I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5232

To ensure that only persons eligible to receive a firearm may purchase

and possess firearms, and to prevent felons and persons adjudicated

mentally incompetent from obtaining firearms from firearms dealers by

providing for a system for identifying persons prohibited from possessing

firearms through a magnetic strip affixed to driver’s licenses and other

identification documents.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 6, 1994

Mr. MCMILLAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To ensure that only persons eligible to receive a firearm

may purchase and possess firearms, and to prevent felons

and persons adjudicated mentally incompetent from obtaining firearms from firearms dealers by providing for

a system for identifying persons prohibited from possessing firearms through a magnetic strip affixed to driver’s

licenses and other identification documents.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Firearms Licensing

5 Act of 1994’’.
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1 SEC. 2. INDUCEMENT FOR STATES TO ESTABLISH A SYS2 TEM FOR IDENTIFYING PERSONS PROHIB3 ITED FROM POSSESSING FIREARMS

4 THROUGH A MAGNETIC STRIP AFFIXED TO

5 DRIVER’S LICENSES AND OTHER IDENTIFICA6 TION DOCUMENTS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of

8 Justice Assistance shall reduce by 25 percent the annual

9 allocation to a State for a fiscal year under title I of the

10 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 un11 less the State has in effect laws and procedures which,

12 in substance, provide the following:

13 (1) RECORDS CHECK REQUIRED BEFORE ISSU14 ANCE OF DRIVER’S LICENSE AND IDENTIFICATION

15 DOCUMENTS; USE OF MAGNETIC STRIPS TO IDEN16 TIFY PROHIBITED PERSONS.—Before the State

17 transportation agency issues, reissues, or reinstates

18 a license, the agency shall—

19 (A) conduct a record check to determine

20 whether the applicant therefor is a prohibited

21 person by examining the State list referred to

22 in paragraph (4) of this subsection and the na23 tional list referred to in subsection (c)(1); and

24 (B) affix to the license of the person a

25 magnetic strip on which is encoded information

26 that—
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1 (i) identifies the licensee as a prohib2 ited person or as a nonprohibited person;

3 and

4 (ii) may be discerned only through the

5 use of an electronic device that—

6 (I) is read only;

7 (II) does not have storage or

8 communication capabilities; and

9 (III) signals the user of the de10 vice with—

11 (aa) a green light if the de12 vice reads a magnetic strip that

13 does not identify the person as a

14 prohibited person; and

15 (bb) a red light if the device

16 reads a magnetic strip that iden17 tifies the person as a prohibited

18 person.

19 (2) EFFECTS OF FELONY CONVICTION OR AD20 JUDICATION OF MENTAL INCOMPETENCY.—

21 (A) SEIZURE AND VOIDING OF DRIVER’S

22 LICENSE.—If a State court convicts a person of

23 a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term

24 exceeding 1 year or adjudicates a person as

25 mentally incompetent, the court shall seize any
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1 license issued to the person by the State trans2 portation agency, and any such license shall be

3 void.

4 (B) MAGNETIC STRIP IDENTIFYING LI5 CENSEE AS A PROHIBITED PERSON TO BE AT6 TACHED TO FUTURE LICENSES.—The State

7 transportation agency shall affix to any license

8 issued to a prohibited person a magnetic strip

9 of the type described in paragraph (1)(B) that

10 identifies the licensee as a prohibited person.

11 (3) FUNDING OF RECORDS CHECKS BY IN12 CREASING FINES IMPOSED UPON CONVICTED FEL13 ONS.—Any person convicted in the State of a crime

14 punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1

15 year shall, in addition to any sentence imposed

16 under any other provision of State law, be fined an

17 amount sufficient to cover the expenses of criminal

18 records checks conducted pursuant to paragraph

19 (1)(A), taking all such convictions into account on

20 an annual basis.

21 (4) REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN AND UPDATE

22 COMPUTERIZED LIST OF PROHIBITED PERSONS.—

23 The State shall create and maintain a computerized

24 list of all persons who are prohibited persons by rea25 son of a conviction or adjudication in the State, and,
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1 within 2 years after the date of the enactment of

2 this Act, shall achieve and maintain at least 80 per3 cent currency of case dispositions in the computer4 ized list for all cases in which there has been an

5 entry of activity within the then immediately preced6 ing 5 years.

7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

8 (1) LICENSE.—The term ‘‘license’’ means a li9 cense or permit to operate a motor vehicle on the

10 roads and highways of the State, and any identifica11 tion document issued by a State transportation

12 agency solely for purposes of identification.

13 (2) PROHIBITED PERSON.—The term ‘‘prohib14 ited person’’ means a person who—

15 (A) has been convicted of a crime punish16 able under Federal or State law by imprison17 ment for a term exceeding 1 year;

18 (B)(i) has been adjudicated mentally in19 competent; and

20 (ii)(I) has not been restored to capacity by

21 court order; or

22 (II) has been so restored to capacity for

23 less than 5 years; or

24 (C) is an unlawful user of or addicted to

25 any controlled substance (as defined in section
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1 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21

2 U.S.C. 802).

3 (3) STATE TRANSPORTATION AGENCY.—The

4 term ‘‘State transportation agency’’ means the State

5 agency responsible for issuing a license, permit, or

6 identification document described in paragraph (1).

7 (c) DUTIES OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The

8 Attorney General of the United States shall—

9 (1) create a national, computerized list of pro10 hibited persons;

11 (2) incorporate State criminal history records

12 into the Federal criminal records system maintained

13 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

14 (3) develop hardware and software systems to

15 link State lists referred to in subsection (a)(4) with

16 the national list referred to in paragraph (1) of this

17 subsection; and

18 (4) provide any responsible State agency with

19 access to the national list, upon request.

20 (d) PROCEDURES FOR CORRECTING ERRONEOUS

21 RECORDS.—

22 (1) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION.—Any person

23 identified as a prohibited person in records main24 tained under this section may request the Attorney
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1 General of the United States to notify the person of

2 the reasons therefor.

3 (2) COMPLIANCE WITH REQUEST.—Within 5

4 days after receipt of a request under paragraph (1),

5 the Attorney General shall comply with the request.

6 (3) SUBMISSION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA7 TION.—Any person described in paragraph (1) may

8 submit to the Attorney General information to cor9 rect, clarify, or supplement records maintained

10 under this section with respect to the person.

11 (4) CONSIDERATION AND USE OF ADDITIONAL

12 INFORMATION.—Within 5 days after receipt of such

13 information, the Attorney General shall consider the

14 information, investigate the matter further, correct

15 any and all erroneous Federal records relating to

16 such person, and notify any Federal department or

17 agency or any State that was the source of the erro18 neous records of the errors.

19 (e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any person erroneously

20 identified as a prohibited person in records maintained

21 pursuant to this section may bring an action in any United

22 States district court against the United States, or any

23 State or political subdivision thereof which is the source

24 of the erroneous information, for damages (including con25 sequential damages), injunctive relief, and such other re-
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1 lief as the court deems appropriate. If the person prevails

2 in the action, the court shall allow the person a reasonable

3 attorney’s fee as part of the costs.

4 SEC. 3. LICENSED FIREARMS DEALERS REQUIRED TO

5 CHECK MAGNETIC STRIP ON DRIVER’S LI6 CENSE OF ANY PERSON ATTEMPTING TO

7 PURCHASE A FIREARM.

8 (a) PROHIBITION.—Section 922 of title 18, United

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow10 ing:

11 ‘‘(y)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to possess

12 a firearm unless the person is carrying an identification

13 document, issued to the person by the transportation

14 agency of the State in which the person resides, affixed

15 to which is a magnetic strip of the type described in sec16 tion 2(a)(1)(B) of the Firearms Licensing Act of 1994 on

17 which is encoded information that identifies the licensee

18 as a person who is not a prohibited person.

19 ‘‘(2) It shall be unlawful for any licensed dealer

20 knowingly to—

21 ‘‘(A) transfer a firearm to any person not li22 censed under section 923, unless the licensed dealer

23 has used an electronic device described in section

24 2(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the Firearms Licensing Act of 1994

25 to read the magnetic strip affixed to an identifica-
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1 tion document issued to the person by the transpor2 tation agency of the State in which the premises of

3 the licensed dealer is located; or

4 ‘‘(B) fail to notify local law enforcement au5 thorities, within 72 hours, of any person attempting

6 to purchase a firearm who is identified as a prohib7 ited person through the use of such a device.

8 ‘‘(3) As used in this subsection:

9 ‘‘(A) The term ‘identification document’

10 means a license or permit to operate a motor

11 vehicle, and any identification document issued

12 solely for purposes of identification.

13 ‘‘(B) The term ‘‘prohibited person’’ means

14 a person who—

15 ‘‘(i) has been convicted of a crime

16 punishable under Federal or State law by

17 imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year;

18 ‘‘(ii)(I) has been adjudicated mentally

19 incompetent; and

20 ‘‘(II)(aa) has not been restored to ca21 pacity by court order; or

22 ‘‘(bb) has been so restored to capacity

23 for less than 5 years; or

24 ‘‘(iii) is an unlawful user of or ad25 dicted to any controlled substance (as de-
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1 fined in section 102 of the Controlled Sub2 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).

3 ‘‘(C) The term ‘transportation agency’

4 means the agency responsible for issuing com5 mercial or noncommercial identification docu6 ments.’’.

7 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of such title is

8 amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(6)(A)(i) Subject to this subparagraph, a person

10 who knowingly violates section 922(y)(1) shall be impris11 oned not less than 6 months and not more than 1 year.

12 ‘‘(ii) Upon conviction of a violation of section

13 922(y)(1), the court shall offer the defendant the oppor14 tunity to seek enlistment or appointment in the Armed

15 Forces.

16 ‘‘(iii) If the defendant immediately accepts the offer

17 described in clause (ii), the court shall, in lieu of imposing

18 any other sentence on the defendant, impose a probation19 ary sentence on the defendant, with at least the following

20 conditions:

21 ‘‘(I) The defendant shall immediately seek en22 listment or appointment in the Armed Forces.

23 ‘‘(II) The defendant shall become enlisted or

24 appointed in the Armed Forces within 60 days after

25 imposition of such sentence.
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1 ‘‘(III) The defendant shall complete the mini2 mum period of obligated active service required

3 under the enlistment or appointment.

4 ‘‘(iv) The court may not modify or reduce any of the

5 conditions set forth in clause (iii) of a sentence of proba6 tion imposed under this subparagraph.

7 ‘‘(v) Subsections (c) and (d) of section 3564, and sec8 tion 3565(b), shall not apply to a sentence of probation

9 imposed under this subparagraph.

10 ‘‘(B) A licensed dealer who knowingly violates section

11 922(y)(2) shall be fined under this title in an amount that

12 is not less than $15,000, imprisoned not less than 1 year

13 and not more than 3 years, or both.’’.

14 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

15 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

16 take effect at the end of the 2-year period that begins with

17 the date of the enactment of this Act.

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