
                              HR 78 IH
                           104th CONGRESS
                            1st Session
                              H. R. 78

To protect the right to obtain firearms for security, and to use
firearms in defense of self, family, or home, and to provide
for the enforcement of such right.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 4, 1995
Mr. Bartlett of Maryland (for himself, Mr. Barton of Texas, Mr.
Duncan, Mr. Crane, Mr. Emerson, Mr. Solomon, Mr. Condit, Mr. Coble,
Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Dornan, Mr.
Crapo, Mr. Combest, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Moorhead, Mr. Calvert, Mr.
Gekas, Mr. Brewster, Mr. Hall of Texas, Mr. Quillen, Mr. Boucher,
Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Royce, Mr. Barcia, Mr. Young of
Alaska, Mr. Hayes, Mr. Skeen, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Stump, Mr.
Hutchinson, Mr. Packard, Mr. Collins of Georgia, Mr. Chrysler, and
Mr. Schaefer), introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary

                               A BILL
To protect the right to obtain firearms for security, and to
use firearms in defense of self, family, or home, and to
provide for the enforcement of such right.

  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 `Citizens' Self-Defense Act of 1995'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

  The Congress finds the following:

  (1) Police cannot protect, and are not legally liable for failing
  to protect, individual citizens, as evidenced by the following:

  (A) The courts have consistently ruled that the police do not have
  an obligation to protect individuals, only the public in general.
  For example, in Warren v. District of Columbia Metropolitan Police
  Department, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. App. 1981), the court stated:
  `[C]ourts have without exception concluded that when a
  municipality or other governmental entity undertakes to furnish
  police services, it assumes a duty only to the public at large and
  not to individual members of the community.'

  (B) Former Florida Attorney General Jim Smith told Florida
  legislators that police responded to only 200,000 of 700,000 calls
  for help to Dade County authorities.

  (C) The United States Department of Justice found that, in 1989,
  there were 168,881 crimes of violence for which police had not
  responded within 1 hour.

  (D) Currently, there are about 150,000 police officers on duty at
  any one time.

  (2) Citizens frequently must use firearms to defend themselves, as
  evidenced by the following:

  (A) Every year, more than 2,400,000 people in the United States
  use a gun to defend themselves against criminals--or more than
  6,500 people a day. This means that, each year, firearms are used
  60 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than
  to take lives.

  (B) Of the 2,400,000 self-defense cases, more than 192,000 are by
  women defending themselves against sexual abuse.

  (C) Of the 2,400,000 times citizens use their guns to defend
  themselves every year, 92 percent merely brandish their gun or
  fire a warning shot to scare off their attackers. Less than 8
  percent of the time, does a citizen kill or wound his or her
  attacker.

  (3) Law-abiding citizens, seeking only to provide for their
  families' defense, are routinely prosecuted for brandishing or
  using a firearm in self-defense. For example:

  (A) In 1986, Don Bennett of Oak Park, Illinois, was shot at by 2
  men who had just stolen $1,200 in cash and jewelry from his
  suburban Chicago service station. The police arrested Bennett for
  violating Oak Park's handgun ban. The police never caught the
  actual criminals.

  (B) Ronald Biggs, a resident of Goldsboro, North Carolina, was
  arrested for shooting an intruder in 1990. Four men broke into
  Biggs' residence one night, ransacked the home and then assaulted
  him with a baseball bat. When Biggs attempted to escape through
  the back door, the group chased him and Biggs turned and shot one
  of the assailants in the stomach. Biggs was arrested and charged
  with assault with a deadly weapon--a felony. His assailants were
  charged with misdemeanors.

  (C) Don Campbell of Port Huron, Michigan, was arrested, jailed,
  and criminally charged after he shot a criminal assailant in 1991.
  The thief had broken into Campbell's store and attacked him. The
  prosecutor plea-bargained with the assailant and planned to use
  him to testify against Campbell for felonious use of a firearm.
  Only after intense community pressure did the prosecutor finally
  drop the charges.

  (4) The courts have granted immunity from prosecution to police
  officers who use firearms in the line of duty. Similarly,
  law-abiding citizens who use firearms to protect themselves, their
  families, and their homes against violent felons should not be
  subject to lawsuits by the violent felons who sought to victimize
  them.


SEC. 3. RIGHT TO OBTAIN FIREARMS FOR SECURITY, AND TO USE
FIREARMS IN DEFENSE OF SELF, FAMILY, OR HOME; ENFORCEMENT.

  (a) Reaffirmation of Right: A person not prohibited from receiving
  a firearm by Public Law 90-351 shall have the right to obtain
  firearms for security, and to use firearms --

  (A) in defense of self or family against a reasonably perceived
  threat of imminent and unlawful infliction of serious bodily
  injury.

  (B) in defense of self or family in the course of the commission
  by another person of a violent felony against the person or a
  member of the person's family; and

  (C) in defense of the person's home in the course of the
  commission of a felony by another person.

  (b) Firearm Defined: As used in subsection (a), the term
  `firearm' means--

  (1) a shotgun (as defined in section 921(a)(5) of title 18, United
  States Code);

  (2) a rifle (as defined in section 921(a)(7) of title 18, United
  States Code); or

  (3) a handgun (as defined in section 10 of Public Law 99-408).

  (c) Enforcement of Right:

  (1) In general: A person whose right under subsection (a) is
  violated in any manner may bring an action in any United States
  district court against the United States, any State, or any person
  for damages, injunctive relief, and such other relief as the court
  deems appropriate.

  (2) Authority to award a reasonable attorney's fee: In an action
  brought under paragraph (1), the court, in its discretion, may
  allow the prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney's fee as part
  of the costs.

  (3) Statute of limitations: An action may not be brought under
  paragraph (1) after the 5-year period that begins with the date
  the violation described in paragraph (1) is discovered.

