `(b) TRANSFERS TO THE TRUST FUND- There are hereby appropriated
to the Health Care Trust Fund amounts equivalent to--
      `(1) the taxes received in the Treasury under section 4056,
      `(2) the taxes received in the Treasury under section 4181
    which are attributable to the tax on articles subject to the
    25-percent rate, and
      `(3) the amounts described in the last sentence of section
    923(a) of title 18, United States Code.
  `(c) EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND- Funds in the Health Care Trust
Fund shall be available, as provided in appropriations Acts, only
for the purpose of making grants to assist hospitals, trauma
centers, or other health care providers that have incurred
substantial uncompensated costs in providing medical care to
gunshot victims, except that no single hospital, trauma center, or
health care provider may receive more than one-tenth of 1 percent
of the funds appropriated under this section.
  `(d) ELIGIBILITY FOR TRUST FUND MONEYS- A hospital, trauma
center, or other health care provider is eligible to apply for
grants from the Health Care Trust Fund for any calendar year if the
hospital, trauma center, or health care provider--
      `(1) is in compliance with Federal and State certification
    and licensing requirements;
      `(2) is a not-for-profit entity; and
      `(3) has incurred substantial uncompensated costs during the
    previous calendar year in providing medical care to gunshot
    victims.
  `(e) REGULATIONS FOR TRUST FUND- The Secretary shall, not later
than 60 days after the date of enactment of this section and in
consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, issue
such regulations as are necessary to implement the provisions of
this section.'
  (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of sections for subchapter A
of chapter 98 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the
following new item:
                `SEC. 9512. HEALTH CARE TRUST FUND.'
SEC. 5. LICENSE APPLICATION FEES FOR DEALERS IN FIREARMS.
  (a) IN GENERAL- Section 923(a) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended--
      (1) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking `$200' and all that
    follows through `$90 for 3 years' and inserting `$2,500 per
    year'; and
      (2) by adding at the end the following:
`There are hereby appropriated to the Health Care Trust Fund
established under section 9512 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(26 U.S.C. 9512) one-half of the revenue from the fees collected
under paragraph (3)(B).'
  (b) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendments made by this section shall
apply to license applications filed after the 30th day after the
date of the enactment of this Act.


