Calendar No. 341

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1785

A BILL

To amend the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention

N

of any person to a mental institution.person as a mental defective or the commitmentment of Justice notice of the adjudication of anyunder which the State will provide to the Departcertify that the State has established a planCrime Control Act of 1968 to require a State to503(a) of title I of the Omnibus Safe Streets and check system is operational and to amend sectionwhether the national instant criminal backgroundAct to establish standards for determining

OVEMBER 24 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 23), 1993

Ordered to be placed on the Calendar
II

Calendar No. 341

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1785

To amend the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to establish standards

for determining whether the national instant criminal background check

system is operational and to amend section 503(a) of title I of the

Omnibus Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1968 to require a

State to certify that the State has established a plan under which

the State will provide to the Department of Justice notice of the adjudication of any person as a mental defective or the commitment of

any person to a mental institution.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 24 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 23), 1993

Mr. DOLE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and ordered to

be placed on the Calendar

A BILL

To amend the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to

establish standards for determining whether the national

instant criminal background check system is operational

and to amend section 503(a) of title I of the Omnibus

Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1968 to require

a State to certify that the State has established a plan

under which the State will provide to the Department

of Justice notice of the adjudication of any person as

a mental defective or the commitment of any person

to a mental institution.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. AMENDMENT OF THE BRADY HANDGUN VIO4 LENCE PREVENTION ACT.

5 (a) SECTION 922 OF TITLE 18, UNITED STATES

6 CODE.—Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, as

7 added by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, is

8 amended—

9 (1) in subsection (s)(1) by striking ‘‘ending on

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

11 date of enactment,’’ and inserting ‘‘ending either on

12 the day before the date that is 48 months after such

13 date of enactment, unless the Attorney General ex14 tends the date by 12 additional months, or on the

15 day that the Attorney General notifies the licensees

16 under section 103(e)(1) of the Brady Handgun Vio17 lence Prevention Act, whichever occurs earlier,’’; and

18 (2) by amending subsection (t) to read as fol19 lows:

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

21 the Attorney General notifies licensees under section

22 103(e)(1) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

23 that the national instant criminal background check sys24 tem is established, and upon notification by the Attorney

25 General to licensees that the system is operational and ca-
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1 pable of supplying information immediately (during which

2 30-day period subsection (s) shall remain in effect), a li3 censed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer

4 shall not transfer a firearm to any other person who is

5 not licensed under this chapter, unless—

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

7 licensee contacts the national instant criminal back8 ground check system established under section 103

9 of that Act;

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

11 unique identification number; or

12 ‘‘(ii) 3 business days (meaning a day on which

13 State offices are open) have elapsed since the li14 censee contacted the system, and the system has not

15 notified the licensee that the receipt of a firearm by

16 such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n)

17 of this section or State law; and

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

19 the transferee by examining a valid identification

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

21 title) of the transferee containing a photograph of

22 the transferee.

23 ‘‘(2) If receipt of a firearm would not violate section

24 922 (g) or (n) or State law, the system shall immediately
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1 ‘‘(A) assign a unique identification number to

2 the transfer;

3 ‘‘(B) provide the licensee with the number; and

4 ‘‘(C) destroy all records of the system with re5 spect to the call (other than the identifying number

6 and the date the number was assigned) and all

7 records of the system relating to the person or the

8 transfer.

9 ‘‘(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a firearm

10 transfer between a licensee and another person if—

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

12 licensee a permit that—

13 ‘‘(I) allows such other person to possess,

14 acquire, or carry a firearm; and

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

16 earlier by the State in which the transfer is to

17 take place; and

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

19 permit is to be issued only after an authorized gov20 ernment official has verified that the information

21 available to such official does not indicate that pos22 session of a firearm by such other person would be

23 in violation of law;
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1 ‘‘(B) the Secretary has approved the transfer

2 under section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of

3 1986; or

4 ‘‘(C) on application of the transferor, the Sec5 retary has certified that compliance with paragraph

6 (1)(A) is impracticable because—

7 ‘‘(i) the ratio of the number of law enforce8 ment officers of the State in which the transfer

9 is to occur to the number of square miles of

10 land area of the State does not exceed 0.0025;

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

12 at which the transfer is to occur are extremely

13 remote in relation to the chief law enforcement

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

15 ‘‘(iii) there is an absence of telecommuni16 cations facilities in the geographical area in

17 which the business premises are located.

18 ‘‘(4) If the national instant criminal background

19 check system notifies the licensee that the information

20 available to the system does not demonstrate that the re21 ceipt of a firearm by such other person would violate sub22 section (g) or (n) or State law, and the licensee transfers

23 a firearm to such other person, the licensee shall include

24 in the record of the transfer the unique identification num25 ber provided by the system with respect to the transfer.
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1 ‘‘(5) If the licensee knowingly transfers a firearm to

2 such other person and knowingly fails to comply with

3 paragraph (1) of this subsection with respect to the trans4 fer and, at the time such other person most recently pro5 posed the transfer, the national instant criminal back6 ground check system was operating and information was

7 available to the system demonstrating that receipt of a

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

9 or (n) of this section or State law, the Secretary may, after

10 notice and opportunity for a hearing, suspend for not more

11 than 6 months or revoke any license issued to the licensee

12 under section 923, and may impose on the licensee a civil

13 fine of not more than $5,000.

14 ‘‘(6) Neither a local government nor an employee of

15 the Federal Government or of any State or local govern16 ment, responsible for providing information to the national

17 instant criminal background check system shall be liable

18 in an action at law for damages—

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

20 of a firearm to a person whose receipt or possession

21 of the firearm is unlawful under this section; or

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

23 a person who may lawfully receive or possess a fire24 arm.’’.
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1 (b) NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND

2 CHECK SYSTEM.—Section 103 of the Brady Handgun Vi3 olence Prevention Act is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘SEC. 103. NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND

5 CHECK SYSTEM.

6 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION OF TIMETABLES.—Not later

7 than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act,

8 the Attorney General shall—

9 ‘‘(1) determine the type of computer hardware

10 and software that will be used to operate the na11 tional instant criminal background check system and

12 the means by which State criminal records systems

13 and the telephone or electric device of licensees that

14 will communicate with the national system;

15 ‘‘(2) investigate the criminal records system of

16 each State and determine for each State a timetable

17 by which the State should be able to provide crimi18 nal records on an on-line capacity basis to the

19 national system; and

20 ‘‘(3) notify each State of the determinations

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

22 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—

23 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATIONS.—Not later than the

24 date that is 24 months after the date of enactment

25 of this Act, the Attorney General shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) determine whether—

2 ‘‘(i) the equipment used to link State

3 criminal history records systems to the na4 tional criminal history records system and

5 the equipment necessary to operate the na6 tional instant criminal background check

7 system are operational; and

8 ‘‘(ii) any group of States that—

9 ‘‘(I) have at least 80 percent of

10 the population of the United States;

11 and

12 ‘‘(II) have reported during a 12-

13 month period at least 80 percent of

14 the number of crimes of violence re15 ported by all of the States during that

16 period,

17 have achieved and maintained at an aver18 age of at least 60 percent currency of fel19 ony case dispositions in computerized

20 criminal history files for all cases in which

21 there has been an event or activity within

22 the last 5 years; and

23 ‘‘(B) if such determinations are made in

24 the affirmative, certify that the national system

25 is established.
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1 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General

2 shall establish a national instant criminal back3 ground check system that any licensee may contact,

4 by telephone and by other electronic means in addi5 tion to the telephone, for information, to be supplied

6 immediately, on whether receipt of a firearm by a

7 prospective transferee would violate section 922 of

8 title 18, United States Code, or State law.

9 ‘‘(c) EXPEDITED ACTION BY THE ATTORNEY GEN10 ERAL.—The Attorney General shall expedite—

11 ‘‘(1) the upgrading and indexing of State crimi12 nal history records in the Federal criminal records

13 system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Inves14 tigation;

15 ‘‘(2) the development of hardware and software

16 systems to link State criminal history check systems

17 into the national instant criminal background check

18 system established by the Attorney General pursuant

19 to this section; and

20 ‘‘(3) the current revitalization initiatives by the

21 Federal Bureau of Investigation for technologically

22 advanced fingerprint and criminal records identifica23 tion.

24 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION OF LICENSEES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) SYSTEM ESTABLISHED.—On establishment

2 of the system under this section, the Attorney Gen3 eral shall notify each licensee and the chief law en4 forcement officer of each State of the existence and

5 purpose of the system and the means to be used to

6 contact the system.

7 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE WITH TIMETABLE.—At any

8 time at which the Attorney General determines that

9 a State is in compliance with the timetable set for

10 that State under section (a), the Attorney General

11 shall notify each licensee in the State and the chief

12 law enforcement officer of the State of the deter13 mination.

14 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—

15 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN OFFICIAL INFOR16 MATION.—Notwithstanding any other law, the Attor17 ney General may secure directly from any depart18 ment or agency of the United States such informa19 tion on persons for whom receipt of a firearm would

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

21 18, United States Code, or State law as is necessary

22 to enable the system to operate in accordance with

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

24 head of such department or agency shall furnish

25 such information to the system.
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1 ‘‘(2) OTHER AUTHORITY.—The Attorney Gen2 eral shall develop such computer software, design

3 and obtain such telecommunications and computer

4 hardware, and employ such personnel, as are nec5 essary to establish and operate the system in accord6 ance with this section.

7 ‘‘(f) WRITTEN REASONS PROVIDED ON REQUEST.—

8 If the national instant criminal background check system

9 determines that an individual is ineligible to receive a fire10 arm and the individual requests the system to provide the

11 reasons for the determination, the system shall provide

12 such reasons to the individual, in writing, within 5 busi13 ness days after the date of the request.

14 ‘‘(g) CORRECTION OF ERRONEOUS SYSTEM INFOR15 MATION.—A prospective transferee may submit to the At16 torney General information that to correct, clarify, or sup17 plement records of the system with respect to the prospec18 tive transferee. After receipt of such information, the At19 torney General shall immediately consider the information,

20 investigate the matter further, and correct all erroneous

21 Federal records relating to the prospective transferee and

22 give notice of the error to any Federal department or

23 agency or any State that was the source of such erroneous

24 records.
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1 ‘‘(h) REGULATIONS.—After 90 days’ notice to the

2 public and an opportunity for hearing by interested par3 ties, the Attorney General shall prescribe regulations to

4 ensure the privacy and security of the information of the

5 system established under this section.

6 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION RELATING TO ESTABLISHMENT

7 OF REGISTRATION SYSTEMS WITH RESPECT TO FIRE8 ARMS.—No department, agency, officer, or employee of

9 the United States may—

10 ‘‘(1) require that any record or portion thereof

11 generated by the system established under this sec12 tion be recorded at or transferred to a facility

13 owned, managed, or controlled by the United States

14 or any State or political subdivision thereof; or

15 ‘‘(2) use the system established under this sec16 tion to establish any system for the registration of

17 firearms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions or

18 dispositions, except with respect to persons, prohib19 ited by section 922 (g) or (n) of title 18, United

20 States Code, or State law from receiving a firearm.

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

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

23 licensed importer (as defined in section 921(a)(9) of

24 title 18, United States Code), a licensed manufac25 turer (as defined in section 921(a)(10) of that title),
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1 or a licensed dealer (as defined in section 921(a)(11)

2 of that title).

3 ‘‘(2) OTHER TERMS.—The terms ‘‘firearm’’,

4 ‘‘handgun’’, ‘‘licensed importer’’, ‘‘licensed manufac5 turer’’, and ‘‘licensed dealer’’ have the meanings

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

7 Code, as amended by subsection (a)(2).

8 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

9 are authorized to be appropriated, which may be appro10 priated from the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund es11 tablished by section 1115 of title 31, United States Code,

12 such sums as are necessary to enable the Attorney General

13 to carry out this section.’’.

14 (c) NOTIFICATION OF ADJUDICATIONS OF PERSONS

15 AS MENTAL DEFECTIVES AND COMMITMENTS TO MEN16 TAL INSTITUTIONS.—Section 503(a) of title I of the Om17 nibus Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1968 (42

18 U.S.C. 3753(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new paragraph:

20 ‘‘(12) A certification that the State has estab21 lished a plan under which the State will provide to

22 the Department of Justice, without fee—

23 ‘‘(A) within 30 days after the date on

24 which any person in the State is adjudicated as

25 a mental defective or committed to a mental in-
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1 stitution, notice of the adjudication or commit2 ment; and

3 ‘‘(B) within 30 days after the date on

4 which the Department of Justice requests it, a

5 copy of the certified record of the adjudication

6 or commitment.’’.