II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 598 

To repeal certain impediments to the administration of the firearms laws. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2023 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. REED, 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, 

Mr. DURBIN, Ms. WARREN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MURPHY, and Ms. 

DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To repeal certain impediments to the administration of the 

firearms laws. 

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 ‘‘Gun Records Restora5 tion and Preservation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) The Tiahrt Amendments prevent the collec9 tion of valuable information, and the establishment 


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1 of effective policies to prevent illegal guns from 

2 being used in crimes. 

3 (2) The Tiahrt Amendments impede enforce4 ment of the gun laws by requiring most background 

5 check records to be destroyed within 24 hours, and 

6 by barring the Federal Government from requiring 

7 annual inventory audits by owners of gun shops. 

8 (3) A 2012 study by researchers at Johns Hop9 kins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that 

10 the Tiahrt Amendments dramatically increase gun 

11 trafficking to the criminal market. 

12 (4) A 2016 study from the University of Pitts13 burgh Graduate School of Public Health found that 

14 in 2008, 79 percent of all guns recovered by police 

15 from crime scenes belonged to someone other than 

16 the perpetrator—30 percent had been stolen. 

17 (5) A 2020 analysis from the RAND corpora18 tion concluded that the Tiahrt Amendments limit re19 searchers’ access to data that provide important in20 sights, such as— 

21 (A) how guns flow from States with less 

22 restrictive gun laws to States with more restric23 tive gun laws; 

24 (B) how prohibited purchasers obtain their 

25 firearms; 


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1 (C) the characteristics of straw purchases; 

2 and 

3 (D) whether more restrictive gun laws cre4 ate a shortage of firearms for prohibited pur5 chases. 

6 (6) Every year, more than 165,000 people are 

7 shot in the United States. 

8 (7) 2020 was one of the deadliest years on 

9 record for the United States, with an estimated 

10 21,000 people killed in firearm homicides or non-sui11 cide related shootings, which is a 33-percent increase 

12 over 2019. 

13 (8) In 2020, 62 percent of firearm homicide 

14 victims were Black and 15 percent of firearm homi15 cide victims were Hispanic. 

16 (9) In 2020, the National Tracing Center at 

17 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex18 plosives processed 490,800 trace requests on fire19 arms from Federal, State, and local law enforcement 

20 agencies. 

21 (10) Having effective policies to prevent illegal 

22 gun trafficking makes our families and communities 

23 safer. 

24 (11) Repealing the Tiahrt Amendments would 

25 support law enforcement efforts and give the public 


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1 vital information needed to craft the most effective 

2 policies against illegal guns. 

3 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF 

4 DATABASE INFORMATION OF THE BUREAU 

5 OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EX6 PLOSIVES. 

7 (a) The matter under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alco8 hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex9 penses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated and 

10 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 

11 923 note; Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 609–610) is 

12 amended by striking the sixth proviso. 

13 (b) The sixth proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 

14 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 

15 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated Ap16 propriations Act, 2010 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 

17 111–117; 123 Stat. 3128–3129) is amended by striking 

18 ‘‘beginning in fiscal year 2010 and thereafter’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘in fiscal year 2010’’. 

20 (c) The sixth proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 

21 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 

22 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Omnibus Appro23 priations Act, 2009 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 111– 

24 8; 123 Stat. 574–576) is amended by striking ‘‘beginning 


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1 in fiscal year 2009 and thereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘in fiscal 

2 year 2009’’. 

3 (d) The sixth proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 

4 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 

5 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated Ap6 propriations Act, 2008 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 

7 110–161; 121 Stat. 1903–1904) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘beginning in fiscal year 2008 and thereafter’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘in fiscal year 2008’’. 

10 (e) The sixth proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 

11 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 

12 Expenses’’ in title I of the Science, State, Justice, Com13 merce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 

14 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 109–108; 119 Stat. 

15 2295–2296) is amended by striking ‘‘with respect to any 

16 fiscal year’’. 

17 (f) The sixth proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 

18 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 

19 Expenses’’ in title I of division B of the Consolidated Ap20 propriations Act, 2005 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 

21 108–447; 118 Stat. 2859–2860) is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘with respect to any fiscal year’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF PROHIBITION ON PROCESSING OF 

2 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUESTS 

3 ABOUT ARSON OR EXPLOSIVES INCIDENTS 

4 OR FIREARM TRACES. 

5 Section 644 of division J of the Consolidated Appro6 priations Resolution, 2003 (5 U.S.C. 552 note; Public 

7 Law 108–7; 117 Stat. 473) is repealed. 

8 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF LIMITATIONS ON IMPOSITION OF RE9 QUIREMENT THAT FIREARMS DEALERS CON10 DUCT PHYSICAL CHECK OF FIREARMS IN11 VENTORY. 

12 The fifth proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alco13 hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex14 penses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated and 

15 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (18 U.S.C. 

16 923 note; Public Law 113–6; 127 Stat. 248) is amended 

17 by striking ‘‘and any fiscal year thereafter’’. 

18 SEC. 6. ELIMINATION OF PROHIBITION ON CONSOLIDA19 TION OR CENTRALIZATION IN THE DEPART20 MENT OF JUSTICE OF FIREARMS ACQUISI21 TION AND DISPOSITION RECORDS MAIN22 TAINED BY FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEES. 

23 The matter under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alcohol, 

24 Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex25 penses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated and 

26 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 


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1 923 note; Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 609) is amend2 ed— 

3 (1) by striking the first proviso; and 

4 (2) in the second proviso, by striking ‘‘further’’. 

5 SEC. 7. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO DESTROY INSTANT 

6 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK RECORDS 

7 WITHIN 24 HOURS. 

8 Section 511 of the Consolidated and Further Con9 tinuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (34 U.S.C. 40901 note; 

10 Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 632) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘—’’ and all that follows 

12 through ‘‘(1)’’; and 

13 (2) by striking the semicolon and all that fol14 lows and inserting a period. 

Æ 


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