I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3411 

To ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm 

are listed in the national instant criminal background check system 

and require a background check for every firearm sale. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2015 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. ELLISON, 

Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. HAHN, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 

SHERMAN, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. HIMES, Mr. PRICE of North 

Carolina, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. FARR, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PALLONE, and Ms. CASTOR of 

Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from 

buying a firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check system and require a background 

check for every firearm sale. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3411 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Fix Gun Checks Act of 2015’’. 

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

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ENSURING THAT ALL INDIVIDUALS WHO SHOULD BE 

PROHIBITED FROM BUYING A GUN ARE LISTED IN THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM 

Sec. 101. Penalties for States that do not make data electronically available to 

the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. 

Sec. 102. Requirement that Federal agencies certify that they have submitted 

to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System all 

records identifying persons prohibited from purchasing firearms under Federal law. 

Sec. 103. Adjudicated as a mental defective. 

Sec. 104. Clarification that Federal court information is to be made available 

to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. 

TITLE II—REQUIRING A BACKGROUND CHECK FOR EVERY 

FIREARM SALE 

Sec. 201. Purpose. 

Sec. 202. Firearms transfers. 

Sec. 203. Lost and stolen reporting. 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3411 IH

1 TITLE I—ENSURING THAT ALL 

2 INDIVIDUALS WHO SHOULD 

3 BE PROHIBITED FROM BUY4 ING A GUN ARE LISTED IN 

5 THE NATIONAL INSTANT 

6 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

7 CHECK SYSTEM 

8 SEC. 101. PENALTIES FOR STATES THAT DO NOT MAKE 

9 DATA ELECTRONICALLY AVAILABLE TO THE 

10 NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

11 CHECK SYSTEM. 

12 Section 102(b) of the NICS Improvement Amend13 ments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended to 

14 read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Within 1 year after the 

17 date of the enactment of this subsection, the Attor18 ney General, in coordination with the States, shall 

19 establish, for each State or Indian tribal govern20 ment, a plan to ensure maximum coordination and 

21 automation of the reporting of records or making of 

22 records available to the National Instant Criminal 

23 Background Check System established under section 

24 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, 

25 during a 4-year period specified in the plan. 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3411 IH

1 ‘‘(2) BENCHMARK REQUIREMENTS.—Each such 

2 plan shall include annual benchmarks, including 

3 qualitative goals and quantitative measures, to en4 able the Attorney General to assess implementation 

5 of the plan. 

6 ‘‘(3) PENALTIES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the 4-year pe8 riod covered by such a plan, the Attorney Gen9 eral shall withhold the following percentage of 

10 the amount that would otherwise be allocated to 

11 a State under section 505 of the Omnibus 

12 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

13 (42 U.S.C. 3755) if the State does not meet the 

14 benchmark established under paragraph (2) for 

15 the following year in the period: 

16 ‘‘(i) 10 percent, in the case of the 1st 

17 year in the period. 

18 ‘‘(ii) 11 percent, in the case of the 

19 2nd year in the period. 

20 ‘‘(iii) 13 percent, in the case of the 

21 3rd year in the period. 

22 ‘‘(iv) 15 percent, in the case of the 

23 4th year in the period. 

24 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO ESTABLISH A PLAN.—A 

25 State with respect to which a plan is not estabVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Aug 08, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3411.IH H3411

rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3411 IH

1 lished under paragraph (1) shall be treated as 

2 having not met any benchmark established 

3 under paragraph (2).’’. 

4 SEC. 102. REQUIREMENT THAT FEDERAL AGENCIES CER5 TIFY THAT THEY HAVE SUBMITTED TO THE 

6 NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

7 CHECK SYSTEM ALL RECORDS IDENTIFYING 

8 PERSONS PROHIBITED FROM PURCHASING 

9 FIREARMS UNDER FEDERAL LAW. 

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

11 Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended by add12 ing at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(F) SEMIANNUAL CERTIFICATION AND

14 REPORTING.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The head of each 

16 Federal department or agency shall submit 

17 to the Attorney General a written certifi18 cation indicating whether the department 

19 or agency has provided to the Attorney 

20 General the pertinent information con21 tained in any record of any person that the 

22 department or agency was in possession of 

23 during the time period addressed by the 

24 report demonstrating that the person falls 

25 within a category described in subsection 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3411 IH

1 (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United 

2 States Code. 

3 ‘‘(ii) SUBMISSION DATES.—The head 

4 of a Federal department or agency shall 

5 submit a certification under clause (i)— 

6 ‘‘(I) not later than July 31 of 

7 each year, which shall address any 

8 record the department or agency was 

9 in possession of during the period be10 ginning on January 1 of the year and 

11 ending on June 30 of the year; and 

12 ‘‘(II) not later than January 31 

13 of each year, which shall address any 

14 record the department or agency was 

15 in possession of during the period be16 ginning on July 1 of the previous year 

17 and ending on December 31 of the 

18 previous year. 

19 ‘‘(iii) CONTENTS.—A certification re20 quired under clause (i) shall state, for the 

21 applicable period— 

22 ‘‘(I) the number of records of the 

23 Federal department or agency dem24 onstrating that a person fell within 

25 each of the categories described in 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3411 IH

1 section 922(g) of title 18, United 

2 States Code; 

3 ‘‘(II) the number of records of 

4 the Federal department or agency 

5 demonstrating that a person fell with6 in the category described in section 

7 922(n) of title 18, United States 

8 Code; and 

9 ‘‘(III) for each category of 

10 records described in subclauses (I) 

11 and (II), the total number of records 

12 of the Federal department or agency 

13 that have been provided to the Attor14 ney General.’’. 

15 SEC. 103. ADJUDICATED AS A MENTAL DEFECTIVE. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 

17 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(36) The term ‘adjudicated as a mental defective’ 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) have the meaning given the term in sec22 tion 478.11 of title 27, Code of Federal Regulations, 

23 or any successor thereto; and 

24 ‘‘(B) include an order by a court, board, com25 mission, or other lawful authority that a person, in 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3411 IH

1 response to mental illness, incompetency, or marked 

2 subnormal intelligence, be compelled to receive serv3 ices— 

4 ‘‘(i) including counseling, medication, or 

5 testing to determine compliance with prescribed 

6 medications; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) not including testing for use of alco8 hol or for abuse of any controlled substance or 

9 other drug. 

10 ‘‘(37) The term ‘committed to a mental institution’ 

11 shall have the meaning given the term in section 478.11 

12 of title 27, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

13 thereto.’’. 

14 (b) LIMITATION.—An individual who has been adju15 dicated as a mental defective before the effective date de16 scribed in section 203 may not apply for relief from dis17 ability under section 101(c)(2) of the NICS Improvement 

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

19 basis that the individual does not meet the requirements 

20 in section 921(a)(36) of title 18, United States Code, as 

21 added by subsection (a). 

22 (c) NICS IMPROVEMENT AMENDMENTS ACT OF

23 2007.—Section 3 of the NICS Improvement Amendments 

24 Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended by striking 

25 paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3411 IH

1 ‘‘(2) MENTAL HEALTH TERMS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), the terms ‘adjudicated as a 

4 mental defective’ and ‘committed to a mental 

5 institution’ shall have the meaning given the 

6 terms in section 921(a) of title 18, United 

7 States Code. 

8 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—For purposes of sec9 tions 102 and 103, the terms ‘adjudicated as a 

10 mental defective’ and ‘committed to a mental 

11 institution’ shall have the same meanings as on 

12 the day before the date of enactment of the Fix 

13 Gun Checks Act of 2015 until the end of the 

14 2-year period beginning on such date of enact15 ment.’’. 

16 SEC. 104. CLARIFICATION THAT FEDERAL COURT INFOR17 MATION IS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE 

18 NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

19 CHECK SYSTEM. 

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

21 Protection Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note), as amended by sec22 tion 102 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(G) APPLICATION TO FEDERAL

25 COURTS.—In this paragraph— 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 3411 IH

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

2 of the United States’ and ‘Federal depart3 ment or agency’ include a Federal court; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of any request, sub6 mission, or notification, the Director of the 

7 Administrative Office of the United States 

8 Courts shall perform the functions of the 

9 head of the department or agency.’’. 

10 TITLE II—REQUIRING A BACK11 GROUND CHECK FOR EVERY 

12 FIREARM SALE 

13 SEC. 201. PURPOSE. 

14 The purpose of this title is to extend the Brady Law 

15 background check procedures to all sales and transfers of 

16 firearms. 

17 SEC. 202. FIREARMS TRANSFERS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United 

19 States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) by striking subsection (s) and redesignating 

21 subsection (t) as subsection (s); 

22 (2) in subsection (s), as so redesignated— 

23 (A) in paragraph (3)(C)(ii), by striking 

24 ‘‘(as defined in subsection (s)(8))’’; and 

25 (B) by adding at the end the following: 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 3411 IH

1 ‘‘(7) In this subsection, the term ‘chief law en2 forcement officer’ means the chief of police, the 

3 sheriff, or an equivalent officer or the designee of 

4 any such individual.’’; and 

5 (3) by inserting after subsection (s), as so re6 designated, the following: 

7 ‘‘(t)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person who is not 

8 a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed 

9 dealer to transfer a firearm to any other person who is 

10 not so licensed, unless a licensed importer, licensed manu11 facturer, or licensed dealer has first taken possession of 

12 the firearm for the purpose of complying with subsection 

13 (s). Upon taking possession of the firearm, the licensee 

14 shall comply with all requirements of this chapter as if 

15 the licensee were transferring the firearm from the inven16 tory of the licensee to the unlicensed transferee. 

17 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to— 

18 ‘‘(A) a transfer of a firearm by or to any law 

19 enforcement agency or any law enforcement officer, 

20 armed private security professional, or member of 

21 the armed forces, to the extent the officer, profes22 sional, or member is acting within the course and 

23 scope of employment and official duties; 

24 ‘‘(B) a transfer that is a loan or bona fide gift 

25 between spouses, between domestic partners, beVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Aug 08, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3411.IH H3411

rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 3411 IH

1 tween parents and their children, between siblings, 

2 or between grandparents and their grandchildren; 

3 ‘‘(C) a transfer to an executor, administrator, 

4 trustee, or personal representative of an estate or a 

5 trust that occurs by operation of law upon the death 

6 of another person; 

7 ‘‘(D) a temporary transfer that is necessary to 

8 prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, if the 

9 possession by the transferee lasts only as long as im10 mediately necessary to prevent the imminent death 

11 or great bodily harm; 

12 ‘‘(E) a transfer that is approved by the Attor13 ney General under section 5812 of the Internal Rev14 enue Code of 1986; 

15 ‘‘(F) a temporary transfer if the transferor has 

16 no reason to believe that the transferee will use or 

17 intends to use the firearm in a crime or is prohibited 

18 from possessing firearms under State or Federal 

19 law, and the transfer takes place and the trans20 feree’s possession of the firearm is exclusively— 

21 ‘‘(i) at a shooting range or in a shooting 

22 gallery or other area designated and built for 

23 the purpose of target shooting; 

24 ‘‘(ii) while hunting, trapping, or fishing, if 

25 the hunting, trapping, or fishing is legal in all 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 3411 IH

1 places where the transferee possesses the fire2 arm and the transferee holds all licenses or per3 mits required for such hunting, trapping, or 

4 fishing; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) while in the presence of the trans6 feror.’’. 

7 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (1) SECTION 922.—Section 922(y)(2) of such 

9 title is amended in the matter preceding subpara10 graph (A), by striking ‘‘, (g)(5)(B), and 

11 (s)(3)(B)(v)(II)’’ and inserting ‘‘and (g)(5)(B)’’. 

12 (2) SECTION 925A.—Section 925A of such title 

13 is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

14 by striking ‘‘subsection (s) or (t) of section 922’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘section 922(s)’’. 

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

17 subsection (a)(4) shall take effect 180 days after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act. 

19 SEC. 203. LOST AND STOLEN REPORTING. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United 

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

23 ‘‘(aa) It shall be unlawful for any person who lawfully 

24 possesses or owns a firearm that has been shipped or 

25 transported in, or has been possessed in or affecting, interVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Aug 08, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3411.IH H3411

rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 3411 IH

1 state or foreign commerce, to fail to report the theft or 

2 loss of the firearm, within 48 hours after the person dis3 covers the theft or loss, to the Attorney General and to 

4 the appropriate local authorities.’’. 

5 (b) PENALTY.—Section 924(a)(1)(B) of such title is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(B) knowingly violates subsection (a)(4), 

8 (f), (k), (q), or (aa) of section 922;’’. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS