Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004
CRS Report for Congress
Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004
Anthony Vieux
Law Clerk
American Law Division
Summary
The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 (H.R. 218) was signed into law
on July 22, 2004 (P.L. 108-277). The act amends the federal criminal code in order to
authorize a qualified law enforcement officer, carrying photographic governmental
agency identification, to carry a concealed firearm, notwithstanding any state or local
law. This report summarizes the act’s provisions dealing with the carrying of concealed
weapons by qualified law enforcement officers.
The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 (H.R. 218) exempts qualified
current and former law enforcement officers employed by local, state, or federal law
enforcement agencies from state laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed firearms.1
The act does not supersede federal law that governs the carrying of firearms onto aircraft,
federal buildings, federal property, and national parks, nor does it limit the laws of any
states that permit private persons or entities to prohibit or restrict the possession of
concealed firearms on their property, nor does it supersede state laws that prohibit or
restrict the possession of firearms on any state or local government property, installation,
building, base, or park. The House passed H.R. 218 on June 23, 2004. The Senate passed
it, without amendment by unanimous consent, on July 7, 2004. President Bush signed the
bill into law, P.L. 108-277, on July 22, 2004.
Prior to this act, states controlled within their borders who may carry concealed
weapons and when law enforcement officers may carry firearms. Before this legislation
was enacted, a state decided whether to allow out-of-state officers to carry a concealed
weapon within its borders. Prior federal law allowed active, but not retired, federal law
enforcement officers to carry a concealed weapon anywhere within the jurisdiction of the
United States. However, prior law did not allow active or retired state or local law
enforcement officers to carry a concealed weapon unless permitted under state law. H.R.
local, or federal) to carry a concealed weapon anywhere within the United States.
According to the House report, this act is designed to protect officers and their families
from criminals they have arrested and to allow qualified officers, whether on-duty or off-
1 This report was prepared under the general supervision of Marie Morris, Legislative Attorney.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress
duty or retired, to carry concealed firearms across state and other jurisdictional lines
where they can respond immediately to a crime.2 Essentially, the act allows law
enforcement officers to travel interstate with a firearm.
The act creates two new sections in Title 18. Section 926B covers “qualified law
enforcement officers,” and Section 926C covers “qualified retired law enforcement
officers.” The two sections are virtually identical, with several additional requirements
being placed on qualified retired law enforcement officers. Section 926B defines a
current governmental agency law enforcement officer as one who is authorized to carry
a firearm, who is not the subject of disciplinary action, who meets agency standards that
require the employee to regularly qualify in the use of a firearm, and who is not under the
influence of alcohol or another intoxicating or hallucinatory drug or substance. Section
926C defines a “qualified retired law enforcement officer” as one who retired in good
standing from a public agency service, who was regularly employed as a law enforcement
officer for at least 15 years, who has a nonforfeitable right to agency retirement benefits,
who has met the state’s standards for training and qualification for active law enforcement
officers to carry firearms during the most recent 12-month period, and who is not under
the influence of alcohol or another intoxicating or hallucinatory drug or substance.
This act does not authorize officers to carry machine guns, as defined by section
5845 of the National Firearms Act, or silencers or destructive devices, as defined in
section 921, chapter 44, title 18 U.S.C. It also requires that retired law enforcement
officers qualify at their own expense to be able to carry the firearm that they have been
permitted to carry by their state or agency. This act requires that active officers carry
photographic identification issued by their agency, but retired officers must carry both
documentation stating that they are qualified to carry their firearm by their state or agency
and photographic identification.
2 H.Rept. 108-560, 108th Congress, 2d Session, June 22, 2004.