II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 974 

To repeal certain impediments to the administration of the firearms laws. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 25, 2021 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Mr. MURPHY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. REED, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To repeal certain impediments to the administration of the 

firearms laws. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gun Records Restora5 tion and Preservation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) The Tiahrt Amendments prevent the collec9 tion of valuable information, and the establishment 


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1 of effective policies to prevent illegal guns from 

2 being used in crimes. 

3 (2) The Tiahrt Amendments impede enforce4 ment of the gun laws by requiring most background 

5 check records to be destroyed within 24 hours, and 

6 by barring the Federal Government from requiring 

7 annual inventory audits by owners of gun shops. 

8 (3) A 2012 study by researchers at Johns Hop9 kins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that 

10 the Tiahrt Amendments dramatically increased gun 

11 trafficking to the criminal market. 

12 (4) A 2016 study from the University of Pitts13 burgh Graduate School of Public Health found that 

14 in 2008, 79 percent of all guns recovered by police 

15 from crime scenes belonged to someone other than 

16 the perpetrator—30 percent had been stolen. 

17 (5) Every year, more than 123,000 Americans 

18 are shot. 

19 (6) 2020 was one of the deadliest years on 

20 record for the United States, with an estimated 

21 19,300 people killed in firearm homicides or non-sui22 cide related shootings, which is a 25 percent increase 

23 over 2019. 


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1 (7) In 2019, 58.9 percent of firearm homicide 

2 victims were Black and 15.9 percent of firearm 

3 homicide victims were Hispanic. 

4 (8) In 2019, the National Tracing Center at 

5 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex6 plosives processed 450,000 trace requests on fire7 arms from Federal, State, and local law enforcement 

8 agencies. 

9 (9) Having effective policies to prevent illegal 

10 gun trafficking makes our families and communities 

11 safer. 

12 (10) Repealing the Tiahrt Amendments would 

13 support law enforcement efforts and give the public 

14 vital information needed to craft the most effective 

15 policies against illegal guns. 

16 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF 

17 DATABASE INFORMATION OF THE BUREAU 

18 OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EX19 PLOSIVES. 

20 (a) The matter under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alco21 hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex22 penses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated and 

23 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 

24 923 note; Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 609–610) is 

25 amended by striking the 6th proviso. 


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1 (b) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 

2 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 

3 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated Ap4 propriations Act, 2010 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 

5 111–117; 123 Stat. 3128–3129) is amended by striking 

6 ‘‘beginning in fiscal year 2010 and thereafter’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘in fiscal year 2010’’. 

8 (c) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 

9 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 

10 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Omnibus Appro11 priations Act, 2009 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 111– 

12 8; 123 Stat. 574–576) is amended by striking ‘‘beginning 

13 in fiscal year 2009 and thereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘in fiscal 

14 year 2009’’. 

15 (d) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 

16 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 

17 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated Ap18 propriations Act, 2008 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 

19 110–161; 121 Stat. 1903–1904) is amended by striking 

20 ‘‘beginning in fiscal year 2008 and thereafter’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘in fiscal year 2008’’. 

22 (e) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 

23 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 

24 Expenses’’ in title I of the Science, State, Justice, Com25 merce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 


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1 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 109–108; 119 Stat. 

2 2295–2296) is amended by striking ‘‘with respect to any 

3 fiscal year’’. 

4 (f) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 

5 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 

6 Expenses’’ in title I of division B of the Consolidated Ap7 propriations Act, 2005 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 

8 108–447; 118 Stat. 2859–2860) is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘with respect to any fiscal year’’. 

10 SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF PROHIBITION ON PROCESSING OF 

11 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUESTS 

12 ABOUT ARSON OR EXPLOSIVES INCIDENTS 

13 OR FIREARM TRACES. 

14 Section 644 of division J of the Consolidated Appro15 priations Resolution, 2003 (5 U.S.C. 552 note; Public 

16 Law 108–7; 117 Stat. 473) is repealed. 

17 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF LIMITATIONS ON IMPOSITION OF RE18 QUIREMENT THAT FIREARMS DEALERS CON19 DUCT PHYSICAL CHECK OF FIREARMS IN20 VENTORY. 

21 The 5th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alco22 hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex23 penses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated and 

24 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (18 U.S.C. 


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1 923 note; Public Law 113–6; 127 Stat. 248) is amended 

2 by striking ‘‘and any fiscal year thereafter’’. 

3 SEC. 6. ELIMINATION OF PROHIBITION ON CONSOLIDA4 TION OR CENTRALIZATION IN THE DEPART5 MENT OF JUSTICE OF FIREARMS ACQUISI6 TION AND DISPOSITION RECORDS MAIN7 TAINED BY FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEES. 

8 The matter under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alcohol, 

9 Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex10 penses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated and 

11 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 

12 923 note; Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 609) is amended 

13 by striking the 1st proviso. 

14 SEC. 7. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO DESTROY INSTANT 

15 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK RECORDS 

16 WITHIN 24 HOURS. 

17 Section 511 of the Consolidated and Further Con18 tinuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 922 note; 

19 Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 632) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘—’’ and all that follows 

21 through ‘‘(1)’’; and 

22 (2) by striking the semicolon and all that fol23 lows and inserting a period. 

Æ 


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