II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1025

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 17 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 2), 1993

Received

NOVEMBER 20 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 2), 1993

Read the first time

AN ACT

To provide for a waiting period before the purchase of a

handgun, and for the establishment of a national instant

criminal background check system to be contacted by

firearms dealers before the transfer of any firearm.

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 ‘‘Brady Handgun Vio5 lence Prevention Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEE REQUIRED TO CON2 DUCT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK BE3 FORE TRANSFER OF FIREARM TO

4 NONLICENSEE.

5 (a) INTERIM PROVISION.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18,

7 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

8 end the following:

9 ‘‘(s)(1) Beginning on the date that is 90 days after

10 the date of enactment of this subsection and ending on

11 the day before the date that is 60 months after such date

12 of enactment it shall be unlawful for any licensed im13 porter, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to sell,

14 deliver, or transfer a handgun to an individual who is not

15 licensed under section 923, unless—

16 ‘‘(A) after the most recent proposal of such

17 transfer by the transferee—

18 ‘‘(i) the transferor has—

19 ‘‘(I) received from the transferee a

20 statement of the transferee containing the

21 information described in paragraph (3);

22 ‘‘(II) verified the identity of the trans23 feree by examining the identification docu24 ment presented;

25 ‘‘(III) within 1 day after the trans26 feree furnishes the statement, provided no-
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1 tice of the contents of the statement to the

2 chief law enforcement officer of the place

3 of residence of the transferee; and

4 ‘‘(IV) within 1 day after the trans5 feree furnishes the statement, transmitted

6 a copy of the statement to the chief law

7 enforcement officer of the place of resi8 dence of the transferee; and

9 ‘‘(ii)(I) 5 business days (as defined by days

10 in which State offices are open) have elapsed

11 from the date the transferor furnished notice of

12 the contents of the statement to the chief law

13 enforcement officer, during which period the

14 transferor has not received information from

15 the chief law enforcement officer that receipt or

16 possession of the handgun by the transferee

17 would be in violation of Federal, State, or local

18 law; or

19 ‘‘(II) the transferor has received notice

20 from the chief law enforcement officer that the

21 officer has no information indicating that re22 ceipt or possession of the handgun by the trans23 feree would violate Federal, State, or local law;

24 ‘‘(B) the transferee has presented to the trans25 feror a written statement, issued by the chief law en-
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1 forcement officer of the place of residence of the

2 transferee during the 10-day period ending on the

3 date of the most recent proposal of such transfer by

4 the transferee, stating that the transferee requires

5 access to a handgun because of a threat to the life

6 of the transferee or of any member of the household

7 of the transferee;

8 ‘‘(C)(i) the transferee has presented to the

9 transferor a permit that—

10 ‘‘(I) allows the transferee to possess a

11 handgun; and

12 ‘‘(II) was issued not more than 5 years

13 earlier by the State in which the transfer is to

14 take place; and

15 ‘‘(ii) the law of the State provides that such a

16 permit is to be issued only after an authorized gov17 ernment official has verified that the information

18 available to such official does not indicate that pos19 session of a handgun by the transferee would be in

20 violation of the law;

21 ‘‘(D) the law of the State requires that, before

22 any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or li23 censed dealer completes the transfer of a handgun to

24 an individual who is not licensed under section 923,

25 an authorized government official verify that the in-
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1 formation available to such official does not indicate

2 that possession of a handgun by the transferee

3 would be in violation of law;

4 ‘‘(E) the Secretary has approved the transfer

5 under section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of

6 1986; or

7 ‘‘(F) on application of the transferor, the Sec8 retary has certified that compliance with subpara9 graph (A)(i)(III) is impracticable because—

10 ‘‘(i) the ratio of the number of law enforce11 ment officers of the State in which the transfer

12 is to occur to the number of square miles of

13 land area of the State does not exceed 0.0025;

14 ‘‘(ii) the business premises of the trans15 feror at which the transfer is to occur are ex16 tremely remote in relation to the chief law en17 forcement officer; and

18 ‘‘(iii) there is an absence of telecommuni19 cations facilities in the geographical area in

20 which the business premises are located.

21 ‘‘(2) A chief law enforcement officer to whom a trans22 feror has provided notice pursuant to paragraph

23 (1)(A)(i)(III) shall make a reasonable effort to ascertain

24 within 5 business days whether the transferee has a crimi25 nal record or whether there is any other legal impediment
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1 to the transferee’s receiving a handgun, including research

2 in whatever State and local recordkeeping systems are

3 available and in a national system designated by the Attor4 ney General.

5 ‘‘(3) The statement referred to in paragraph

6 (1)(A)(i)(I) shall contain only—

7 ‘‘(A) the name, address, and date of birth ap8 pearing on a valid identification document (as de9 fined in section 1028(d)(1)) of the transferee con10 taining a photograph of the transferee and a de11 scription of the identification used;

12 ‘‘(B) a statement that transferee—

13 ‘‘(i) is not under indictment for, and has

14 not been convicted in any court of, a crime pun15 ishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1

16 year;

17 ‘‘(ii) is not a fugitive from justice;

18 ‘‘(iii) is not an unlawful user of or addicted

19 to any controlled substance (as defined in sec20 tion 102 of the Controlled Substances Act);

21 ‘‘(iv) has not been adjudicated as a mental

22 defective or been committed to a mental institu23 tion;

24 ‘‘(v) is not an alien who is illegally or un25 lawfully in the United States;
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1 ‘‘(vi) has not been discharged from the

2 Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;

3 and

4 ‘‘(vii) is not a person who, having been a

5 citizen of the United States, has renounced

6 such citizenship;

7 ‘‘(C) the date the statement is made; and

8 ‘‘(D) notice that the transferee intends to ob9 tain a handgun from the transferor.

10 ‘‘(4) Any transferor of a handgun who, after such

11 transfer, receives a report from a chief law enforcement

12 officer containing information that receipt or possession

13 of the handgun by the transferee violates Federal, State,

14 or local law shall immediately communicate all information

15 the transferor has about the transfer and the transferee

16 to—

17 ‘‘(A) the chief law enforcement officer of the

18 place of business of the transferor; and

19 ‘‘(B) the chief law enforcement officer of the

20 place of residence of the transferee.

21 ‘‘(5) Any transferor who receives information, not

22 otherwise available to the public, in a report under this

23 subsection shall not disclose such information except to

24 the transferee, to law enforcement authorities, or pursuant

25 to the direction of a court of law.
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1 ‘‘(6)(A) Any transferor who sells, delivers, or other2 wise transfers a handgun to a transferee shall retain the

3 copy of the statement of the transferee with respect to

4 the handgun transaction, and shall retain evidence that

5 the transferor has complied with subclauses (III) and (IV)

6 of paragraph (1)(A)(i) with respect to the statement.

7 ‘‘(B) Unless the chief law enforcement officer to

8 whom a statement is transmitted under paragraph

9 (1)(A)(i)(IV) determines that a transaction would violate

10 Federal, State, or local law—

11 ‘‘(i) the officer shall, within 20 business days

12 after the date the transferee made the statement on

13 the basis of which the notice was provided, destroy

14 the statement and any record containing information

15 derived from the statement;

16 ‘‘(ii) the information contained in the statement

17 shall not be conveyed to any person except a person

18 who has a need to know in order to carry out this

19 subsection; and

20 ‘‘(iii) the information contained in the state21 ment shall not be used for any purpose other than

22 to carry out this subsection.

23 ‘‘(C) If a chief law enforcement officer determines

24 that an individual is ineligible to receive a handgun and

25 the individual requests the officer to provide the reasons
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1 for the determination, the officer shall provide such rea2 sons to the individual within 20 business days after receipt

3 of the request.

4 ‘‘(7) A chief law enforcement officer or other person

5 responsible for providing criminal history background in6 formation pursuant to this subsection shall not be liable

7 in an action at law for damages—

8 ‘‘(A) for failure to prevent the sale or transfer

9 of a handgun to a person whose receipt or posses10 sion of the handgun is unlawful under this section;

11 or

12 ‘‘(B) for preventing such a sale or transfer to

13 a person who may lawfully receive or possess a

14 handgun.

15 ‘‘(8) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘chief

16 law enforcement officer’ means the chief of police, the

17 sheriff, or an equivalent officer or the designee of any such

18 individual.

19 ‘‘(9) The Secretary shall take necessary actions to en20 sure that the provisions of this subsection are published

21 and disseminated to licensed dealers, law enforcement offi22 cials, and the public.’’.

23 (2) HANDGUN DEFINED.—Section 921(a) of

24 such title is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing:
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1 ‘‘(29) The term ‘handgun’ means—

2 ‘‘(A) a firearm which has a short stock and is

3 designed to be held and fired by the use of a single

4 hand; and

5 ‘‘(B) any combination of parts from which a

6 firearm described in subparagraph (A) can be as7 sembled.’’.

8 (b) PERMANENT PROVISION.—Section 922 of title

9 18, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a)(1)

10 of this section, is amended by adding at the end the follow11 ing:

12 ‘‘(t)(1) Beginning on the date that is 30 days after

13 the Attorney General notifies licencees under section 3(e)

14 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act that the

15 national instant criminal background check system is es16 tablished, a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or

17 licensed dealer shall not transfer a firearm to any other

18 person who is not such a licensee, unless—

19 ‘‘(A) before the completion of the transfer, the

20 licensee contacts the national instant criminal back21 ground check system established under section 3 of

22 such Act;

23 ‘‘(B)(i) the system provides the licensee with a

24 unique identification number; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) 1 business day (as defined in subsection

2 (s)(8)(B)) has elapsed since the end of the business

3 day on which the licensee contacted the system, and

4 the system has not notified the licensee that the re5 ceipt of the handgun by such other person would vio6 late subsection (g) or (n) of this section or any State

7 or local law; and

8 ‘‘(C) the transferor has verified the identity of

9 the transferee by examining a valid identification

10 document (as defined in section 1028(d)(1) of this

11 title) of the transferee containing a photograph of

12 the transferee.

13 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a firearm

14 transfer between a licensee and another person if—

15 ‘‘(A)(i) such other person has presented to the

16 licensee a permit that—

17 ‘‘(I) allows such other person to possess a

18 firearm; and

19 ‘‘(II) was issued not more than 5 years

20 earlier by the State in which the transfer is to

21 take place; and

22 ‘‘(ii) the law of the State provides that such a

23 permit is to be issued only after an authorized gov24 ernment official has verified that the information

25 available to such official does not indicate that pos-
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1 session of a firearm by such other person would be

2 in violation of law;

3 ‘‘(B) the Secretary has approved the transfer

4 under section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of

5 1986; or

6 ‘‘(C) on application of the transferor, the Sec7 retary has certified that compliance with paragraph

8 (1)(A) is impracticable because—

9 ‘‘(i) the ratio of the number of law enforce10 ment officers of the State in which the transfer

11 is to occur to the number of square miles of

12 land area of the State does not exceed 0.0025;

13 ‘‘(ii) the business premises of the licensee

14 at which the transfer is to occur are extremely

15 remote in relation to the chief law enforcement

16 officer (as defined in subsection (s)(8)); and

17 ‘‘(iii) there is an absence of telecommuni18 cations facilities in the geographical area in

19 which the business premises are located.

20 ‘‘(3) If the national instant criminal background

21 check system notifies the licensee that the information

22 available to the system does not demonstrate that the re23 ceipt of a firearm by such other person would violate sub24 section (g) or (n), and the licensee transfers a firearm to

25 such other person, the licensee shall include in the record
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1 of the transfer the unique identification number provided

2 by the system with respect to the transfer.

3 ‘‘(4) In addition to the authority provided under sec4 tion 923(e), if the licensee knowingly transfers a firearm

5 to such other person and knowingly fails to comply with

6 paragraph (1) of this subsection with respect to the trans7 fer and, at the time such other person most recently pro8 posed the transfer, the national instant criminal back9 ground check system was operating and information was

10 available to the system demonstrating that receipt of a

11 firearm by such other person would violate subsection (g)

12 or (n) of this section, the Secretary may, after notice and

13 opportunity for a hearing, suspend for not more than 6

14 months or revoke any license issued to the licensee under

15 section 923, and may impose on the licensee a civil fine

16 of not more than $5,000.

17 ‘‘(5) Neither a local government nor an employee of

18 the Federal Government or of any State or local govern19 ment, responsible for providing information to the national

20 instant criminal background check system shall be liable

21 in an action at law for damages—

22 ‘‘(A) for failure to prevent the sale or transfer

23 of a handgun to a person whose receipt or posses24 sion of the handgun is unlawful under this section;

25 or
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1 ‘‘(B) for preventing such a sale or transfer to

2 a person who may lawfully receive or possess a

3 handgun.’’.

4 (c) PENALTY.—Section 924(a) of title 18, United

5 States Code, is amended—

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘paragraph

7 (2) or (3) of’’; and

8 (2) by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(5) Whoever knowingly violates subsection (s) or (t)

10 of section 922 shall be fined not more than $1,000, impris11 oned for not more than 1 year, or both.’’.

12 SEC. 3. NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND

13 CHECK SYSTEM.

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Not later than 60

15 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

16 Attorney General of the United States shall establish a

17 national instant criminal background check system that

18 any licensee may contact for information on whether re19 ceipt of a firearm by a prospective transferee thereof

20 would violate subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title

21 18, United States Code, or any State or local law.

22 (b) EXPEDITED ACTION BY THE ATTORNEY GEN23 ERAL.—The Attorney General shall expedite—

24 (1) the upgrading and indexing of State crimi25 nal history records in the Federal criminal records
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1 system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Inves2 tigation;

3 (2) the development of hardware and software

4 systems to link State criminal history check systems

5 into the national instant criminal background check

6 system established by the Attorney General pursuant

7 to this section; and

8 (3) the current revitalization initiatives by the

9 Federal Bureau of Investigation for technologically

10 advanced fingerprint and criminal records identifica11 tion.

12 (c) PROVISION OF STATE CRIMINAL RECORDS TO

13 THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK

14 SYSTEM.—Not later than 6 months after the date of en15 actment of this Act, the Attorney General shall—

16 (1) determine the type of computer hardware

17 and software that will be used to operate the na18 tional instant criminal background check system and

19 the means by which State criminal records systems

20 will communicate with the national system, which

21 shall be based upon the Interstate Identification

22 Index (‘‘III’’) unless the Attorney General finds that

23 the III will not provide a satisfactory basis for the

24 national instant criminal background check system;
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1 (2) investigate the criminal records system of

2 each State and determine for each State a timetable

3 by which the State should be able to provide crimi4 nal records on an on line capacity basis to the na5 tional system; and

6 (3) notify each State of the determinations

7 made pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2).

8 (d) OPERATION OF THE SYSTEM.—

9 (1) GENERAL RULE.—If a licensee contacts the

10 national instant criminal background check system

11 with respect to a firearm transfer, the system shall,

12 during the contact or by return contact without

13 delay—

14 (A) review available criminal history

15 records to determine whether receipt of a fire16 arm by the prospective transferee would violate

17 subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18,

18 United States Code, or any State or local law;

19 and

20 (B)(i) if the receipt would not be such a

21 violation—

22 (I) assign a unique identification

23 number to the transfer;

24 (II) provide the licensee with the iden25 tification number; and
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1 (III) immediately destroy all records

2 of the system with respect to the contact

3 (other than the identification number and

4 the date the number was assigned) and all

5 records of the system relating to the trans6 feree or the transfer or derived therefrom;

7 or

8 (ii) if the receipt would be such a viola9 tion—

10 (I) notify the licensee that the receipt

11 would be such a violation; and

12 (II) maintain the records created by

13 the system with respect to the proposed

14 transfer.

15 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—If a licensee contacts the

16 national instant criminal background check system

17 with respect to a firearms transfer and the system

18 is unable to comply with paragraph (1) during the

19 contact or by return contact without delay, then the

20 system shall comply with paragraph (1) not later

21 than the end of the next business day.

22 (e) NOTIFICATION OF LICENSEES.—On establish23 ment of the system under this section, the Attorney Gen24 eral shall notify each licensee and the chief law enforce25 ment officer of each State of the existence and purpose
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1 of the system and the means to be used to contact the

2 system.

3 (f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—

4 (1) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN OFFICIAL INFORMA5 TION.—Notwithstanding any other law, the Attorney

6 General may secure directly from any department or

7 agency of the United States such information on

8 persons for whom receipt of a firearm would violate

9 subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18,

10 United States Code, or any State or local law, as is

11 necessary to enable the system to operate in accord12 ance with this section. On request of the Attorney

13 General, the head of such department or agency

14 shall furnish such information to the system.

15 (2) OTHER AUTHORITY.—The Attorney General

16 shall develop such computer software, design and ob17 tain such telecommunications and computer hard18 ware, and employ such personnel, as are necessary

19 to establish and operate the system in accordance

20 with this section.

21 (g) CORRECTION OF ERRONEOUS SYSTEM INFORMA22 TION.—If the system established under this section in23 forms an individual contacting the system that receipt of

24 a firearm by a prospective transferee would violate sub25 section (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States
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1 Code, or any State or local law, the prospective transferee

2 may request the Attorney General to provide the prospec3 tive transferee with the reasons therefor. Upon receipt of

4 such a request, the Attorney General shall immediately

5 comply with the request. The prospective transferee may

6 submit to the Attorney General information to correct,

7 clarify, or supplement records of the system with respect

8 to the prospective transferee. After receipt of such infor9 mation, the Attorney General shall immediately consider

10 the information, investigate the matter further, and cor11 rect all erroneous Federal records relating to the prospec12 tive transferee and give notice of the error to any Federal

13 department or agency or any State that was the source

14 of such erroneous records.

15 (h) REGULATIONS.—After 90 days notice to the pub16 lic and an opportunity for hearing by interested parties,

17 the Attorney General shall prescribe regulations to ensure

18 the privacy and security of the information of the system

19 established under this section.

20 (i) PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO ESTABLISHMENT OF

21 REGISTRATION SYSTEMS WITH RESPECT TO FIRE22 ARMS.—No department, agency, officer, or employee of

23 the United States may—

24 (1) require that any record or portion thereof

25 maintained by the system established under this sec-
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1 tion be recorded at or transferred to a facility

2 owned, managed, or controlled by the United States

3 or any State or political subdivision thereof; or

4 (2) use the system established under this sec5 tion to establish any system for the registration of

6 firearms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions or

7 dispositions, except with respect to persons prohib8 ited by section 922 (g) or (n) of title 18, United

9 States Code, from receiving a firearm.

10 (j) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

11 (1) LICENSEE.—The term ‘‘licensee’’ means a

12 licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed

13 dealer under section 923 of title 18, United States

14 Code.

15 (2) OTHER TERMS.—The terms ‘‘firearm’’, ‘‘li16 censed importer’’, ‘‘licensed manufacturer’’, and ‘‘li17 censed dealer’’ have the meanings stated in section

18 921(a) (3), (9), (10), and (11), respectively, of title

19 18, United States Code.

20 SEC. 4. REMEDY FOR ERRONEOUS DENIAL OF HANDGUN.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United

22 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 925 the

23 following:
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1 ‘‘§ 925A. Remedy for erroneous denial of handgun

2 ‘‘Any person who is denied a handgun pursuant to

3 section 922(s) of this title due to the provision of erro4 neous information relating to the person by any State or

5 political subdivision thereof, or by the national instant

6 criminal background check system established under sec7 tion 3(a) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act,

8 and who has exhausted the administrative remedies avail9 able for the correction of such erroneous information, may

10 bring an action against any official of the State or political

11 subdivision responsible for providing the erroneous infor12 mation, or against the United States, as the case may be,

13 for an order directing that the erroneous information be

14 corrected. In any action under this section, the court, in

15 its discretion, may allow the prevailing party a reasonable

16 attorney’s fee as part of the costs.’’.

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

18 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item

19 relating to section 925 the following:

‘‘925A. Remedy for erroneous denial of handgun.’’.

20 SEC. 5. FUNDING FOR IMPROVEMENT OF CRIMINAL

21 RECORDS.

22 (a) USE OF FORMULA GRANTS.—Section 509(b) of

23 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act

24 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3759(b)) is amended—
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1 (1) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ after

2 the semicolon;

3 (2) in paragraph (3) by striking the period and

4 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new

6 paragraph:

7 ‘‘(4) the improvement of State record systems

8 and the sharing with the Attorney General of all of

9 the records described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3)

10 of this subsection and the records required by the

11 Attorney General under section 3 of the Brady

12 Handgun Violence Prevention Act, for the purpose

13 of implementing such Act.’’.

14 (b) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—

15 (1) GRANTS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF CRIMI16 NAL RECORDS.—The Attorney General, through the

17 Bureau of Justice Statistics, shall, subject to appro18 priations and with preference to States that as of

19 the date of enactment of this Act have the lowest

20 percent currency of case dispositions in computer21 ized criminal history files, make a grant to each

22 State to be used—

23 (A) for the creation of a computerized

24 criminal history record system or improvement

25 of an existing system;
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1 (B) to improve accessibility to the national

2 instant criminal background system; and

3 (C) upon establishment of the national sys4 tem, to assist the State in the transmittal of

5 criminal records to the national system.

6 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

7 There are authorized to be appropriated for grants

8 under paragraph (1) a total of $100,000,000 for fis9 cal year 1992 and all fiscal years thereafter.

Passed the House of Representatives November 10,

1993.

Attest: DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

Clerk.