II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1253

To protect ability of law enforcement to effectively investigate and prosecute

illegal gun sales and protect the privacy of the American people.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 26, 2001

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. CLINTON,

Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. CORZINE, Mrs. BOXER, and Mr. REED) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary

A BILL

To protect ability of law enforcement to effectively investigate

and prosecute illegal gun sales and protect the privacy

of the American people.

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 Sale Anti-Fraud

5 and Privacy Protection Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
2

•S 1253 IS

1 (1) illegal gun sales and illegal gun purchases

2 contribute substantially to crime in the United

3 States;

4 (2) many persons who sell and buy guns cross

5 State lines to do so and transport guns across State

6 lines for the purpose of reselling guns and for use

7 in criminal activity;

8 (3) those intent on selling and purchasing guns

9 illegally are adept at making sales and purchases ap10 pear to be legal and maintenance of records of sales

11 facilitates law enforcement’s ability to investigate il12 legal sales;

13 (4) these illegal sales and the uses to which the

14 illegally sold guns are put have an effect on inter15 state commerce;

16 (5) law enforcement’s access to records col17 lected over a reasonable length of time is essential

18 to law enforcement’s ability to investigate and limit

19 illegal gun sales;

20 (6) the National Instant Background Check

21 System (NICS) is the primary law enforcement tool

22 for preventing illegal gun sales and purchases by

23 federally licensed firearms dealers to felons, fugi24 tives, the mentally ill, and other prohibited pur25 chasers;
3

•S 1253 IS

1 (7) NICS was designed to include an audit log

2 which acts not as a gun registry, but as a device es3 sential to effectively investigating and identifying in4 stances in which NICS is being defrauded or abused;

5 (8) these instances of fraud and abuse that the

6 NICS audit log protects against include the use of

7 false or stolen identification purchase guns, straw

8 purchases, and circumstances where dealers are vio9 lating individuals’ privacy rights by running back10 ground checks on people other than actual gun

11 transferees;

12 (9) without the ability to employ the audit log

13 in legitimate law enforcement investigations, there is

14 no way to adequately ensure the integrity of the sys15 tem, including guaranteeing that Federal firearm li16 censees or other unauthorized users are not access17 ing a system that contains a substantial amount of

18 criminal history, mental health, and other personal

19 information that should not be accessed except in

20 connection with appropriate background checks; and

21 (10) Congress has the power pursuant to the

22 Interstate Commerce Clause, and other provisions of

23 the Constitution to ensure, by enactment of this Act,

24 that gun dealers and buyers do not fraudulently sell

25 and purchase firearms and to guarantee that indi-
4

•S 1253 IS

1 viduals’ privacy rights are not violated by misuse of

2 NICS.

3 SEC. 3. GUN SALE ANTI-FRAUD AND PRIVACY PROTECTION.

4 (a) PREVENTION OF FRAUD AND ABUSE.—Section

5 922(t)(2)(C) of title 18, United States Code, is amended

6 by inserting before the period at the end the following:

7 ‘‘consistent with the responsibility of the Attorney General

8 under section 103(h) of the Brady Handgun Violence Pro9 tection Act to ensure privacy of the system and to prevent

10 system fraud and abuse, but in no event fewer than 90

11 days after the date on which the licensee first contacts

12 the system with respect to the transfer’’.

13 (b) INTERAGENCY COOPERATION.—Section 922(t)(2)

14 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting

15 at the end the following:

16 ‘‘During the period that records are maintained pursuant

17 to subparagraph (C), the Department of Justice and its

18 divisions including the Federal Bureau of Investigation

19 shall make those records available to the Department of

20 Treasury and its divisions including the Bureau of Alco21 hol, Tobacco, and Firearms, for the purpose of conducting

22 system audits to detect fraud and misuse of the system

23 and to protect the privacy and security of the system. The

24 Department of Treasury shall maintain and destroy those
5

•S 1253 IS

1 records in accordance with all statutory requirements im2 posed on the Department of Justice.’’

3 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

5 take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this

6 Act.

Æ