LEOSA 2004

[Sharkbait]

I stumbled across a reference to this on another website and did some research. Forgive me if this is a repost, I did a search here and did not find anything.
The intro says to exempt qualified current and former
law enforcement officers from State laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed handguns.
Further down the text of the legislation replaces handguns with firearms. I am curious if any of you active LEO's have recieved any direction from your departments or agencies regarding this law. The way I read it a strict interpretation of the law prohibits the states from restricting qualified current and retired LEO's from carrying firearms other than NFA weapons, silencers and destructive devices. Does this law pre-empt state laws banning assault rifles etc for qualified current and former LEO's

Law Enforcement Officers Safety
Act of 2004

H. R. 218
One Hundred Eighth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twentieth day of January, two thousand and four
An Act
To amend title 18, United States Code, to exempt qualified current and former
law enforcement officers from State laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed
handguns.
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 ‘‘Law Enforcement Officers Safety
Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. EXEMPTION OF QUALIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
FROM STATE LAWS PROHIBITING THE CARRYING OF
CONCEALED FIREARMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by inserting after section 926A the following:
‘‘§ 926B. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified law
enforcement officers
‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law of any
State or any political subdivision thereof, an individual who is
a qualified law enforcement officer and who is carrying the identification
required by subsection (d) may carry a concealed firearm
that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce,
subject to subsection (b).
‘‘(b) This section shall not be construed to supersede or limit
the laws of any State that—
‘‘(1) permit private persons or entities to prohibit or restrict
the possession of concealed firearms on their property; or
‘‘(2) prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on any
State or local government property, installation, building, base,
or park.
‘‘(c) As used in this section, the term ‘qualified law enforcement
officer’ means an employee of a governmental agency who—
‘‘(1) is authorized by law to engage in or supervise the
prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of, or the
incarceration of any person for, any violation of law, and has
statutory powers of arrest;
‘‘(2) is authorized by the agency to carry a firearm;
‘‘(3) is not the subject of any disciplinary action by the
agency;
‘‘(4) meets standards, if any, established by the agency
which require the employee to regularly qualify in the use
of a firearm;
H. R. 218—2
‘‘(5) is not under the influence of alcohol or another intoxicating
or hallucinatory drug or substance; and
‘‘(6) is not prohibited by Federal law from receiving a
firearm.
‘‘(d) The identification required by this subsection is the photographic
identification issued by the governmental agency for which
the individual is employed as a law enforcement officer.
‘‘(e) As used in this section, the term ‘firearm’ does not include—
‘‘(1) any machinegun (as defined in section 5845 of the
National Firearms Act);
‘‘(2) any firearm silencer (as defined in section 921 of this
title); and
‘‘(3) any destructive device (as defined in section 921 of
this title).’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for such
chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
926A the following:
‘‘926B. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified law enforcement officers.’’.
SEC. 3. EXEMPTION OF QUALIFIED RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
FROM STATE LAWS PROHIBITING THE CARRYING
OF CONCEALED FIREARMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code,
is further amended by inserting after section 926B the following:
‘‘§ 926C. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified retired
law enforcement officers
‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law of any
State or any political subdivision thereof, an individual who is
a qualified retired law enforcement officer and who is carrying
the identification required by subsection (d) may carry a concealed
firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign
commerce, subject to subsection (b).
‘‘(b) This section shall not be construed to supersede or limit
the laws of any State that—
‘‘(1) permit private persons or entities to prohibit or restrict
the possession of concealed firearms on their property; or
‘‘(2) prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on any
State or local government property, installation, building, base,
or park.
‘‘(c) As used in this section, the term ‘qualified retired law
enforcement officer’ means an individual who—
‘‘(1) retired in good standing from service with a public
agency as a law enforcement officer, other than for reasons
of mental instability;
‘‘(2) before such retirement, was authorized by law to
engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation,
or prosecution of, or the incarceration of any person for, any
violation of law, and had statutory powers of arrest;
‘‘(3)(A) before such retirement, was regularly employed as
a law enforcement officer for an aggregate of 15 years or more;
or
‘‘(B) retired from service with such agency, after completing
any applicable probationary period of such service, due to a
service-connected disability, as determined by such agency;
‘‘(4) has a nonforfeitable right to benefits under the retirement
plan of the agency;
H. R. 218—3
‘‘(5) during the most recent 12-month period, has met,
at the expense of the individual, the State’s standards for
training and qualification for active law enforcement officers
to carry firearms;
‘‘(6) is not under the influence of alcohol or another intoxicating
or hallucinatory drug or substance; and
‘‘(7) is not prohibited by Federal law from receiving a
firearm.
‘‘(d) The identification required by this subsection is—
‘‘(1) a photographic identification issued by the agency from
which the individual retired from service as a law enforcement
officer that indicates that the individual has, not less recently
than one year before the date the individual is carrying the
concealed firearm, been tested or otherwise found by the agency
to meet the standards established by the agency for training
and qualification for active law enforcement officers to carry
a firearm of the same type as the concealed firearm; or
‘‘(2)(A) a photographic identification issued by the agency
from which the individual retired from service as a law enforcement
officer; and
‘‘(B) a certification issued by the State in which the individual
resides that indicates that the individual has, not less
recently than one year before the date the individual is carrying
the concealed firearm, been tested or otherwise found by the
State to meet the standards established by the State for
training and qualification for active law enforcement officers
to carry a firearm of the same type as the concealed firearm.
‘‘(e) As used in this section, the term ‘firearm’ does not include—
‘‘(1) any machinegun (as defined in section 5845 of the
National Firearms Act);
‘‘(2) any firearm silencer (as defined in section 921 of this
title); and
‘‘(3) a destructive device (as defined in section 921 of this
title).’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for such
chapter is further amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 926B the following:
‘‘926C. Carrying of concealed firearms by qualified retired law enforcement officers.’’.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

[HulkXD]

I've heard a lot about it. From what we at my department understand, you have to have met certain criteria. Must have dept. issued photo I.D., must have qualified on a twice-yearly basis (I think), even for retired officers. Many departments offer the range free to retired officers for this and other reasons.

[Blaine96]

I work for the Bureau of Prisons, and just received udpdated policy on this for us. Hulk is mostly right. We must carry agency issued ID, not be under any disiplinary action, not be using alcohol, and we cannot use this for any other police type agencies/jobs (such as reserve deputy or police). As far as recertification, the way I underrstand it is that you must qualify in whatever firearms recertification program your agency offers. For us, once a year. for retired officers, I believe they must go thru a comparable concealed carry course on their own. BOP does not make this available to them.
One important thing I picked up for our latest policy is that the LEOSA exempts you from state and local law on concealed carry, but "does not exempt other firearms related laws". This means that you still have to follow whatever other local laws apply to concealed carry or firearms purchase. for instance, here in Minnesota, you are required to get a purchase permit to but a handgun. Even with the LEOSA, you still follow that law. Also, some states do not allow you to carry hollowpoint ammo. This would still apply also. So you have to follow whatever the laws are of the area you live in, or travel thru.