Union Calendar No. 186

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1025

[Report No. 103–344]

A BILL

To provide for a waiting period before the purchase

transfer of any firearm.to be contacted by firearms dealers before thetional instant criminal background check systemof a handgun, and for the establishment of a naNOVEMBER 10, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 186

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1025

[Report No. 103–344]

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.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 22, 1993

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SYNAR, Mr. MAZZOLI,

Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GLICKMAN, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. STARK,

Mr. FAZIO, Mr. STUDDS, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. JACOBS, Mr. MANTON, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PORTER, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. BACCHUS of Florida, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr.

MORAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. FILNER, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. HALL of

Ohio, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SKAGGS, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. KLEIN, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MINETA, Mr. DERRICK, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. KLUG, Mr. ANDREWS of Maine, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. EDWARDS

of California, Mr. YATES, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. WHEAT, Mr. TUCKER,

Mr. ROEMER, Ms. FURSE, Ms. MOLINARI, Mrs. BYRNE, Mrs. BENTLEY,

Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr.

FINGERHUT, Mr. SANGMEISTER, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MARKEY, Mr.

HUGHES, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. OWENS, Ms. WATERS, Mr. DE LUGO, Mr.

HYDE, Mr. STOKES, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr.

BONIOR, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. COYNE, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. MFUME, Mrs.

MORELLA, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. ANDREWS of New Jersey, Ms. NORTON,

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. HOAGLAND, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr.

REED, Mr. HOYER, Mr. HOCHBRUECKNER, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida,

Mr. SABO, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. GOSS, Mrs.

KENNELLY, Mr. BEILENSON, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. MINK, Mr. MATSUI, Mr.

FLAKE, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mrs. LOWEY, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
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APRIL 20, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. LEACH, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms.

MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY, Mr. LAFALCE, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr.

MOAKLEY, Mr. WATT, Mr. MANN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. WYDEN,

Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHENK, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. KLECZKA, Ms.

HARMAN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

of Texas, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. MCHALE, Mr. TORRES, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. FORD of Michigan, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. VENTO, Mr. BECERRA,

Mr. DICKS, Mr. HAMBURG, Mrs. MEEK, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. SHEPHERD,

Mr. LAZIO, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. BLACKWELL, Mr.

KENNEDY, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr. FORD of Tennessee, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. WASHINGTON, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. PAYNE of

New Jersey, and Mr. BATEMAN

SEPTEMBER 9, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. HENRY, Mr. DIXON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. THOMPSON,

Mr. VISCLOSKY, and Mr. UNDERWOOD

NOVEMBER 10, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. PASTOR, Mr. FARR of California, and Mr. DOOLEY

NOVEMBER 10, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 22, 1993]

A BILL

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 end

8 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 the

11 day before the date that the Attorney General certifies under

12 section 3(d)(1) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention

13 Act that the national instant criminal background check

14 system is established (except as provided in paragraphs (2)

15 and (3) of such section), it shall be unlawful for any li16 censed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer

17 to sell, deliver, or transfer a handgun to an individual who

18 is not licensed under section 923, unless—

19 ‘‘(A) after the most recent proposal of such trans20 fer by the transferee—

21 ‘‘(i) the transferor has—

22 ‘‘(I) received from the transferee a

23 statement of the transferee containing the

24 information described in paragraph (3);
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1 ‘‘(II) verified the identity of the trans2 feree by examining the identification docu3 ment presented;

4 ‘‘(III) within 1 day after the transferee

5 furnishes the statement, provided notice of

6 the contents of the statement to the chief law

7 enforcement officer of the place of residence

8 of the transferee; and

9 ‘‘(IV) within 1 day after the transferee

10 furnishes the statement, transmitted a copy

11 of the statement to the chief law enforcement

12 officer of the place of residence of the trans13 feree; and

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

15 in which State offices are open) have elapsed

16 from the date the transferor furnished notice of

17 the contents of the statement to the chief law en18 forcement officer, during which period the trans19 feror has not received information from the chief

20 law enforcement officer that receipt or possession

21 of the handgun by the transferee would be in vio22 lation of Federal, State, or local law; or

23 ‘‘(II) the transferor has received notice from

24 the chief law enforcement officer that the officer

25 has no information indicating that receipt or
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1 possession of the handgun by the transferee

2 would violate Federal, State, or local law;

3 ‘‘(B) the transferee has presented to the trans4 feror a written statement, issued by the chief law en5 forcement officer of the place of residence of the trans6 feree during the 10-day period ending on the date of

7 the most recent proposal of such transfer by the trans8 feree, stating that the transferee requires access to a

9 handgun because of a threat to the life of the trans10 feree or of any member of the household of the trans11 feree;

12 ‘‘(C)(i) the transferee has presented to the trans13 feror a permit that—

14 ‘‘(I) allows the transferee to possess a hand15 gun; and

16 ‘‘(II) was issued not more than 5 years ear17 lier by the State in which the transfer is to take

18 place; and

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

20 permit is to be issued only after an authorized gov21 ernment official has verified that the information

22 available to such official does not indicate that posses23 sion of a handgun by the transferee would be in viola24 tion of the law;
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1 ‘‘(D) the law of the State requires that, before

2 any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or li3 censed dealer completes the transfer of a handgun to

4 an individual who is not licensed under section 923,

5 an authorized government official verify that the in6 formation available to such official does not indicate

7 that possession of a handgun by the transferee would

8 be in violation of law, except that this subparagraph

9 shall not apply to a State that, on the date of certifi10 cation pursuant to section 3(d) of the Brady Hand11 gun Violence Prevention Act, is not in compliance

12 with the timetable established pursuant to section 3(c)

13 of such Act;

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

15 under section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of

16 1986; or

17 ‘‘(F) on application of the transferor, the Sec18 retary has certified that compliance with subpara19 graph (A)(i)(III) is impracticable because—

20 ‘‘(i) the ratio of the number of law enforce21 ment officers of the State in which the transfer

22 is to occur to the number of square miles of land

23 area of the State does not exceed 0.0025;

24 ‘‘(ii) the business premises of the transferor

25 at which the transfer is to occur are extremely
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1 remote in relation to the chief law enforcement

2 officer; and

3 ‘‘(iii) there is an absence of telecommuni4 cations facilities in the geographical area in

5 which the business premises are located.

6 ‘‘(2) A chief law enforcement officer to whom a trans7 feror has provided notice pursuant to paragraph

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

9 within 5 business days whether the transferee has a crimi10 nal record or whether there is any other legal impediment

11 to the transferee’s receiving a handgun, including research

12 in whatever State and local recordkeeping systems are

13 available and in a national system designated by the Attor14 ney General.

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

16 (1)(A)(i)(I) shall contain only—

17 ‘‘(A) the name, address, and date of birth ap18 pearing on a valid identification document (as de19 fined in section 1028(d)(1)) of the transferee contain20 ing a photograph of the transferee and a description

21 of the identification used;

22 ‘‘(B) a statement that transferee—

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

24 not been convicted in any court of, a crime pun-
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1 ishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1

2 year;

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

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

5 to any controlled substance (as defined in section

6 102 of the Controlled Substances Act);

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

8 defective or been committed to a mental institu9 tion;

10 ‘‘(v) is not an alien who is illegally or un11 lawfully in the United States;

12 ‘‘(vi) has not been discharged from the

13 Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;

14 and

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

16 citizen of the United States, has renounced such

17 citizenship;

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

19 ‘‘(D) notice that the transferee intends to obtain

20 a handgun from the transferor.

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

22 transfer, receives a report from a chief law enforcement offi23 cer containing information that receipt or possession of the

24 handgun by the transferee violates Federal, State, or local
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1 law shall immediately communicate all information the

2 transferor has about the transfer and the transferee to—

3 ‘‘(A) the chief law enforcement officer of the place

4 of business of the transferor; and

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

6 place of residence of the transferee.

7 ‘‘(5) Any transferor who receives information, not oth8 erwise available to the public, in a report under this sub9 section shall not disclose such information except to the

10 transferee, to law enforcement authorities, or pursuant to

11 the direction of a court of law.

12 ‘‘(6)(A) Any transferor who sells, delivers, or otherwise

13 transfers a handgun to a transferee shall retain the copy

14 of the statement of the transferee with respect to the hand15 gun transaction, and shall retain evidence that the trans16 feror has complied with subclauses (III) and (IV) of para17 graph (1)(A)(i) with respect to the statement.

18 ‘‘(B)(i) Unless the chief law enforcement officer to

19 whom a statement is transmitted under paragraph

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

21 Federal, State, or local law—

22 ‘‘(I) the officer shall, within 20 business days

23 after the date the transferee made the statement on the

24 basis of which the notice was provided, destroy the
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1 statement and any record containing information de2 rived from the statement;

3 ‘‘(II) the information contained in the statement

4 shall not be conveyed to any person except a person

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

6 subsection; and

7 ‘‘(III) the information contained in the state8 ment shall not be used for any purpose other than to

9 carry out this subsection.

10 ‘‘(ii) Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed to im11 pose a requirement contrary to State or local law or regula12 tion.

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

14 responsible for providing criminal history background in15 formation pursuant to this subsection shall not be liable in

16 an action at law for damages—

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

18 a handgun to a person whose receipt or possession of

19 the handgun is unlawful under this section; or

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

21 person who may lawfully receive or possess a hand22 gun.

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

24 law enforcement officer’ means the chief of police, the sheriff,
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1 or an equivalent officer or the designee of any such individ2 ual.

3 ‘‘(9) The Secretary shall take necessary actions to en4 sure that the provisions of this subsection are published and

5 disseminated to licensed dealers, law enforcement officials,

6 and the public.’’.

7 (2) HANDGUN DEFINED.—Section 921(a) of such

8 title is amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(29) The term ‘handgun’ means—

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

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

12 hand; and

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

14 firearm described in subparagraph (A) can be assem15 bled.’’.

16 (b) PERMANENT PROVISION.—Section 922 of title 18,

17 United States Code, as amended by subsection (a)(1) of this

18 section, is amended by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(t)(1) Beginning on the date that the Attorney Gen20 eral certifies under section 3(d)(1) of the Brady Handgun

21 Violence Prevention Act that the national instant criminal

22 background check system is established (except as provided

23 in paragraphs (2) and (3) of such section), a licensed im24 porter, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer shall not
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1 transfer a firearm to any other person who is not such a

2 licensee, unless—

3 ‘‘(A) before the completion of the transfer, the li4 censee contacts the national instant criminal back5 ground check system established under section 3 of

6 such Act;

7 ‘‘(B) the system notifies the licensee that the sys8 tem has not located any record that demonstrates that

9 the receipt of a firearm by such other person would

10 violate subsection (g) or (n) of this section or any

11 State or local law; and

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

13 the transferee by examining a valid identification

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

15 title) of the transferee containing a photograph of the

16 transferee.

17 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a firearm trans18 fer between a licensee and another person if—

19 ‘‘(A)(i) such other person has presented to the li20 censee a permit that—

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

22 firearm; and

23 ‘‘(II) was issued not more than 5 years ear24 lier by the State in which the transfer is to take

25 place; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) the law of the State provides that such a

2 permit is to be issued only after an authorized gov3 ernment official has verified that the information

4 available to such official does not indicate that posses5 sion of a firearm by such other person would be in

6 violation of law;

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

8 under section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of

9 1986; or

10 ‘‘(C) on application of the transferor, the Sec11 retary has certified that compliance with paragraph

12 (1)(A) is impracticable because—

13 ‘‘(i) the ratio of the number of law enforce14 ment officers of the State in which the transfer

15 is to occur to the number of square miles of land

16 area of the State does not exceed 0.0025;

17 ‘‘(ii) the business premises of the licensee at

18 which the transfer is to occur are extremely re19 mote in relation to the chief law enforcement of20 ficer (as defined in subsection (s)(8)); and

21 ‘‘(iii) there is an absence of telecommuni22 cations facilities in the geographical area in

23 which the business premises are located.

24 ‘‘(3) If the national instant criminal background check

25 system notifies the licensee that the information available
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1 to the system does not demonstrate that the receipt of a fire2 arm by such other person would violate subsection (g) or

3 (n), and the licensee transfers a firearm to such other per4 son, the licensee shall include in the record of the transfer

5 the unique identification number provided by the system

6 with respect to the transfer.

7 ‘‘(4) In addition to the authority provided under sec8 tion 923(e), if the licensee knowingly transfers a firearm

9 to such other person and knowingly fails to comply with

10 paragraph (1) of this subsection with respect to the transfer

11 and, at the time such other person most recently proposed

12 the transfer, the national instant criminal background

13 check system was operating and information was available

14 to the system demonstrating that receipt of a firearm by

15 such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of this

16 section, the Secretary may, after notice and opportunity for

17 a hearing, suspend for not more than 6 months or revoke

18 any license issued to the licensee under section 923, and

19 may impose on the licensee a civil fine of not more than

20 $5,000.

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

22 the Federal Government or of any State or local govern23 ment, responsible for providing information to the national

24 instant criminal background check system shall be liable in

25 an action at law for damages—
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1 ‘‘(A) for failure to prevent the sale or transfer of

2 a handgun to a person whose receipt or possession of

3 the handgun is unlawful under this section; or

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

5 person who may lawfully receive or possess a hand6 gun.’’.

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

8 States Code, is amended—

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)

10 or (3) of’’; and

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

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

13 of section 922 shall be fined not more than $1,000, impris14 oned for not more than 1 year, or both.’’.

15 SEC. 3. NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND

16 CHECK SYSTEM.

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—The Attorney Gen18 eral of the United States shall establish a national instant

19 criminal background check system that any licensee may

20 contact for information on whether receipt of a firearm by

21 a prospective transferee thereof would violate subsection (g)

22 or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code, or any

23 State or local law.

24 (b) EXPEDITED ACTION BY THE ATTORNEY GEN25 ERAL.—The Attorney General shall expedite—
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1 (1) the upgrading and indexing of State crimi2 nal history records in the Federal criminal records

3 system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Inves4 tigation;

5 (2) the development of hardware and software

6 systems to link State criminal history check systems

7 into the national instant criminal background check

8 system established by the Attorney General pursuant

9 to this section; and

10 (3) the current revitalization initiatives by the

11 Federal Bureau of Investigation for technologically

12 advanced fingerprint and criminal records identifica13 tion.

14 (c) PROVISION OF STATE CRIMINAL RECORDS TO THE

15 NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYS16 TEM.—(1) Not later than 6 months after the date of enact17 ment of this Act, the Attorney General shall—

18 (A) determine the type of computer hardware

19 and software that will be used to operate the national

20 instant criminal background check system and the

21 means by which State criminal records systems will

22 communicate with the national system, which shall be

23 based upon the Interstate Identification Index (‘‘III’’)

24 unless the Attorney General finds that the III will not
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1 provide a satisfactory basis for the national instant

2 criminal background check system;

3 (B) investigate the criminal records system of

4 each State and determine for each State a timetable

5 by which the State should be able to provide criminal

6 records on an on line capacity basis to the national

7 system; and

8 (C) notify each State of the determinations made

9 pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B).

10 (2) The Attorney General shall require as a part of

11 the State timetable that the State achieve, by the end of

12 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, at least 80

13 percent currency of case dispositions in computerized crimi14 nal history files for all cases in which there has been an

15 event of activity within the last 5 years and continue to

16 maintain such a system.

17 (d) NATIONAL SYSTEM CERTIFICATION.—(1) On the

18 date that is 30 months after the date of enactment of this

19 Act, and at any time thereafter, the Attorney General shall

20 determine whether—

21 (A) the national system has achieved at least 80

22 percent currency of case dispositions in computerized

23 criminal history files for all cases in which there has

24 been an event of activity within the last 5 years on

25 a national average basis; and
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1 (B) the States are in compliance with the time2 table established pursuant to subsection (c),

3 and, if so, shall certify that the national system is estab4 lished.

5 (2) If, on the date of certification in paragraph (1)

6 of this subsection, a State is not in compliance with the

7 timetable established pursuant to subsection (c) of this sec8 tion, section 922(s) of title 18, United States Code, shall

9 remain in effect in such State and section 922(t) of such

10 title shall not apply to the State. The Attorney General shall

11 certify if a State subject to the provisions of section 922(s)

12 under the preceding sentence achieves compliance with its

13 timetable after the date of certification in paragraph (1)

14 of this subsection, and section 922(s) of title 18, United

15 States Code, shall not apply to such State and section

16 922(t) of such title shall apply to the State.

17 (3) Six years after the date of enactment of this Act,

18 the Attorney General shall certify whether or not a State

19 is in compliance with subsection (c)(2) of this section and

20 if the State is not in compliance, section 922(s) of title 18,

21 United States Code, shall apply to the State and section

22 922(t) of such title shall not apply to the State. The Attor23 ney General shall certify if a State subject to the provisions

24 of section 922(s) under the preceding sentence achieves com25 pliance with the standards in subsection (c)(2) of this sec-
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1 tion, and section 922(s) of title 18, United States Code,

2 shall not apply to the State and section 922(t) of such title

3 shall apply to the State.

4 (e) NOTIFICATION OF LICENSEES.—On establishment

5 of the system under this section, the Attorney General shall

6 notify each licensee and the chief law enforcement officer

7 of each State of the existence and purpose of the system and

8 the means to be used to contact the system.

9 (f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—

10 (1) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN OFFICIAL INFORMA11 TION.—Notwithstanding any other law, the Attorney

12 General may secure directly from any department or

13 agency of the United States such information on per14 sons for whom receipt of a firearm would violate sub15 section (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United

16 States Code, or any State or local law, as is necessary

17 to enable the system to operate in accordance with

18 this section. On request of the Attorney General, the

19 head of such department or agency shall furnish such

20 information to the system.

21 (2) OTHER AUTHORITY.—The Attorney General

22 shall develop such computer software, design and ob23 tain such telecommunications and computer hard24 ware, and employ such personnel, as are necessary to
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1 establish and operate the system in accordance with

2 this section.

3 (g) CORRECTION OF ERRONEOUS SYSTEM INFORMA4 TION.—If the system established under this section informs

5 an individual contacting the system that receipt of a fire6 arm by a prospective transferee would violate subsection (g)

7 or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code, or any

8 State or local law, the prospective transferee may request

9 the Attorney General to provide the prospective transferee

10 with the reasons therefor. Upon receipt of such a request,

11 the Attorney General shall immediately comply with the re12 quest. The prospective transferee may submit to the Attor13 ney General information to correct, clarify, or supplement

14 records of the system with respect to the prospective trans15 feree. After receipt of such information, the Attorney Gen16 eral shall immediately consider the information, investigate

17 the matter further, and correct all erroneous Federal records

18 relating to the prospective transferee and give notice of the

19 error to any Federal department or agency or any State

20 that was the source of such erroneous records.

21 (h) REGULATIONS.—After 90 days notice to the public

22 and an opportunity for hearing by interested parties, the

23 Attorney General shall prescribe regulations to ensure the

24 privacy and security of the information of the system estab25 lished under this section.
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1 (i) PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO ESTABLISHMENT OF

2 REGISTRATION SYSTEMS WITH RESPECT TO FIREARMS.—

3 No department, agency, officer, or employee of the United

4 States may—

5 (1) require that any record or portion thereof

6 maintained by the system established under this sec7 tion be recorded at or transferred to a facility owned,

8 managed, or controlled by the United States or any

9 State or political subdivision thereof; or

10 (2) use the system established under this section

11 to establish any system for the registration of fire12 arms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions or dis13 positions, except with respect to persons prohibited by

14 section 922 (g) or (n) of title 18, United States Code,

15 from receiving a firearm.

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

17 (1) LICENSEE.—The term ‘‘licensee’’ means a li18 censed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed

19 dealer under section 923 of title 18, United States

20 Code.

21 (2) OTHER TERMS.—The terms ‘‘firearm’’, ‘‘li22 censed importer’’, ‘‘licensed manufacturer’’, and ‘‘li23 censed dealer’’ have the meanings stated in section

24 921(a) (3), (9), (10), and (11), respectively, of title

25 18, United States Code.
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1 SEC. 4. REMEDY FOR ERRONEOUS DENIAL OF HANDGUN.

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

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

4 following:

5 ‘‘§ 925A. Remedy for erroneous denial of handgun

6 ‘‘Any person who is denied a handgun pursuant to sec7 tion 922(s) of this title due to the provision of erroneous

8 information relating to the person by any State or political

9 subdivision thereof, or by the national instant criminal

10 background check system established under section 3(a) of

11 the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, and who has

12 exhausted the administrative remedies available for the cor13 rection of such erroneous information, may bring an action

14 against any official of the State or political subdivision re15 sponsible for providing the erroneous information, or

16 against the United States, as the case may be, for an order

17 directing that the erroneous information be corrected. In

18 any action under this section, the court, in its discretion,

19 may allow the prevailing party a reasonable attorney’s fee

20 as part of the costs.’’.

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for

22 such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating

23 to section 925 the following:

‘‘925A. Remedy for erroneous denial of handgun.’’.
23

•HR 1025 RH

1 SEC. 5. FUNDING FOR IMPROVEMENT OF CRIMINAL

2 RECORDS.

3 (a) IMPROVEMENTS IN STATE RECORDS.—

4 (1) USE OF FORMULA GRANTS.—Section 509(b)

5 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe

6 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3759(b)) is amended—

7 (A) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘and’’

8 after the semicolon;

9 (B) in paragraph (3) by striking the period

10 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

11 (C) by adding at the end the following new

12 paragraph:

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

14 and the sharing with the Attorney General of all of

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

16 of this subsection and the records required by the At17 torney General under section 3 of the Brady Hand18 gun Violence Prevention Act, for the purpose of imple19 menting such Act.’’.

20 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—

21 (A) GRANTS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF

22 CRIMINAL RECORDS.—The Attorney General,

23 through the Bureau of Justice Statistics, shall,

24 subject to appropriations and with preference to

25 States that as of the date of enactment of this

26 Act have the lowest percent currency of case dis-
24

•HR 1025 RH

1 positions in computerized criminal history files,

2 make a grant to each State to be used—

3 (i) for the creation of a computerized

4 criminal history record system or improve5 ment of an existing system;

6 (ii) to improve accessibility to the na7 tional instant criminal background system;

8 and

9 (iii) upon establishment of the national

10 system, to assist the State in the transmit11 tal of criminal records to the national sys12 tem.

13 (B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA14 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appropriated

15 for grants under subparagraph (A) a total of

16 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 1992 and all fiscal

17 years thereafter.

18 (b) WITHHOLDING STATE FUNDS.—Effective on the

19 date of enactment of this Act the Attorney General may re20 duce by up to 50 percent the allocation to a State for a

21 fiscal year under title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and

22 Safe Streets Act of 1968 of a State that is not in compliance

23 with the timetable established for such State under section

24 3(c) of this Act.
25

•HR 1025 RH

1 (c) WITHHOLDING OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

2 FUNDS.—If the Attorney General does not certify the na3 tional instant criminal background check system pursuant

4 to section 3(d)(1) by—

5 (1) 30 months after the date of enactment of this

6 Act the general administrative funds appropriated to

7 the Department of Justice for the fiscal year begin8 ning in the calendar year in which the date that is

9 30 months after the date of enactment of this Act falls

10 shall be reduced by 5 percent on a monthly basis; and

11 (2) 42 months after the date of enactment of this

12 Act the general administrative funds appropriated to

13 the Department of Justice for the fiscal year begin14 ning in the calendar year in which the date that is

15 42 months after the date of enactment of this Act falls

16 shall be reduced by 10 percent on a monthly basis.

HR 1025 RH——2