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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1785 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 341

103d CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                S. 1785

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

_______________________________________________________________________

            November 24 (legislative day, November 23), 1993

                  Ordered to be placed on the Calendar

                                                       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.

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

SECTION 1. AMENDMENT OF THE BRADY HANDGUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION ACT.

    (a) Section 922 of Title 18, United States Code.--Section 922 of 
title 18, United States Code, as added by the Brady Handgun Violence 
Prevention Act, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (s)(1) by striking ``ending on the day 
        before the date that is 60 months after such date of 
        enactment,'' and inserting ``ending either on the day before 
        the date that is 48 months after such date of enactment, unless 
        the Attorney General extends the date by 12 additional months, 
        or on the day that the Attorney General notifies the licensees 
        under section 103(e)(1) of the Brady Handgun Violence 
        Prevention Act, whichever occurs earlier,''; and
            (2) by amending subsection (t) to read as follows:
    ``(t)(1) Beginning on the date that is 30 days after the Attorney 
General notifies licensees under section 103(e)(1) of the Brady Handgun 
Violence Prevention Act that the national instant criminal background 
check system is established, and upon notification by the Attorney 
General to licensees that the system is operational and capable of 
supplying information immediately (during which 30-day period 
subsection (s) shall remain in effect), a licensed importer, licensed 
manufacturer, or licensed dealer shall not transfer a firearm to any 
other person who is not licensed under this chapter, unless--
            ``(A) before the completion of the transfer, the licensee 
        contacts the national instant criminal background check system 
        established under section 103 of that Act;
            ``(B)(i) the system provides the licensee with a unique 
        identification number; or
            ``(ii) 3 business days (meaning a day on which State 
        offices are open) have elapsed since the licensee contacted the 
        system, and the system has not notified the licensee that the 
        receipt of a firearm by such other person would violate 
        subsection (g) or (n) of this section or State law; and
            ``(C) the transferor has verified the identity of the 
        transferee by examining a valid identification document (as 
        defined in section 1028(d)(1) of this title) of the transferee 
        containing a photograph of the transferee.
    ``(2) If receipt of a firearm would not violate section 922 (g) or 
(n) or State law, the system shall immediately
            ``(A) assign a unique identification number to the 
        transfer;
            ``(B) provide the licensee with the number; and
            ``(C) destroy all records of the system with respect to the 
        call (other than the identifying number and the date the number 
        was assigned) and all records of the system relating to the 
        person or the transfer.
    ``(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a firearm transfer between a 
licensee and another person if--
            ``(A)(i) such other person has presented to the licensee a 
        permit that--
                    ``(I) allows such other person to possess, acquire, 
                or carry a firearm; and
                    ``(II) was issued not more than 5 years earlier by 
                the State in which the transfer is to take place; and
            ``(ii) the law of the State provides that such a permit is 
        to be issued only after an authorized government official has 
        verified that the information available to such official does 
        not indicate that possession of a firearm by such other person 
        would be in violation of law;
            ``(B) the Secretary has approved the transfer under section 
        5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or
            ``(C) on application of the transferor, the Secretary has 
        certified that compliance with paragraph (1)(A) is 
        impracticable because--
                    ``(i) the ratio of the number of law enforcement 
                officers of the State in which the transfer is to occur 
                to the number of square miles of land area of the State 
                does not exceed 0.0025;
                    ``(ii) the business premises of the licensee at 
                which the transfer is to occur are extremely remote in 
                relation to the chief law enforcement officer (as 
                defined in subsection (s)(8)); and
                    ``(iii) there is an absence of telecommunications 
                facilities in the geographical area in which the 
                business premises are located.
    ``(4) If the national instant criminal background check system 
notifies the licensee that the information available to the system does 
not demonstrate that the receipt of a firearm by such other person 
would violate subsection (g) or (n) or State law, and the licensee 
transfers a firearm to such other person, the licensee shall include in 
the record of the transfer the unique identification number provided by 
the system with respect to the transfer.
    ``(5) If the licensee knowingly transfers a firearm to such other 
person and knowingly fails to comply with paragraph (1) of this 
subsection with respect to the transfer and, at the time such other 
person most recently proposed the transfer, the national instant 
criminal background check system was operating and information was 
available to the system demonstrating that receipt of a firearm by such 
other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of this section or 
State law, the Secretary may, after notice and opportunity for a 
hearing, suspend for not more than 6 months or revoke any license 
issued to the licensee under section 923, and may impose on the 
licensee a civil fine of not more than $5,000.
    ``(6) Neither a local government nor an employee of the Federal 
Government or of any State or local government, responsible for 
providing information to the national instant criminal background check 
system shall be liable in an action at law for damages--
            ``(A) for failure to prevent the sale or transfer of a 
        firearm to a person whose receipt or possession of the firearm 
        is unlawful under this section; or
            ``(B) for preventing such a sale or transfer to a person 
        who may lawfully receive or possess a firearm.''.
    (b) National Instant Criminal Background Check System.--Section 103 
of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is amended to read as 
follows:

``SEC. 103. NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM.

    ``(a) Determination of Timetables.--Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall--
            ``(1) determine the type of computer hardware and software 
        that will be used to operate the national instant criminal 
        background check system and the means by which State criminal 
        records systems and the telephone or electric device of 
        licensees that will communicate with the national system;
            ``(2) investigate the criminal records system of each State 
        and determine for each State a timetable by which the State 
        should be able to provide criminal records on an on-line 
        capacity basis to the national system; and
            ``(3) notify each State of the determinations made pursuant 
        to paragraphs (1) and (2).
    ``(b) Establishment of System.--
            ``(1) Determinations.--Not later than the date that is 24 
        months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 
        General shall--
                    ``(A) determine whether--
                            ``(i) the equipment used to link State 
                        criminal history records systems to the 
                        national criminal history records system and 
                        the equipment necessary to operate the national 
                        instant criminal background check system are 
                        operational; and
                            ``(ii) any group of States that--
                                    ``(I) have at least 80 percent of 
                                the population of the United States; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) have reported during a 12-
                                month period at least 80 percent of the 
                                number of crimes of violence reported 
                                by all of the States during that 
                                period,
                        have achieved and maintained at an average of 
                        at least 60 percent currency of felony case 
                        dispositions in computerized criminal history 
                        files for all cases in which there has been an 
                        event or activity within the last 5 years; and
                    ``(B) if such determinations are made in the 
                affirmative, certify that the national system is 
                established.
            ``(2) Establishment.--The Attorney General shall establish 
        a national instant criminal background check system that any 
        licensee may contact, by telephone and by other electronic 
        means in addition to the telephone, for information, to be 
        supplied immediately, on whether receipt of a firearm by a 
        prospective transferee would violate section 922 of title 18, 
        United States Code, or State law.
    ``(c) Expedited Action by the Attorney General.--The Attorney 
General shall expedite--
            ``(1) the upgrading and indexing of State criminal history 
        records in the Federal criminal records system maintained by 
        the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
            ``(2) the development of hardware and software systems to 
        link State criminal history check systems into the national 
        instant criminal background check system established by the 
        Attorney General pursuant to this section; and
            ``(3) the current revitalization initiatives by the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation for technologically advanced 
        fingerprint and criminal records identification.
    ``(d) Notification of Licensees.--
            ``(1) System established.--On establishment of the system 
        under this section, the Attorney General shall notify each 
        licensee and the chief law enforcement officer of each State of 
        the existence and purpose of the system and the means to be 
        used to contact the system.
            ``(2) Compliance with timetable.--At any time at which the 
        Attorney General determines that a State is in compliance with 
        the timetable set for that State under section (a), the 
        Attorney General shall notify each licensee in the State and 
        the chief law enforcement officer of the State of the 
        determination.
    ``(e) Administrative Provisions.--
            ``(1) Authority to obtain official information.--
        Notwithstanding any other law, the Attorney General may secure 
        directly from any department or agency of the United States 
        such information on persons for whom receipt of a firearm would 
        violate subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, 
        United States Code, or State law as is necessary to enable the 
        system to operate in accordance with this section. On request 
        of the Attorney General, the head of such department or agency 
        shall furnish such information to the system.
            ``(2) Other authority.--The Attorney General shall develop 
        such computer software, design and obtain such 
        telecommunications and computer hardware, and employ such 
        personnel, as are necessary to establish and operate the system 
        in accordance with this section.
    ``(f) Written Reasons Provided on Request.--If the national instant 
criminal background check system determines that an individual is 
ineligible to receive a firearm and the individual requests the system 
to provide the reasons for the determination, the system shall provide 
such reasons to the individual, in writing, within 5 business days 
after the date of the request.
    ``(g) Correction of Erroneous System Information.--A prospective 
transferee may submit to the Attorney General information that to 
correct, clarify, or supplement records of the system with respect to 
the prospective transferee. After receipt of such information, the 
Attorney General shall immediately consider the information, 
investigate the matter further, and correct all erroneous Federal 
records relating to the prospective transferee and give notice of the 
error to any Federal department or agency or any State that was the 
source of such erroneous records.
    ``(h) Regulations.--After 90 days' notice to the public and an 
opportunity for hearing by interested parties, the Attorney General 
shall prescribe regulations to ensure the privacy and security of the 
information of the system established under this section.
    ``(i) Prohibition Relating To Establishment of Registration Systems 
With Respect to Firearms.--No department, agency, officer, or employee 
of the United States may--
            ``(1) require that any record or portion thereof generated 
        by the system established under this section be recorded at or 
        transferred to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the 
        United States or any State or political subdivision thereof; or
            ``(2) use the system established under this section to 
        establish any system for the registration of firearms, firearm 
        owners, or firearm transactions or dispositions, except with 
        respect to persons, prohibited by section 922 (g) or (n) of 
        title 18, United States Code, or State law from receiving a 
        firearm.
    ``(j) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            (1) Licensee.--The term ``licensee'' means a licensed 
        importer (as defined in section 921(a)(9) of title 18, United 
        States Code), a licensed manufacturer (as defined in section 
        921(a)(10) of that title), or a licensed dealer (as defined in 
        section 921(a)(11) of that title).
            ``(2) Other terms.--The terms ``firearm'', ``handgun'', 
        ``licensed importer'', ``licensed manufacturer'', and 
        ``licensed dealer'' have the meanings stated in section 921(a) 
        of title 18, United States Code, as amended by subsection 
        (a)(2).
    ``(k) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated, which may be appropriated from the Violent Crime 
Reduction Trust Fund established by section 1115 of title 31, United 
States Code, such sums as are necessary to enable the Attorney General 
to carry out this section.''.
    (c) Notification of Adjudications of Persons as Mental Defectives 
and Commitments to Mental Institutions.--Section 503(a) of title I of 
the Omnibus Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
3753(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(12) A certification that the State has established a 
        plan under which the State will provide to the Department of 
        Justice, without fee--
                    ``(A) within 30 days after the date on which any 
                person in the State is adjudicated as a mental 
                defective or committed to a mental institution, notice 
                of the adjudication or commitment; and
                    ``(B) within 30 days after the date on which the 
                Department of Justice requests it, a copy of the 
                certified record of the adjudication or commitment.''.
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