diff --git a/spec/atom/key-event-handler-spec.coffee b/spec/atom/key-event-handler-spec.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dea13b7cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/atom/key-event-handler-spec.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+KeyEventHandler = require 'key-event-handler'
+$ = require 'jquery'
+
+describe "KeyEventHandler", ->
+  handler = null
+
+  beforeEach ->
+    handler = new KeyEventHandler
+
+  fdescribe "handleKeypress", ->
+    describe "when there is a mapping in a selector that matches the event's element", ->
+      fragment = null
+      deleteCharHandler = null
+      insertCharHandler = null
+
+      beforeEach ->
+        handler.bindKeys '.command-mode', 'x': 'deleteChar'
+        handler.bindKeys '.insert-mode', 'x': 'insertChar'
+
+        fragment = $('<div class="command-mode">')
+        deleteCharHandler = jasmine.createSpy 'deleteCharHandler'
+        insertCharHandler = jasmine.createSpy 'insertCharHandler'
+        fragment.on 'deleteChar', deleteCharHandler
+        fragment.on 'insertChar', insertCharHandler
+
+      it "only triggers an event based on the key-binding in that selector", ->
+        handler.handleKeypress(keypressEvent('x', target: fragment[0]))
+        expect(deleteCharHandler).toHaveBeenCalled()
+        expect(insertCharHandler).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+        deleteCharHandler.reset()
+        fragment.removeClass('command-mode').addClass('insert-mode')
+
+        handler.handleKeypress(keypressEvent('x', target: fragment[0]))
+        expect(deleteCharHandler).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+        expect(insertCharHandler).toHaveBeenCalled()
+
diff --git a/spec/spec-helper.coffee b/spec/spec-helper.coffee
index 4d2fb0d41..8c792775f 100644
--- a/spec/spec-helper.coffee
+++ b/spec/spec-helper.coffee
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ window.keydown = (pattern) ->
 window.createKeyEvent = (pattern) ->
   $.Event "keydown", atom.keyBinder.parseKeyPattern(pattern)
 
+window.keypressEvent = (pattern, properties={}) ->
+  $.Event "keypress", _.extend(atom.keyBinder.parseKeyPattern(pattern), properties)
+
 window.waitsForPromise = (fn) ->
   window.waitsFor (moveOn) ->
     fn().done(moveOn)
diff --git a/src/atom/binding-set.coffee b/src/atom/binding-set.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..13e68399e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/atom/binding-set.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+$ = require 'jquery'
+
+module.exports =
+class BindingSet
+  namedKeys:
+    backspace: 8, tab: 9, clear: 12, enter: 13, 'return': 13,
+    esc: 27, escape: 27, space: 32, left: 37, up: 38, right: 39,
+    down: 40, del: 46, 'delete': 46, home: 36, end: 35, pageup: 33,
+    pagedown: 34, ',': 188, '.': 190, '/': 191, '`': 192, '-': 189,
+    '=': 187, ';': 186, '\'': 222, '[': 219, ']': 221, '\\': 220
+
+  selector: null
+  bindings: null
+
+  constructor: (@selector, @bindings) ->
+
+  commandForEvent: (event) ->
+    if $(event.target).is(@selector)
+      for pattern, command of @bindings
+        return command if @eventMatchesPattern(event, pattern)
+    null
+
+  eventMatchesPattern: (event, pattern) ->
+    pattern = @parseKeyPattern pattern
+    pattern.ctrlKey == event.ctrlKey and
+      pattern.altKey == event.altKey and
+      pattern.shiftKey == event.shiftKey and
+      pattern.metaKey == event.metaKey and
+      pattern.which == event.which
+
+  parseKeyPattern: (pattern) ->
+    [modifiers..., key] = pattern.split '+'
+
+    if @namedKeys[key]
+      charCode = @namedKeys[key]
+      key = null
+    else
+      charCode = key.toUpperCase().charCodeAt 0
+
+    ctrlKey: 'ctrl' in modifiers
+    altKey: 'alt' in modifiers
+    shiftKey: 'shift' in modifiers
+    metaKey: 'meta' in modifiers
+    which: charCode
+    key: key
+
diff --git a/src/atom/key-event-handler.coffee b/src/atom/key-event-handler.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4ae8fb5ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/atom/key-event-handler.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+$ = require 'jquery'
+BindingSet = require 'binding-set'
+
+module.exports =
+class KeyEventHandler
+  bindingSetsBySelector: null
+
+  constructor: ->
+    @bindingSets = []
+
+  bindKeys: (selector, bindings) ->
+    @bindingSets.push(new BindingSet(selector, bindings))
+
+  handleKeypress: (event) ->
+    for bindingSet in @bindingSets
+      if command = bindingSet.commandForEvent(event)
+        $(event.target).trigger(command)
+        return
+