§ 3. — Regulations to prevent injuries from target practice.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 33USC3]
TITLE 33--NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
CHAPTER 1--NAVIGABLE WATERS GENERALLY
SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 3. Regulations to prevent injuries from target practice
Authority to adopt regulations--In the interest of the national
defense, and for the better protection of life and property on the
navigable waters of the United States, the Secretary of the Army is
authorized and empowered to prescribe such regulations as he may deem
best for the use and navigation of any portion or area of the navigable
waters of the United States or waters under the jurisdiction of the
United States endangered or likely to be endangered by Artillery fire in
target practice or otherwise, or by the proving operations of the
Government ordnance proving grounds at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, or at any
Government ordnance proving ground that may be established elsewhere on
or near such waters, and of any portion or area of said waters occupied
by submarine mines, mine fields, submarine cables, or other material and
accessories pertaining to seacoast fortifications, or by any plant or
facility engaged in the execution of any public project of river and
harbor improvement; and the said Secretary shall have like power to
regulate the transportation of explosives upon any of said waters:
Provided, That the authority conferred shall be so exercised as not
unreasonably to interfere with or restrict the food fishing industry,
and the regulations prescribed in pursuance hereof shall provide for the
use of such waters by food fishermen operating under permits granted by
the Department of the Army.
Detail of vessels to enforce regulations--To enforce the regulations
prescribed pursuant to this section, the Secretary of the Army, may
detail any public vessel in the service of the Department of the Army,
or, upon the request of the Secretary of the Army, the head of any other
department may enforce, and the head of any such department is
authorized to enforce, such regulations by means of any public vessel of
such department.
Posting and violation of regulations--The regulations made by the
Secretary of the Army pursuant to this section shall be posted in
conspicuous and appropriate places, designated by him, for the
information of the public; and every person who and every corporation
which shall willfully violate any regulations made by the said Secretary
pursuant to this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and
upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction shall be
punished by a fine not exceeding $500, or by imprisonment (in the case
of a natural person) not exceeding six months, in the discretion of the
court.
Venue and jurisdiction of offenses; procedure--Offenses against the
provisions of this section, or any regulation made pursuant thereto,
committed in any Territory or other place subject to the jurisdiction of
the United States where there is no court having general jurisdiction of
crimes against the United States, shall be cognizable in any court of
such place or Territory having original jurisdiction of criminal cases
in the place or Territory in which the offense has been committed, with
the same right of appeal in all cases as is given in other criminal
cases where imprisonment not exceeding six months forms a part of the
penalty, and jurisdiction is conferred upon such courts and such courts
shall exercise the same for such purposes; and in case any such offense
be committed beyond the territorial jurisdiction of any court having
jurisdiction thereof, the offense shall be deemed and held to have been
committed within the jurisdiction in which the offender may be found or
into which he is first brought, and shall be tried by the court having
jurisdiction thereof.
(July 9, 1918, ch. 143, subch. XIX, Secs. 1-4, 40 Stat. 892, 893; July
26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, Sec. 205(a), 61 Stat. 501.)
Codification
Undesignated pars. 1 to 4 of this section are from sections 1 to 4,
respectively, of act July 9, 1918, popularly known as the ``Army
Appropriation Act of 1919''.
Undesignated pars. 1 and 2 of this section superseded similar
provisions of act Aug. 8, 1917, ch. 49, Sec. 8, 40 Stat. 266.
Change of Name
Department of War designated Department of the Army and title of
Secretary of War changed to Secretary of the Army by section 205(a) of
act July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, 61 Stat. 501. Section 205(a) of
act July 26, 1947, was repealed by section 53 of act Aug. 10, 1956, ch.
1041, 70A Stat. 641. Section 1 of act Aug. 10, 1956, enacted ``Title 10,
Armed Forces'' which in sections 3010 to 3013 continued Department of
the Army under administrative supervision of Secretary of the Army.
Coast Artillery changed to Artillery under authority of section
306(a) of act June 28, 1950, ch. 383, title III, 64 Stat. 269. Section
306(a) of act June 28, 1950 was repealed by section 53 of act Aug. 10,
1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 641. Section 1 of act Aug. 10, 1956, enacted
``Title 10, Armed Forces'' which in section 3063 continued the Artillery
as a basic branch of the Army.
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of certain functions insofar as they pertain to Air
Force, and to extent that they were not previously transferred to
Secretary of the Air Force and Department of the Air Force from
Secretary of the Army and Department of the Army, see Secretary of
Defense Transfer Order No. 40 [App. A(55)], July 22, 1949.
