II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2502 

To address gun violence, improve the availability of records to the National 

Instant Criminal Background Check System, address mental illness in 

the criminal justice system, and end straw purchases and trafficking 

of illegal firearms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 6, 2018 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To address gun violence, improve the availability of records 

to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, address mental illness in the criminal justice system, and end straw purchases and trafficking of illegal 

firearms, and for other purposes. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second 

6 Amendment Act of 2018’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—COMBATING GUN CRIME, NICS REAUTHORIZATION, AND 

NICS IMPROVEMENT 

Sec. 101. Reauthorization and improvements to NICS. 

Sec. 102. Availability of records to NICS. 

Sec. 103. Definitions relating to mental health. 

Sec. 104. Conditions for treatment of certain persons as adjudicated mentally 

incompetent for certain purposes. 

Sec. 105. Clarification that Federal court information is to be made available 

to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. 

Sec. 106. Reports and certifications to Congress. 

Sec. 107. Increasing Federal prosecution of gun violence. 

Sec. 108. Prosecution of felons and fugitives who attempt to illegally purchase 

firearms. 

Sec. 109. Limitation on operations by the Department of Justice. 

Sec. 110. Straw purchasing of firearms. 

Sec. 111. Increased penalties for lying and buying. 

Sec. 112. Amendments to section 924(a). 

Sec. 113. Amendments to section 924(h). 

Sec. 114. Amendments to section 924(k). 

Sec. 115. Multiple sales reports for rifles and shotguns. 

Sec. 116. Study by the National Institutes of Justice and National Academy of 

Sciences on the causes of mass shootings. 

Sec. 117. Reports to Congress regarding ammunition purchases by Federal 

agencies. 

Sec. 118. Reduction of Byrne JAG funds for State failure to provide mental 

health records to NICS. 

Sec. 119. Firearm commerce modernization. 

Sec. 120. Firearm dealer access to law enforcement information. 

Sec. 121. Interstate transportation of firearms or ammunition. 

TITLE II—SCHOOL SAFETY 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Sec. 202. Grant program for school security. 

Sec. 203. Applications. 

Sec. 204. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 205. Accountability. 

Sec. 206. Preventing duplicative grants. 

3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 

2 the term in section 551 of title 5, United States 

3 Code; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘NICS’’ means the National In5 stant Criminal Background Check System; and 

6 (3) the term ‘‘relevant Federal records’’ means 

7 any record demonstrating that a person is prohibited 

8 from possessing or receiving a firearm under sub9 section (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United 

10 States Code. 

11 TITLE I—COMBATING GUN 

12 CRIME, NICS REAUTHORIZA13 TION, AND NICS IMPROVE14 MENT 

15 SEC. 101. REAUTHORIZATION AND IMPROVEMENTS TO 

16 NICS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103 of the NICS Im18 provement Amendments Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40913) 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

21 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 

22 (2) by amending subsection (f), as so redesig23 nated, to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 


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1 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022.’’; 

2 and 

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(e) ACCOUNTABILITY.—All grants awarded by the 

6 Attorney General under this section shall be subject to the 

7 following accountability provisions: 

8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

9 ‘unresolved audit finding’ means a finding in the 

10 final audit report of the Inspector General of the 

11 Department of Justice that the audited grantee has 

12 utilized grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure 

13 or otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or 

14 resolved within 12 months from the date when the 

15 final audit report is issued. 

16 ‘‘(2) AUDITS.—Beginning in the first fiscal 

17 year beginning after the date of enactment of this 

18 subsection, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the In19 spector General of the Department of Justice shall 

20 conduct audits of recipients of grants under this sec21 tion to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by 

22 grantees. The Inspector General shall determine the 

23 appropriate number of grantees to be audited each 

24 year. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

2 section, the Attorney General shall give priority to 

3 eligible applicants that did not have an unresolved 

4 audit finding during the 3 fiscal years before sub5 mitting an application for a grant under this sec6 tion.’’. 

7 (b) MODIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE8 MENTS.—The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 

9 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40902 et seq.) is amended— 

10 (1) in section 102(b)(1) (34 

11 U.S.C.40912(b)(1))— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub13 paragraph (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

14 (B)’’; 

15 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

16 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

17 subparagraph (B); 

18 (2) in section 103(a)(1) (34 U.S.C. 

19 40913(a)(1)), by striking ‘‘and subject to section 

20 102(b)(1)(B)’’; and 

21 (3) in section 104(d) (34 U.S.C. 40914(d)), by 

22 striking ‘‘section 102(b)(1)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec23 tion 102(b)(1)(B)’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS TO NICS. 

2 (a) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 45 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 

4 issue guidance regarding— 

5 (1) the identification and sharing of relevant 

6 Federal records; and 

7 (2) submission of the relevant Federal records 

8 to NICS. 

9 (b) PRIORITIZATION OF RECORDS.—Each agency 

10 that possesses relevant Federal records shall prioritize 

11 providing the relevant information contained in the rel12 evant Federal records to NICS on a regular and ongoing 

13 basis in accordance with the guidance issued by the Attor14 ney General under subsection (a). 

15 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after the At16 torney General issues guidance under subsection (a), the 

17 head of each agency shall submit a report to the Attorney 

18 General that— 

19 (1) advises whether the agency possesses rel20 evant Federal records; and 

21 (2) describes the implementation plan of the 

22 agency for making the relevant information con23 tained in relevant Federal records available to NICS 

24 in a manner consistent with applicable law. 

25 (d) DETERMINATION OF RELEVANCE.—The Attorney 

26 General shall resolve any dispute regarding whether— 


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1 (1) agency records are relevant Federal records; 

2 and 

3 (2) the relevant Federal records of an agency 

4 should be made available to NICS. 

5 SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH. 

6 (a) TITLE 18 DEFINITIONS.—Chapter 44 of title 18, 

7 United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in section 921(a), by adding at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(36)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the term ‘has 

11 been adjudicated mentally incompetent or has been com12 mitted to a psychiatric hospital’, with respect to a per13 son— 

14 ‘‘(i) means the person is the subject of an order 

15 or finding by a judicial officer, court, board, commis16 sion, or other adjudicative body— 

17 ‘‘(I) that was issued after— 

18 ‘‘(aa) a hearing— 

19 ‘‘(AA) of which the person re20 ceived actual notice; and 

21 ‘‘(BB) at which the person had 

22 an opportunity to participate with 

23 counsel; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the person knowingly and intel2 ligently waived the opportunity for a hear3 ing— 

4 ‘‘(AA) of which the person re5 ceived actual notice; and 

6 ‘‘(BB) at which the person would 

7 have had an opportunity to participate 

8 with counsel; and 

9 ‘‘(II) that found that the person, as a re10 sult of marked subnormal intelligence, mental 

11 impairment, or mental illness— 

12 ‘‘(aa) was a danger to himself or to 

13 others; 

14 ‘‘(bb) was guilty but mentally ill in a 

15 criminal case; 

16 ‘‘(cc) was not guilty in a criminal case 

17 by reason of insanity or mental disease or 

18 defect; 

19 ‘‘(dd) was incompetent to stand trial 

20 in a criminal case; 

21 ‘‘(ee) was not guilty only by reason of 

22 lack of mental responsibility under section 

23 850a of title 10 (article 50a of the Uni24 form Code of Military Justice); 


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1 ‘‘(ff) required involuntary inpatient 

2 treatment by a psychiatric hospital; 

3 ‘‘(gg) required involuntary outpatient 

4 treatment by a psychiatric hospital based 

5 on a finding that the person is a danger to 

6 himself or to others; or 

7 ‘‘(hh) required involuntary commit8 ment to a psychiatric hospital for any rea9 son, including drug use; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) does not include— 

11 ‘‘(I) a person who is in a psychiatric hos12 pital for observation; or 

13 ‘‘(II) a voluntary admission to a psy14 chiatric hospital. 

15 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘order or finding’ 

16 does not include— 

17 ‘‘(i) an order or finding that has expired or has 

18 been set aside or expunged; 

19 ‘‘(ii) an order or finding that is no longer appli20 cable because a judicial officer, court, board, com21 mission, or other adjudicative body has found that 

22 the person who is the subject of the order or find23 ing— 

24 ‘‘(I) does not present a danger to himself 

25 or to others; 


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1 ‘‘(II) has been restored to sanity or cured 

2 of mental disease or defect; 

3 ‘‘(III) has been restored to competency; or 

4 ‘‘(IV) no longer requires involuntary inpa5 tient or outpatient treatment by, or involuntary 

6 commitment to, a psychiatric hospital; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) an order or finding with respect to which 

8 the person who is subject to the order or finding has 

9 been granted relief from disabilities under section 

10 925(c) or under a program described in section 

11 101(c)(2)(A) or 105 of the NICS Improvement 

12 Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note). 

13 ‘‘(37) The term ‘psychiatric hospital’ includes a men14 tal health facility, a mental hospital, a sanitarium, a psy15 chiatric facility, and any other facility that provides diag16 noses by licensed professionals of mental retardation or 

17 mental illness, including a psychiatric ward in a general 

18 hospital.’’; and 

19 (2) in section 922— 

20 (A) in subsection (d)(4)— 

21 (i) by striking ‘‘as a mental defective’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘mentally incompetent’’; and 

23 (ii) by striking ‘‘any mental institu24 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘a psychiatric hos25 pital’’; and 


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1 (B) in subsection (g)(4)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘as a mental defective 

3 or who has’’ and inserting ‘‘mentally in4 competent or has’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘mental institution’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘psychiatric hospital’’. 

7 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

8 The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (34 

9 U.S.C. 40902 et seq.) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘as a mental defective’’ each 

11 place that term appears and inserting ‘‘mentally in12 competent’’; 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘mental institution’’ each place 

14 that term appears and inserting ‘‘psychiatric hos15 pital’’; and 

16 (3) in section 102(c)(3) (34 U.S.C. 

17 40912(c)(3))— 

18 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

19 ‘‘AS A MENTAL DEFECTIVE OR COMMITTED TO

20 A MENTAL INSTITUTION’’ and inserting ‘‘MEN21 TALLY INCOMPETENT OR COMMITTED TO A PSY22 CHIATRIC HOSPITAL’’; and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘mental institutions’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘psychiatric hospitals’’. 


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1 SEC. 104. CONDITIONS FOR TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PER2 SONS AS ADJUDICATED MENTALLY INCOM3 PETENT FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 5511. Conditions for treatment of certain persons 

8 as adjudicated mentally incompetent for 

9 certain purposes 

10 ‘‘In any case arising out of the administration by the 

11 Secretary of laws and benefits under this title, a person 

12 who is mentally incapacitated, deemed mentally incom13 petent, or experiencing an extended loss of consciousness 

14 shall not be considered adjudicated as a mental defective 

15 under subsection (d)(4) or (g)(4) of section 922 of title 

16 18 without the order or finding of a judge, magistrate, 

17 or other judicial authority of competent jurisdiction that 

18 such person is a danger to himself or herself or others.’’. 

19 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

20 The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 55 of 

21 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following: 

‘‘5511. Conditions for treatment of certain persons as adjudicated mentally incompetent for certain purposes.’’. 


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1 SEC. 105. CLARIFICATION THAT FEDERAL COURT INFOR2 MATION IS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE 

3 NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

4 CHECK SYSTEM. 

5 Section 103(e)(1) of the Brady Handgun Violence 

6 Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901(e)(1)) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(F) APPLICATION TO FEDERAL

9 COURTS.—In this paragraph— 

10 ‘‘(i) the terms ‘department or agency 

11 of the United States’ and ‘Federal depart12 ment or agency’ include a Federal court; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of any request, sub15 mission, or notification, the Director of the 

16 Administrative Office of the United States 

17 Courts shall perform the functions of the 

18 head of the department or agency.’’. 

19 SEC. 106. REPORTS AND CERTIFICATIONS TO CONGRESS. 

20 (a) NICS REPORTS.—Not later than October 1, 

21 2018, and every year thereafter, the head of each agency 

22 that possesses relevant Federal records shall submit a re23 port to Congress that includes— 

24 (1) a description of the relevant Federal records 

25 possessed by the agency that can be shared with 

26 NICS in a manner consistent with applicable law; 


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1 (2) the number of relevant Federal records the 

2 agency submitted to NICS during the reporting pe3 riod; 

4 (3) efforts made to increase the percentage of 

5 relevant Federal records possessed by the agency 

6 that are submitted to NICS; 

7 (4) any obstacles to increasing the percentage 

8 of relevant Federal records possessed by the agency 

9 that are submitted to NICS; 

10 (5) measures put in place to provide notice and 

11 programs for relief from disabilities as required 

12 under the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 

13 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40902 et seq.) if the agency makes 

14 qualifying adjudications relating to the mental 

15 health of an individual; 

16 (6) measures put in place to correct, modify, or 

17 remove records available to NICS when the basis on 

18 which the records were made available no longer ap19 plies; and 

20 (7) additional steps that will be taken during 

21 the 1-year period after the submission of the report 

22 to improve the processes by which relevant Federal 

23 records are— 

24 (A) identified; 

25 (B) made available to NICS; and 


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1 (C) corrected, modified, or removed from 

2 NICS. 

3 (b) CERTIFICATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The annual report require5 ment in subsection (a) shall not apply to an agency 

6 that, as part of a report required to be submitted 

7 under subsection (a), provides certification that the 

8 agency has— 

9 (A) made available to NICS relevant Fed10 eral records that can be shared in a manner 

11 consistent with applicable law; 

12 (B) a plan to make any relevant Federal 

13 records available to NICS and a description of 

14 that plan; and 

15 (C) a plan to update, modify, or remove 

16 records electronically from NICS not less than 

17 quarterly as required by the NICS Improve18 ment Amendments Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 

19 40902 et seq.) and a description of that plan. 

20 (2) FREQUENCY.—Each agency that is not re21 quired to submit annual reports under paragraph 

22 (1) shall submit an annual certification to Congress 

23 attesting that the agency continues to submit rel24 evant Federal records to NICS and has corrected, 

25 modified, or removed records available to NICS 


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1 when the basis on which the records were made 

2 available no longer applies. 

3 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON FIREARMS PROSECU4 TIONS.— 

5 (1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Beginning Feb6 ruary 1, 2019, and on February 1 of each year 

7 thereafter through 2028, the Attorney General shall 

8 submit to the Committees on the Judiciary and 

9 Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the 

10 House of Representatives a report of information 

11 gathered under this subsection during the fiscal year 

12 that ended on September 30 of the preceding year. 

13 (2) SUBJECT OF ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later 

14 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this 

15 Act, the Attorney General shall require each compo16 nent of the Department of Justice, including each 

17 United States Attorney’s Office, to furnish for the 

18 purposes of the report described in paragraph (1), 

19 information relating to any case presented to the 

20 Department of Justice for review or prosecution, in 

21 which the objective facts of the case provide probable 

22 cause to believe that there has been a violation of 

23 sections 922 and 924, United States Code, and sec24 tion 5861 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 


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1 (3) ELEMENTS OF ANNUAL REPORT.—With re2 spect to each case described in paragraph (2), the 

3 report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include 

4 information indicating— 

5 (A) whether in any such case, a decision 

6 has been made not to charge an individual with 

7 a violation of sections 922 and 924, United 

8 States Code, and section 5861 of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986, or any other violation of 

10 Federal criminal law; 

11 (B) in any case described in subparagraph 

12 (A), a description of why no charge was filed 

13 under sections 922 and 924, United States 

14 Code, and section 5861 of the Internal Revenue 

15 Code of 1986; 

16 (C) whether in any case described in para17 graph (2), an indictment, information, or other 

18 charge has been brought against any person, or 

19 the matter is pending; 

20 (D) whether, in the case of an indictment, 

21 information, or other charge described in sub22 paragraph (C), the charging document contains 

23 a count or counts alleging a violation of sections 

24 922 and 924, United States Code, and section 

25 5861 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 


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1 (E) in any case described in subparagraph 

2 (D) in which the charging document contains a 

3 count or counts alleging a violation of sections 

4 922 and 924, United States Code, and section 

5 5861 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

6 whether a plea agreement of any kind has been 

7 entered into with such charged individual; 

8 (F) whether any plea agreement described 

9 in subparagraph (E) required that the indi10 vidual plead guilty, to enter a plea of nolo 

11 contendere, or otherwise caused a court to enter 

12 a conviction against that individual for a viola13 tion of sections 922 and 924, United States 

14 Code, and section 5861 of the Internal Revenue 

15 Code of 1986; 

16 (G) in any case described in subparagraph 

17 (F) in which the plea agreement did not require 

18 that the individual plead guilty, enter a plea of 

19 nolo contendere, or otherwise cause a court to 

20 enter a conviction against that individual for a 

21 violation of sections 922 and 924, United 

22 States Code, and section 5861 of the Internal 

23 Revenue Code of 1986, identification of the 

24 charges to which that individual did plead 

25 guilty; 


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1 (H) in the case of an indictment, informa2 tion, or other charge described in subparagraph 

3 (C), in which the charging document contains a 

4 count or counts alleging a violation of sections 

5 922 and 924, United States Code, and section 

6 5861 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the 

7 result of any trial of such charges (guilty, not 

8 guilty, mistrial); 

9 (I) in the case of an indictment, informa10 tion, or other charge described in subparagraph 

11 (C), in which the charging document did not 

12 contain a count or counts alleging a violation of 

13 sections 922 and 924, United States Code, and 

14 section 5861 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

15 1986, the nature of the other charges brought 

16 and the result of any trial of such other charges 

17 as have been brought (guilty, not guilty, mis18 trial); 

19 (J) the number of persons who attempted 

20 to purchase a firearm but were denied because 

21 of a background check conducted in accordance 

22 with section 922(t) of title 18, United States 

23 Code; and 


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1 (K) the number of prosecutions conducted 

2 in relation to persons described in subpara3 graph (J). 

4 SEC. 107. INCREASING FEDERAL PROSECUTION OF GUN VI5 OLENCE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 

8 establish in jurisdictions specified in subsection (c) a pro9 gram that meets the requirements of subsection (b), to 

10 be known as the ‘‘Nationwide Project Exile Expansion’’. 

11 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—Each program estab12 lished under subsection (a) shall, for the jurisdiction con13 cerned— 

14 (1) provide for coordination with State and 

15 local law enforcement officials in the identification of 

16 violations of Federal firearms laws; 

17 (2) provide for the establishment of agreements 

18 with State and local law enforcement officials for the 

19 referral to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire20 arms, and Explosives and the United States Attor21 ney for prosecution of persons arrested for violations 

22 of section 922 or section 924 of title 18, United 

23 States Code, or section 5861 of the Internal Rev24 enue Code of 1986, relating to firearms; 


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1 (3) provide for the establishment of multi-juris2 dictional task forces, coordinated by the Executive 

3 Office of the United States attorneys to investigate 

4 and prosecute illegal straw purchasing rings that 

5 purchase firearms in one jurisdiction and transfer 

6 them to another; 

7 (4) require that the United States attorney des8 ignate not less than 1 assistant United States attor9 ney to prosecute violations of Federal firearms laws; 

10 (5) provide for the hiring of agents for the Bu11 reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives 

12 to investigate violations of the provisions referred to 

13 in paragraph (2), United States Code, relating to 

14 firearms; and 

15 (6) ensure that each person referred to the 

16 United States attorney under paragraph (2) be 

17 charged with a violation of the most serious Federal 

18 firearm offense consistent with the act committed. 

19 (c) COVERED JURISDICTIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

21 the jurisdictions specified in this subsection are— 

22 (A) the 10 jurisdictions with a population 

23 equal to or greater than 100,000 persons that 

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1 eral Bureau of Investigation for the most recent 

2 year available; 

3 (B) the 5 jurisdictions with such a popu4 lation, other than the jurisdictions covered by 

5 paragraph (1), with the highest per capita rate 

6 of homicide according to the uniform crime re7 port of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 

8 the most recent year available; and 

9 (C) the 3 tribal jurisdictions that have the 

10 highest homicide crime rates, as determined by 

11 the Attorney General. 

12 (2) LIMITATION.—The 15 jurisdictions de13 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall not in14 clude any jurisdiction other than those within the 50 

15 States. 

16 (d) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, an annually thereafter, 

18 the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on 

19 the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Ju20 diciary of the House of Representatives a report con21 taining the following information: 

22 (1) The number of individuals indicted for such 

23 violations of Federal firearms laws during that year 

24 by reason of the program. 


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1 (2) The increase or decrease in the number of 

2 individuals indicted for such violations of Federal 

3 firearms laws during that year by reason of the pro4 gram when compared with the year preceding that 

5 year. 

6 (3) The number of individuals held without 

7 bond in anticipation of prosecution by reason of the 

8 program. 

9 (4) To the extent the information is available, 

10 the average length of prison sentence of the individ11 uals convicted of violations of Federal firearms laws 

12 by reason of the program. 

13 (5) The number of multi-jurisdiction task forces 

14 established and the number of individuals arrested, 

15 indicted, convicted or acquitted of charges for viola16 tions of the specific crimes listed in subsection 

17 (b)(2). 

18 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

20 appropriated to carry out the program under this 

21 section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019, 

22 2020, and 2021, which shall be used for salaries and 

23 expenses of assistant United States attorneys and 

24 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explo25 sives agents. 


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1 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

2 (A) ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTOR3 NEYS.—The assistant United States attorneys 

4 hired using amounts authorized to be appro5 priated under paragraph (1) shall prosecute vio6 lations of Federal firearms laws in accordance 

7 with subsection (b)(2). 

8 (B) ATF AGENTS.—The Bureau of Alco9 hol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives agents 

10 hired using amounts authorized to be appro11 priated under paragraph (1) shall, to the max12 imum extent practicable, concentrate their in13 vestigations on violations of Federal firearms 

14 laws in accordance with subsection (b)(2). 

15 SEC. 108. PROSECUTION OF FELONS AND FUGITIVES WHO 

16 ATTEMPT TO ILLEGALLY PURCHASE FIRE17 ARMS. 

18 (a) TASKFORCE.— 

19 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 

20 task force within the Department of Justice, which 

21 shall be known as the Felon and Fugitive Firearm 

22 Task Force (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Task 

23 Force’’), to strengthen the efforts of the Department 

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1 victed felons and fugitives from justice who illegally 

2 attempt to purchase a firearm. 

3 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the Task 

4 Force shall be— 

5 (A) the Deputy Attorney General, who 

6 shall serve as the Chairperson of the Task 

7 Force; 

8 (B) the Assistant Attorney General for the 

9 Criminal Division; 

10 (C) the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, 

11 Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; 

12 (D) the Director of the Federal Bureau of 

13 Investigation; and 

14 (E) such other officers or employees of the 

15 Department of Justice as the Attorney General 

16 may designate. 

17 (3) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall— 

18 (A) provide direction for the investigation 

19 and prosecution of cases of convicted felons and 

20 fugitives from justice attempting to illegally 

21 purchase a firearm; and 

22 (B) provide recommendations to the Attor23 ney General relating to— 

24 (i) the allocation and reallocation of 

25 resources of the Department of Justice for 


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1 investigation and prosecution of cases of 

2 convicted felons and fugitives from justice 

3 attempting to illegally purchase a firearm; 

4 (ii) enhancing cooperation among 

5 agencies and entities of the Federal Gov6 ernment in the investigation and prosecu7 tion of cases of convicted felons and fugi8 tives from justice attempting to illegally 

9 purchase a firearm; 

10 (iii) enhancing cooperation among 

11 Federal, State, and local authorities re12 sponsible for the investigation and prosecu13 tion of cases of convicted felons and fugi14 tives from justice attempting to illegally 

15 purchase a firearm; and 

16 (iv) changes in rules, regulations, or 

17 policy to improve the effective investigation 

18 and prosecution of cases of convicted felons 

19 and fugitives from justice attempting to il20 legally purchase a firearm. 

21 (4) MEETINGS.—The Task Force shall meet 

22 not less than once a year. 

23 (5) TERMINATION.—The Task Force shall ter24 minate on the date that is 5 years after the date of 

25 enactment of this Act. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF FUNDS.—Section 

2 524(c)(1) of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 

3 (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

4 the end; 

5 (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period 

6 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(J) the investigation and prosecution of cases 

10 of convicted felons and fugitives from justice who il11 legally attempt to purchase a firearm, in accordance 

12 with section 108 of the Protecting Communities and 

13 Preserving the Second Amendment Act of 2018, pro14 vided that— 

15 ‘‘(i) not more than $10,000,000 shall be 

16 available to the Attorney General for each of 

17 fiscal years 2019 through 2023 under this sub18 paragraph; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) not more than 5 percent of the 

20 amounts made available under this subpara21 graph may be used for the administrative costs 

22 of the task force established under section 108 

23 of the Protecting Communities and Preserving 

24 the Second Amendment Act of 2018.’’. 


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1 SEC. 109. LIMITATION ON OPERATIONS BY THE DEPART2 MENT OF JUSTICE. 

3 The Department of Justice, and any of its law en4 forcement coordinate agencies, shall not conduct any oper5 ation where a Federal firearms licensee is directed, in6 structed, enticed, or otherwise encouraged by the Depart7 ment of Justice to sell a firearm to an individual if the 

8 Department of Justice, or a coordinate agency, knows or 

9 has reasonable cause to believe that such an individual is 

10 purchasing on behalf of another for an illegal purpose un11 less the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, 

12 or the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Divi13 sion personally reviews and approves the operation, in 

14 writing, and determines that the agency has prepared an 

15 operational plan that includes sufficient safeguards to pre16 vent firearms from being transferred to third parties with17 out law enforcement taking reasonable steps to lawfully 

18 interdict those firearms. 

19 SEC. 110. STRAW PURCHASING OF FIREARMS. 

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

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘§ 932. Straw purchasing of firearms 

24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

25 ‘‘(1) the term ‘crime of violence’ has the mean26 ing given that term in section 924(c)(3); 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘drug trafficking crime’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 924(c)(2); and 

3 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Federal crime of terrorism’ has 

4 the meaning given that term in section 2332b(g). 

5 ‘‘(b) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any person 

6 to— 

7 ‘‘(1) purchase or otherwise obtain a firearm, 

8 which has been shipped, transported, or received in 

9 interstate or foreign commerce, for or on behalf of 

10 any other person who the person purchasing or oth11 erwise obtaining the firearm knows— 

12 ‘‘(A) is prohibited from possessing or re13 ceiving a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of 

14 section 922; 

15 ‘‘(B) intends to use, carry, possess, or sell 

16 or otherwise dispose of the firearm in further17 ance of a crime of violence, a drug trafficking 

18 crime, or a Federal crime of terrorism; 

19 ‘‘(C) intends to engage in conduct that 

20 would constitute a crime of violence, a drug 

21 trafficking crime, or a Federal crime of ter22 rorism if the conduct had occurred within the 

23 United States; or 


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1 ‘‘(D) is not a resident of any State and is 

2 not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of 

3 the United States; or 

4 ‘‘(2) willfully procure another to engage in con5 duct described in paragraph (1). 

6 ‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 

7 (b) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 

8 than 15 years, or both. 

9 ‘‘§ 933. Trafficking in firearms 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘crime of violence’ has the mean12 ing given that term in section 924(c)(3); 

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘drug trafficking crime’ has the 

14 meaning given that term in section 924(c)(2); and 

15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Federal crime of terrorism’ has 

16 the meaning given that term in section 2332b(g). 

17 ‘‘(b) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any person 

18 to— 

19 ‘‘(1) ship, transport, transfer, or otherwise dis20 pose of two or more firearms to another person in 

21 or otherwise affecting interstate or foreign com22 merce, if the transferor knows that the use, car23 rying, or possession of a firearm by the transferee 

24 would violate subsection (g) or (n) of section 922, or 


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1 constitute a crime of violence, a drug trafficking 

2 crime, or a Federal crime of terrorism; 

3 ‘‘(2) receive from another person two or more 

4 firearms in or otherwise affecting interstate or for5 eign commerce, if the recipient— 

6 ‘‘(A) knows that such receipt would violate 

7 subsection (g) or (n) of section 922; or 

8 ‘‘(B) intends to use the firearm in further9 ance of a crime of violence, a drug trafficking 

10 crime, or a Federal crime of terrorism; or 

11 ‘‘(3) attempt or conspire to commit the conduct 

12 described in paragraph (1) or (2). 

13 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who violates 

15 subsection (b) shall be fined under this title, impris16 oned not more than 15 years, or both. 

17 ‘‘(2) ORGANIZER.—If a violation of subsection 

18 (b) is committed by a person acting in concert with 

19 other persons as an organizer, leader, supervisor, or 

20 manager, the person shall be fined under this title, 

21 imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.’’. 

22 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

23 The table of sections for chapter 44 of title 18, United 

24 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat25 ing to section 931 the following: 


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‘‘932. Straw purchasing of firearms. 

‘‘933. Trafficking in firearms.’’. 

1 (c) DIRECTIVE TO THE SENTENCING COMMISSION.— 

2 Pursuant to its authority under section 994 of title 28, 

3 United States Code, and in accordance with this section, 

4 the United States Sentencing Commission shall review and 

5 amend its guidelines and policy statements to ensure that 

6 persons convicted of an offense under section 932 or 933 

7 of title 18, United States Code, and other offenses applica8 ble to the straw purchases and firearms trafficking of fire9 arms are subject to increased penalties in comparison to 

10 those currently provided by the guidelines and policy state11 ments for such straw purchasing and firearms trafficking 

12 offenses. In its review, the Commission shall consider, in 

13 particular, an appropriate amendment to reflect the intent 

14 of Congress that straw purchasers without significant 

15 criminal histories receive sentences that are sufficient to 

16 deter participation in such activities. The Commission 

17 shall also review and amend its guidelines and policy state18 ments to reflect the intent of Congress that a person con19 victed of an offense under section 932 or 933 of title 18, 

20 United States Code, who is affiliated with a gang, cartel, 

21 organized crime ring, or other such enterprise should be 

22 subject to higher penalties than an otherwise unaffiliated 

23 individual. 


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1 SEC. 111. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR LYING AND BUYING. 

2 Section 924(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is 

3 amended in the undesignated matter following subpara4 graph (D) by striking ‘‘five years’’ and inserting the fol5 lowing: ‘‘5 years (or, in the case of a violation under sub6 paragraph (A), not more than 10 years)’’. 

7 SEC. 112. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 924(a). 

8 Section 924(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘(d), (g),’’; 

11 and 

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

13 ‘‘(8) Whoever knowingly violates subsection (d), 

14 (g), or (n) of section 922 shall be fined under this 

15 title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both.’’. 

16 SEC. 113. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 924(h). 

17 Section 924 of title 18, United States Code, is 

18 amended by striking subsection (h) and inserting the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(h) Whoever knowingly receives or transfers a fire21 arm or ammunition, or attempts or conspires to do so, 

22 knowing that such firearm or ammunition will be used to 

23 commit a crime of violence (as defined in subsection 

24 (c)(3)), a drug trafficking crime (as defined in subsection 

25 (c)(2)), a Federal crime of terrorism (as defined in section 

26 2332b(g)), or a crime under the Arms Export Control Act 


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1 (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), the International Emergency 

2 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), or the 

3 Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 

4 1901 et seq.), shall be imprisoned not more than 15 years, 

5 fined in accordance with this title, or both.’’. 

6 SEC. 114. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 924(k). 

7 Section 924 of title 18, United States Code, is 

8 amended by striking subsection (k) and inserting the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(k)(1) A person who, with intent to engage in or 

11 promote conduct that— 

12 ‘‘(A) is punishable under the Controlled Sub13 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Controlled 

14 Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951 

15 et seq.), or chapter 705 of title 46; 

16 ‘‘(B) violates any law of a State relating to any 

17 controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of 

18 the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. 802); 

19 ‘‘(C) constitutes a crime of violence (as defined 

20 in subsection (c)(3)); or 

21 ‘‘(D) constitutes a Federal crime of terrorism 

22 (as defined in section 2332b(g)), 

23 smuggles or knowingly brings into the United States, a 

24 firearm or ammunition, or attempts or conspires to do so, 


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1 shall be imprisoned not more than 15 years, fined under 

2 this title, or both. 

3 ‘‘(2) A person who, with intent to engage in or to 

4 promote conduct that— 

5 ‘‘(A) would be punishable under the Controlled 

6 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Con7 trolled Substances Import and Export Act (21 

8 U.S.C. 951 et seq.), or chapter 705 of title 46, if the 

9 conduct had occurred within the United States; or 

10 ‘‘(B) would constitute a crime of violence (as 

11 defined in subsection (c)(3)) or a Federal crime of 

12 terrorism (as defined in section 2332b(g)) for which 

13 the person may be prosecuted in a court of the 

14 United States, if the conduct had occurred within 

15 the United States, 

16 smuggles or knowingly takes out of the United States, a 

17 firearm or ammunition, or attempts or conspires to do so, 

18 shall be imprisoned not more than 15 years, fined under 

19 this title, or both.’’. 

20 SEC. 115. MULTIPLE SALES REPORTS FOR RIFLES AND 

21 SHOTGUNS. 

22 Section 923(g)(5) of title 18, United States Code, is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(C) The Attorney General may not require a licensee 

25 to submit ongoing or periodic reporting of the sale or other 


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1 disposition of two or more rifles or shotguns during a spec2 ified period of time.’’. 

3 SEC. 116. STUDY BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF JUS4 TICE AND NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 

5 ON THE CAUSES OF MASS SHOOTINGS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

7 (1) STUDY.—Not later than 90 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

9 shall instruct the Director of the National Institutes 

10 of Justice, to conduct a peer-reviewed study to ex11 amine various sources and causes of mass shootings 

12 including psychological factors, the impact of violent 

13 video games, and other factors. The Director shall 

14 enter into a contract with the National Academy of 

15 Sciences to conduct this study jointly with an inde16 pendent panel of 5 experts appointed by the Acad17 emy. 

18 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

19 date on which the study required under paragraph 

20 (1) begins, the Directors shall submit to Congress a 

21 report detailing the findings of the study. 

22 (b) ISSUES EXAMINED.—The study conducted under 

23 subsection (a)(1) shall examine— 

24 (1) mental illness; 


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1 (2) the availability of mental health and other 

2 resources and strategies to help families detect and 

3 counter tendencies toward violence; 

4 (3) the availability of mental health and other 

5 resources at schools to help detect and counter ten6 dencies of students towards violence; 

7 (4) the extent to which perpetrators of mass 

8 shootings, either alleged, convicted, deceased, or oth9 erwise, played violent or adult-themed video games 

10 and whether the perpetrators of mass shootings dis11 cussed, planned, or used violent or adult-themed 

12 video games in preparation of or to assist in car13 rying out their violent actions; 

14 (5) familial relationships, including the level of 

15 involvement and awareness of parents; 

16 (6) exposure to bullying; and 

17 (7) the extent to which perpetrators of mass 

18 shootings were acting in a ‘‘copycat’’ manner based 

19 upon previous violent events. 

20 SEC. 117. REPORTS TO CONGRESS REGARDING AMMUNI21 TION PURCHASES BY FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

22 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 

24 Budget, shall report to the Speaker of the House of Rep25 resentatives, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, 


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1 and the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House 

2 and Senate Committee on Appropriations and the Com3 mittee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Home4 land Security, the Senate Committee on Homeland Secu5 rity and Government Affairs, and the House Committee 

6 on Government Reform and Oversight, a report includ7 ing— 

8 (1) details of all purchases of ammunition by 

9 each Federal agency; 

10 (2) a summary of all purchases, solicitations, 

11 and expenditures on ammunition by each Federal 

12 agency; 

13 (3) a summary of all the rounds of ammunition 

14 expended by each Federal agency and a current list15 ing of stockpiled ammunition for each Federal agen16 cy; and 

17 (4) an estimate of future ammunition needs 

18 and purchases for each Federal agency for the next 

19 fiscal year. 

20 SEC. 118. REDUCTION OF BYRNE JAG FUNDS FOR STATE 

21 FAILURE TO PROVIDE MENTAL HEALTH 

22 RECORDS TO NICS. 

23 Section 104(b) of the NICS Improvement Amend24 ments Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40914(b)) is amended— 

25 (1) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2); 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para2 graph (2); 

3 (3) in paragraph (2), as redesignated, by strik4 ing ‘‘of paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘of paragraph 

5 (1)’’; and 

6 (4) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redes7 ignated, the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) REDUCTION FOR FAILURE TO PROVIDE

9 MENTAL HEALTH RECORDS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the period be11 ginning on the date that is 18 months after the 

12 date of enactment of the Protecting Commu13 nities and Preserving the Second Amendment 

14 Act of 2018 and ending on the day before the 

15 date described in subparagraph (B), the Attor16 ney General shall withhold 5 percent of the 

17 amount that would otherwise be allocated to a 

18 State under section 505 of title I of the Omni19 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

20 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10156) if the State does not— 

21 ‘‘(i) provide not less than 90 percent 

22 of the records required to be provided 

23 under sections 102 and 103; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) have in effect a statute that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) requires the State to provide 

2 the records required to be provided 

3 under sections 102 and 103; and 

4 ‘‘(II) implements a relief from 

5 disabilities program in accordance 

6 with section 105. 

7 ‘‘(B) FINAL IMPLEMENTATION DEAD8 LINE.—Beginning on the date that is 5 years 

9 after the date of enactment of the Protecting 

10 Communities and Preserving the Second 

11 Amendment Act of 2018, the Attorney General 

12 shall withhold 10 percent of the amount that 

13 would otherwise be allocated to a State under 

14 section 505 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

15 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

16 U.S.C. 10156) if the State does not have in ef17 fect a statute described in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

18 of this paragraph.’’. 

19 SEC. 119. FIREARM COMMERCE MODERNIZATION. 

20 (a) FIREARMS DISPOSITIONS.—Section 922(b)(3) of 

21 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

23 by striking ‘‘located’’ and inserting ‘‘located or tem24 porarily located’’; and 

25 (2) in subparagraph (A)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘rifle or shotgun’’ and in2 serting ‘‘firearm’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘located’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘located or temporarily located’’; and 

5 (C) by striking ‘‘both such States’’ and in6 serting ‘‘the State in which the transfer is con7 ducted and the State of residence of the trans8 feree’’. 

9 (b) DEALER LOCATION.—Section 923 of title 18, 

10 United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (j)— 

12 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘, and 

13 such location is in the State which is specified 

14 on the license’’; and 

15 (B) in the last sentence— 

16 (i) by inserting ‘‘transfer,’’ after 

17 ‘‘sell,’’; and 

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘Act,’’ and all that fol19 lows and inserting ‘‘Act.’’; and 

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

21 ‘‘(m) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 

22 prohibit the sale, transfer, delivery, or other disposition 

23 of a firearm or ammunition— 


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1 ‘‘(1) by a person licensed under this chapter to 

2 another person so licensed, at any location in any 

3 State; or 

4 ‘‘(2) by a licensed importer, licensed manufac5 turer, or licensed dealer to a person not licensed 

6 under this chapter, at a temporary location de7 scribed in subsection (j) in any State.’’. 

8 (c) RESIDENCE OF UNITED STATES OFFICERS.— 

9 Section 921 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

10 by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(b) For purposes of this chapter: 

12 ‘‘(1) A member of the Armed Forces on active 

13 duty, or a spouse of such a member, is a resident 

14 of— 

15 ‘‘(A) the State in which the member or 

16 spouse maintains legal residence; 

17 ‘‘(B) the State in which the permanent 

18 duty station of the member is located; and 

19 ‘‘(C) the State in which the member main20 tains a place of abode from which the member 

21 commutes each day to the permanent duty sta22 tion of the member. 

23 ‘‘(2) An officer or employee of the United 

24 States (other than a member of the Armed Forces) 

25 who is stationed outside the United States for a peVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Mar 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2502.IS S2502

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1 riod of more than 1 year, and a spouse of such an 

2 officer or employee, is a resident of the State in 

3 which the person maintains legal residence.’’. 

4 SEC. 120. FIREARM DEALER ACCESS TO LAW ENFORCE5 MENT INFORMATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(b) of the Brady 

7 Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901), is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘Not later than’’ and inserting 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(2) VOLUNTARY BACKGROUND CHECKS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

15 days after the date of enactment of the Pro16 tecting Communities and Preserving the Second 

17 Amendment Act of 2018, the Attorney General 

18 shall promulgate regulations allowing licensees 

19 to use the national instant criminal background 

20 check system established under this section for 

21 purposes of conducting voluntary, no fee em22 ployment background checks on current or pro23 spective employees. 

24 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—Before conducting an em25 ployment background check relating to an indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Mar 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2502.IS S2502

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1 vidual under subparagraph (A), a licensee 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) provide written notice to the indi4 vidual that the licensee intends to conduct 

5 the background check; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) obtain consent to conduct the 

7 background check from the individual in 

8 writing. 

9 ‘‘(C) EXEMPTION.—An employment back10 ground check conducted by a licensee under 

11 subparagraph (A) shall not governed by the 

12 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et 

13 seq.). 

14 ‘‘(D) APPEAL.—Any individual who is the 

15 subject of an employment background check 

16 conducted by a licensee under subparagraph 

17 (A) the result of which indicates that the indi18 vidual is a prohibited from possessing a firearm 

19 or ammunition pursuant to subsection (g) or 

20 (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States 

21 Code, may appeal the results of the background 

22 check in the same manner and to the same ex23 tent as if the individual had been the subject of 

24 a background check relating to the transfer of 

25 a firearm.’’. 


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1 (b) ACQUISITION, PRESERVATION, AND EXCHANGE

2 OF IDENTIFICATION RECORDS AND INFORMATION.—Sec3 tion 534 of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end; 

7 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(5) provide a person licensed as an importer, 

12 manufacturer, or dealer of firearms under chapter 

13 44 of title 18 with information necessary to verify 

14 whether firearms offered for sale to such licensees 

15 have been stolen.’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘, except for 

17 dissemination authorized under subsection (a)(5) of 

18 this section’’ before the period. 

19 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, and without regard to chap21 ter 5 of title 5, United States Code, the Attorney General 

22 shall promulgate regulations allowing a person licensed as 

23 an importer, manufacturer, or dealer of firearms under 

24 chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to receive ac25 cess to records of stolen firearms maintained by the NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Mar 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2502.IS S2502

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1 tional Crime Information Center operated by the Federal 

2 Bureau of Investigation, solely for the purpose of volun3 tarily verifying whether firearms offered for sale to such 

4 licensees have been stolen. 

5 (d) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION; EVIDENCE.— 

6 (1) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

7 this section or the amendments made by this section 

8 shall be construed— 

9 (A) to create a cause of action against any 

10 person licensed as an importer, manufacturer, 

11 or dealer of firearms under chapter 44 of title 

12 18, United States Code or any other person for 

13 any civil liability; or 

14 (B) to establish any standard of care. 

15 (2) EVIDENCE.—Notwithstanding any other 

16 provision of law, evidence regarding the use or non17 use by a person licensed as an importer, manufac18 turer, or dealer of firearms under chapter 44 of title 

19 18, United States Code of the systems, information, 

20 or records made available under this section or the 

21 amendments made by this section shall not be ad22 missible as evidence in any proceeding of any court, 

23 agency, board, or other entity. 


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1 SEC. 121. INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF FIREARMS OR 

2 AMMUNITION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 926A of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘§ 926A. Interstate transportation of firearms or am6 munition 

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘trans8 port’ includes staying in temporary lodging overnight, 

9 stopping for food, fuel, vehicle maintenance, an emer10 gency, medical treatment, and any other activity incidental 

11 to the transport. 

12 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding any provi13 sion of any law (including a rule or regulation) of a State 

14 or any political subdivision thereof, a person who is not 

15 prohibited by this chapter from possessing, transporting, 

16 shipping, or receiving a firearm or ammunition shall be 

17 entitled to— 

18 ‘‘(1) transport a firearm for any lawful purpose 

19 from any place where the person may lawfully pos20 sess, carry, or transport the firearm to any other 

21 such place if, during the transportation— 

22 ‘‘(A) the firearm is unloaded; and 

23 ‘‘(B)(i) if the transportation is by motor 

24 vehicle— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the firearm is not directly acces2 sible from the passenger compartment of 

3 the motor vehicle; or 

4 ‘‘(II) if the motor vehicle is without a 

5 compartment separate from the passenger 

6 compartment, the firearm is— 

7 ‘‘(aa) in a locked container other 

8 than the glove compartment or con9 sole; or 

10 ‘‘(bb) secured by a secure gun 

11 storage or safety device; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) if the transportation is by other 

13 means, the firearm is in a locked container or 

14 secured by a secure gun storage or safety de15 vice; and 

16 ‘‘(2) transport ammunition for any lawful pur17 pose from any place where the person may lawfully 

18 possess, carry, or transport the ammunition, to any 

19 other such place if, during the transportation— 

20 ‘‘(A) the ammunition is not loaded into a 

21 firearm; and 

22 ‘‘(B)(i) if the transportation is by motor 

23 vehicle— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the ammunition is not directly 

2 accessible from the passenger compartment 

3 of the motor vehicle; or 

4 ‘‘(II) if the motor vehicle is without a 

5 compartment separate from the passenger 

6 compartment, the ammunition is in a 

7 locked container other than the glove com8 partment or console; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) if the transportation is by other 

10 means, the ammunition is in a locked container. 

11 ‘‘(c) STATE LAW.— 

12 ‘‘(1) ARREST AUTHORITY.—A person who is 

13 transporting a firearm or ammunition may not be— 

14 ‘‘(A) arrested for violation of any law or 

15 any rule or regulation of a State, or any polit16 ical subdivision thereof, relating to the posses17 sion, transportation, or carrying of firearms or 

18 ammunition, unless there is probable cause to 

19 believe that the transportation is not in accord20 ance with subsection (b); or 

21 ‘‘(B) detained for violation of any law or 

22 any rule or regulation of a State, or any polit23 ical subdivision thereof, relating to the posses24 sion, transportation, or carrying of firearms or 

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1 picion that the transportation is not in accord2 ance with subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(2) PROSECUTION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) BURDEN OF PROOF.—If a person as5 serts this section as a defense in a criminal pro6 ceeding, the government shall bear the burden 

7 of proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the 

8 conduct of the person was not in accordance 

9 with subsection (b). 

10 ‘‘(B) PREVAILING DEFENDANT.—If a per11 son successfully asserts this section as a defense 

12 in a criminal proceeding, the court shall award 

13 the prevailing defendant reasonable attorney’s 

14 fees.’’. 

15 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

16 The table of sections for chapter 44 of title 18, United 

17 States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to 

18 section 926A and inserting the following: 

‘‘926A. Interstate transportation of firearms or ammunition.’’. 

19 TITLE II—SCHOOL SAFETY 

20 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

21 This title may be cited as the ‘‘School Safety En22 hancements Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 202. GRANT PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL SECURITY. 

2 Section 2701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

3 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10551) is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘Placement’’ and in8 serting ‘‘Installation’’; and 

9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘surveillance equip10 ment,’’ after ‘‘detectors,’’; 

11 (B) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 

12 paragraph (7); and 

13 (C) by inserting after paragraph (5) the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(6) Establishment of hotlines or tiplines for 

16 the reporting of potentially dangerous students and 

17 situations.’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘(g) INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days 

21 after the date of enactment of the School Safety En22 hancements Act of 2018, the Director and the Sec23 retary of Education, or the designee of the Sec24 retary, shall establish an interagency task force to 

25 develop and promulgate a set of advisory school 

26 safety guidelines. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION OF GUIDELINES.—Not later 

2 than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 

3 School Safety Enhancements Act of 2018, the advi4 sory school safety guidelines promulgated by the 

5 interagency task force shall be published in the Fed6 eral Register. 

7 ‘‘(3) REQUIRED CONSULTATION.—In developing 

8 the final advisory school safety guidelines under this 

9 subsection, the interagency task force shall consult 

10 with stakeholders and interested parties, including 

11 parents, teachers, and agencies.’’. 

12 SEC. 203. APPLICATIONS. 

13 Section 2702(a)(2) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

14 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

15 10552(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(2) be accompanied by a report— 

17 ‘‘(A) signed by the heads of each law en18 forcement agency and school district with juris19 diction over the schools where the safety im20 provements will be implemented; and 

21 ‘‘(B) demonstrating that each proposed use 

22 of the grant funds will be— 

23 ‘‘(i) an effective means for improving 

24 the safety of one or more schools; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) consistent with a comprehensive 

2 approach to preventing school violence; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) individualized to the needs of 

4 each school at which those improvements 

5 are to be made.’’. 

6 SEC. 204. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 Section 2705 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

8 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Public Law 90–351; 114 

9 Stat. 1502) is amended by striking ‘‘2001 through 2009’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘2019 through 2028’’. 

11 SEC. 205. ACCOUNTABILITY. 

12 Section 2701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

13 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10551), as 

14 amended by section 202 of this title, is amended by adding 

15 at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(h) ACCOUNTABILITY.—All grants awarded by the 

17 Attorney General under this part shall be subject to the 

18 following accountability provisions: 

19 ‘‘(1) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

21 term ‘unresolved audit finding’ means a finding 

22 in the final audit report of the Inspector Gen23 eral of the Department of Justice that the au24 dited grantee has utilized grant funds for an 

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1 able cost that is not closed or resolved within 

2 12 months from the date when the final audit 

3 report is issued. 

4 ‘‘(B) AUDITS.—Beginning in the first fis5 cal year beginning after the date of enactment 

6 of this subsection, and in each fiscal year there7 after, the Inspector General of the Department 

8 of Justice shall conduct audits of recipients of 

9 grants under this part to prevent waste, fraud, 

10 and abuse of funds by grantees. The Inspector 

11 General shall determine the appropriate number 

12 of grantees to be audited each year. 

13 ‘‘(C) MANDATORY EXCLUSION.—A recipi14 ent of grant funds under this part that is found 

15 to have an unresolved audit finding shall not be 

16 eligible to receive grant funds under this part 

17 during the first 2 fiscal years beginning after 

18 the end of the 12-month period described in 

19 subparagraph (A). 

20 ‘‘(D) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants 

21 under this part, the Attorney General shall give 

22 priority to eligible applicants that did not have 

23 an unresolved audit finding during the 3 fiscal 

24 years before submitting an application for a 

25 grant under this part. 


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1 ‘‘(E) REIMBURSEMENT.—If an entity is 

2 awarded grant funds under this part during the 

3 2-fiscal-year period during which the entity is 

4 barred from receiving grants under subpara5 graph (C), the Attorney General shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) deposit an amount equal to the 

7 amount of the grant funds that were im8 properly awarded to the grantee into the 

9 General Fund of the Treasury; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) seek to recoup the costs of the 

11 repayment to the fund from the grant re12 cipient that was erroneously awarded grant 

13 funds. 

14 ‘‘(2) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION REQUIRE15 MENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

17 paragraph and the grant programs under this 

18 part, the term ‘nonprofit organization’ means 

19 an organization that is described in section 

20 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

21 and is exempt from taxation under section 

22 501(a) of such Code. 

23 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—The Attorney Gen24 eral may not award a grant under this part to 

25 a nonprofit organization that holds money in 


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1 offshore accounts for the purpose of avoiding 

2 paying the tax described in section 511(a) of 

3 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

4 ‘‘(C) DISCLOSURE.—Each nonprofit orga5 nization that is awarded a grant under this part 

6 and uses the procedures prescribed in regula7 tions to create a rebuttable presumption of rea8 sonableness for the compensation of its officers, 

9 directors, trustees and key employees, shall dis10 close to the Attorney General, in the application 

11 for the grant, the process for determining such 

12 compensation, including the independent per13 sons involved in reviewing and approving such 

14 compensation, the comparability data used, and 

15 contemporaneous substantiation of the delibera16 tion and decision. Upon request, the Attorney 

17 General shall make the information disclosed 

18 under this subparagraph available for public in19 spection. 

20 ‘‘(3) CONFERENCE EXPENDITURES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) LIMITATION.—No amounts author22 ized to be appropriated to the Department of 

23 Justice under this part may be used by the At24 torney General, or by any individual or entity 

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1 tive agreement under this part, to host or sup2 port any expenditure for conferences that uses 

3 more than $20,000 in funds made available by 

4 the Department of Justice, unless the Deputy 

5 Attorney General or such Assistant Attorney 

6 Generals, Directors, or principal deputies as the 

7 Deputy Attorney General may designate, pro8 vides prior written authorization that the funds 

9 may be expended to host the conference. 

10 ‘‘(B) WRITTEN APPROVAL.—Written ap11 proval under subparagraph (A) shall include a 

12 written estimate of all costs associated with the 

13 conference, including the cost of all food, bev14 erages, audio-visual equipment, honoraria for 

15 speakers, and entertainment. 

16 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—The Deputy Attorney Gen17 eral shall submit an annual report to the Com18 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

19 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

20 Representatives on all conference expenditures 

21 approved under this paragraph. 

22 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION.—Beginning in 

23 the first fiscal year beginning after the date of en24 actment of this subsection, the Attorney General 

25 shall submit, to the Committee on the Judiciary and 


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1 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and 

2 the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee 

3 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, 

4 an annual certification— 

5 ‘‘(A) indicating whether— 

6 ‘‘(i) all audits issued by the Office of 

7 the Inspector General under paragraph (1) 

8 have been completed and reviewed by the 

9 appropriate Assistant Attorney General or 

10 Director; 

11 ‘‘(ii) all mandatory exclusions required 

12 under paragraph (1)(C) have been issued; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(iii) all reimbursements required 

15 under paragraph (1)(E) have been made; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) that includes a list of any grant re18 cipients excluded under paragraph (1) from the 

19 previous year.’’. 

20 SEC. 206. PREVENTING DUPLICATIVE GRANTS. 

21 Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

22 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amend23 ed by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(l) PREVENTING DUPLICATIVE GRANTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before the Attorney Gen2 eral awards a grant to an applicant under this part, 

3 the Attorney General shall compare potential grant 

4 awards with grants awarded under parts A or T to 

5 determine if duplicate grant awards are awarded for 

6 the same purpose. 

7 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—If the Attorney General awards 

8 duplicate grants to the same applicant for the same 

9 purpose the Attorney General shall submit to the 

10 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

11 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep12 resentatives a report that includes— 

13 ‘‘(A) a list of all duplicate grants awarded, 

14 including the total dollar amount of any dupli15 cate grants awarded; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the reason the Attorney General 

17 awarded the duplicate grants.’’. 

Æ 


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