Bryan v. United States, 524 U.S. 184, 5 (1998)

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188

BRYAN v. UNITED STATES

Opinion of the Court

poses.4 FOPA therefore amended § 921 to include a definition of the term "engaged in the business," 5 and amended § 924 to add a scienter requirement as a condition to the imposition of penalties for most of the unlawful acts defined in § 922. For three categories of offenses the intent required is that the defendant acted "knowingly"; for the fourth category, which includes "any other provision of this chapter," the required intent is that the defendant acted "willfully." 6

4 "The Congress finds that—

. . . . . "(b)(2) additional legislation is required to reaffirm the intent of the Congress, as expressed in section 101 of the Gun Control Act of 1968, that 'it is not the purpose of this title to place any undue or unnecessary Federal restrictions or burdens on law-abiding citizens with respect to the acquisition, possession, or use of firearms appropriate to the purpose of hunting, trapshooting, target shooting, personal protection, or any other lawful activity, and that this title is not intended to discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.' " 100 Stat. 449.

5 "Section 921 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

. . . . . "(21) The term 'engaged in the business' means—

. . . . . "(C) as applied to a dealer in firearms, as defined in section 921 (a)(11)(A), a person who devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of firearms, but such term shall not include a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms . . . ." 100 Stat. 449-450.

6 Title 18 U. S. C. § 924(a)(1) currently provides: "Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, subsection (b), (c), or (f) of this section, or in section 929, whoever—

"(A) knowingly makes any false statement or representation with respect to the information required by this chapter to be kept in the records of a person licensed under this chapter or in applying for any license or exemption or relief from disability under the provisions of this chapter;

"(B) knowingly violates subsection (a)(4), (f), (k), (r), (v), or (w) of section 922;

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