I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5490 

To provide for a grant program for handgun licensing programs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2018 

Ms. ESTY of Connecticut (for herself, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, and Ms. ADAMS) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for a grant program for handgun licensing 

programs, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Handgun Purchaser 

5 Licensing Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) In 2013, more than 33,000 Americans were 

9 killed by guns and almost 90 percent of the firearms 

10 used in these deaths were handguns. 


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1 (2) Recently published research by top national 

2 experts, notably on Missouri and Connecticut hand3 gun purchaser licensing laws, have estimated that 

4 Missouri’s repeal of its handgun purchaser licensing 

5 law led to a 25-percent increase in firearm homicide 

6 rates while Connecticut’s adoption of its handgun 

7 purchaser licensing law led to a 40-percent decrease 

8 in firearm homicide rates. 

9 (3) In States which have had effective handgun 

10 purchaser licensing laws for decades, such as Con11 necticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, 

12 the vast majority of guns traced to crimes originated 

13 in other States, which supports the need for hand14 gun purchaser licensing laws in every State. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act— 

17 (1) the terms ‘‘Attorney General’’ and ‘‘hand18 gun’’ have the meanings given those terms in section 

19 921(a) of title 18, United States Code; and 

20 (2) the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has the meaning 

21 given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter22 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

23 450b). 


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1 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED FOR HANDGUN LI2 CENSING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is author4 ized to award grants to States, units of local government, 

5 and Indian tribes for the development, implementation, 

6 and evaluation of handgun purchaser licensing require7 ments. 

8 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap9 propriated to carry out this Act and not later than 90 

10 days after such amounts are appropriated, the Attorney 

11 General shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to eli12 gible applicants whose applications are approved under 

13 subsection (c) to assist such applicants in implementing 

14 and improving handgun purchaser licensing programs. 

15 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

16 under this Act, a State, unit of local government, or In17 dian tribe shall submit to the Attorney General an applica18 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

19 information as the Attorney General may require, includ20 ing— 

21 (1) a description of the law that the applicant 

22 has enacted to require a license for any purchase of 

23 a handgun including a description of any exemptions 

24 to such law; and 


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1 (2) a description of how the applicant will use 

2 the grant to carry out or improve its handgun pur3 chaser licensing program. 

4 (d) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible for 

5 a grant under this Act, an applicant shall have in effect 

6 handgun purchaser licensing laws that— 

7 (1) require— 

8 (A) an individual applying for a handgun 

9 license or permit to be at least 21 years old and 

10 be a national or lawful permanent resident of 

11 the United States; 

12 (B) an individual described in subpara13 graph (A) to apply for the handgun purchaser 

14 license or permit at a law enforcement agency 

15 in the State in which the individual resides; 

16 (C) an individual who is issued a handgun 

17 license or permit to reapply for the handgun 

18 purchaser license or permit after a period not 

19 longer than 5 years; 

20 (D) an individual described in subpara21 graph (A) to submit to a background investiga22 tion, and a criminal history check, in connection 

23 with the application, as established by the 

24 State; 


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1 (E) an individual described in subpara2 graph (A) to submit fingerprints and photo3 graphs in connection with the application for 

4 the license or permit; and 

5 (F) an individual described in subpara6 graph (A) to provide— 

7 (i) proof that the individual is legally 

8 present and lawfully resides in the United 

9 States, including a birth certificate, or 

10 valid passport; and 

11 (ii)(I) in the case of a lawful perma12 nent resident, the alien registration num13 ber and 90-day proof of residency; or 

14 (II) in the case of a naturalized cit15 izen, proof of citizenship; and 

16 (2) prohibit an individual who is prohibited 

17 from possessing a firearm under section 922(g) of 

18 title 18, United States Code, from receiving a license 

19 or permit. 

20 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—A grantee under this Act shall 

21 use such grant to improve handgun purchaser licensing 

22 programs of that grantee. 


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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Attor3 ney General such sums as may be necessary to carry out 

4 this Act. 

Æ 


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