18 U.S.C. § 930 — Possession of firearms and dangerous weapons in Federal facilities

(a) Except as allowed under subsection (d), anyone who knowingly brings, or causes to be brought, a firearm or other dangerous weapon into a federal facility — other than a federal court facility — or who attempts to do so, can be fined and imprisoned for up to 1 year, or both. (b) If someone does that intending the weapon to be used to commit a crime, the penalty rises: a fine and up to 5 years in prison, or both. (c) Anyone who kills a person while violating (a) or (b), or during an attack on a federal facility involving a firearm or other dangerous weapon, or who attempts or conspires to do so, is punished under the general federal murder and manslaughter laws. (d) Subsection (a) does not apply to: an officer, agent, or employee of the United States, a state, or a political subdivision, who is legally authorized to prevent, detect, investigate, or prosecute violations of law, doing their official duties; a federal official or member of the Armed Forces carrying a firearm or weapon as legally authorized; or someone lawfully carrying a firearm or weapon into a federal facility for hunting or another lawful purpose. (e) Except as described below, anyone who knowingly brings, or causes to be brought, a firearm or other dangerous weapon into a federal court facility, or who attempts to do so, can be fined and imprisoned for up to 2 years, or both. This rule does not apply to the same law-enforcement and military exceptions listed in subsection (d). (f) Nothing in this section limits a federal court's power to punish for contempt, or to make its own rules restricting or banning weapons inside its building, during its proceedings, or on its grounds. (g) Definitions. "Federal facility" means a building, or part of one, that the federal government owns or leases, where federal employees are regularly present to do their official duties. "Dangerous weapon" means a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance — living or not — that is used, or is readily capable of being used, to cause death or serious bodily injury; it does not include a pocketknife with a blade under 2½ inches long. "Federal court facility" means the courtroom, judges' chambers, witness rooms, jury deliberation rooms, attorney conference rooms, prisoner holding cells, the offices of the court clerks, the U.S. Attorney, and the U.S. Marshal, probation and parole offices, and the corridors that adjoin any of these, in any U.S. court. (h) Notice of the rules in subsections (a) and (b) must be posted clearly at every public entrance to a federal facility, and notice of the rule in subsection (e) must be posted clearly at every public entrance to a federal court facility. If that notice isn't posted, no one can be convicted under subsection (a) or (e) for that facility, unless the person actually knew about the rule anyway.

The source credit shows that this section was added by Public Law 100–690, title VI, § 6215(a), enacted November 18, 1988, and published at 102 Stat. 4361. The credit further indicates that the section has since been amended six times: by Public Law 101–647 (1990), Public Law 103–322 (1994), Public Law 104–294 (1996), Public Law 107–56 (2001), and Public Law 110–177 (2008). The amendments are attributed only by citation in the record; the specific substantive changes each made are not detailed in the source credit itself. Historical context: Public Law 100–690 is generally known as the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, a broad piece of legislation enacted during a period of heightened congressional concern over drug-related violence and crime. Provisions addressing weapons in federal facilities are commonly understood, in a general sense, as part of a broader legislative effort in that era to enhance protections for federal employees, visitors, and government operations by restricting weapons in places where federal business is conducted. Beyond this general characterization, the record does not establish the specific legislative intent behind § 930 or why Congress chose this particular structure of exceptions and penalties. The later amendments, including the 2001 amendment enacted shortly after Public Law 107–56 (the USA PATRIOT Act), may reflect broader post-9/11 legislative activity, but the source credit does not document the purpose of any individual amendment, and no further inference should be drawn from the citation alone.