II 

Calendar No. 25 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 374 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2013 

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

MARCH 12, 2013 

Reported by Mr. LEAHY, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Responsible 

5 Gun Sellers Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Congress supports and respects the right to 

4 bear arms found in the Second Amendment to the 

5 Constitution of the United States. 

6 (2) Congress supports the existing prohibition 

7 on a national firearms registry. 

8 (3) There are deficits in the background check 

9 system in effect before the date of enactment of this 

10 Act and the Department of Justice should make it 

11 a top priority to work with States to swiftly input 

12 missing records, including mental health records. 

13 (4) If the citizens of the United States agree 

14 that in order to promote safe and responsible gun 

15 ownership criminals and the mentally ill should be 

16 prohibited from possessing firearms, it should be in17 cumbent upon all citizens to ensure weapons are not 

18 being transferred to such people. 

19 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

20 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fix 

21 Gun Checks Act of 2013’’. 

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

23 this Act is as follows: 


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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. Reauthorization of NICS Act Record Improvement Program grants. 

Sec. 102. Penalties for States that do not make data electronically available to 

the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. 

Sec. 103. 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. 

Sec. 204. Effective date. 

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. REAUTHORIZATION OF NICS ACT RECORD IM9 PROVEMENT PROGRAM GRANTS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(b) of the NICS Im11 provement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) 

12 is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (1)(C)— 

14 (A) by striking clauses (ii) and (iii); and 

15 (B) by redesignating clauses (iv), (v), and 

16 (vi) as clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv), respectively; 

17 and 


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1 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(2) SCOPE.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, 

5 in determining the compliance of a State under 

6 this section or section 104 for the purpose of 

7 granting a waiver or imposing a loss of Federal 

8 funds, shall assess the total percentage of records 

9 provided by the State concerning any event oc10 curring within the time period established by the 

11 Attorney General under subparagraph (B), 

12 which would disqualify a person from possessing 

13 a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of section 

14 922 of title 18, United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year 

16 after the date of enactment of the Fix Gun 

17 Checks Act of 2013, the Attorney General shall, 

18 through regulation, establish the time period de19 scribed in subparagraph (A).’’. 

20 (b) IMPLEMENTATION ASSISTANCE TO STATES.—Sec21 tion 103 of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 

22 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking subsection (a)(1) and inserting 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail2 able to carry out this section and subject to section 

3 102(b)(1)(B), the Attorney General shall make grants 

4 to States and Indian tribal governments, in a man5 ner consistent with the National Criminal History 

6 Improvement Program, which shall be used by the 

7 States and Indian tribal governments, in conjunction 

8 with units of local government and State and local 

9 courts to— 

10 ‘‘(A) establish and plan information and 

11 identification technologies for firearms eligibility 

12 determinations; and 

13 ‘‘(B) make improvements or upgrade infor14 mation and identification technologies for fire15 arms eligibility determinations.’’; 

16 (2) by striking subsections (b) and (c) and in17 serting the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded to States or 

20 Indian tribes under subsection (a)(1) may only be 

21 used to— 

22 ‘‘(A) create electronic systems, which pro23 vide accurate and up-to-date information that is 

24 directly related to checks under the National In25 stant Criminal Background Check System (reVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:09 Mar 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S374.RS S374

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1 ferred to in this section as ‘NICS’), including 

2 court disposition and corrections records; 

3 ‘‘(B) assist States in establishing or enhanc4 ing their own capacities to perform NICS back5 ground checks; 

6 ‘‘(C) supply accurate and timely informa7 tion to the Attorney General concerning final 

8 dispositions of criminal records to databases 

9 accessed by NICS; 

10 ‘‘(D) supply accurate and timely informa11 tion to the Attorney General concerning the iden12 tity of persons who are prohibited from obtain13 ing a firearm under section 922(g)(4) of title 18, 

14 United States Code, to be used by the Federal 

15 Bureau of Investigation solely to conduct NICS 

16 background checks; 

17 ‘‘(E) supply accurate and timely court or18 ders and records of misdemeanor crimes of do19 mestic violence for inclusion in Federal and 

20 State law enforcement databases used to conduct 

21 NICS background checks; and 

22 ‘‘(F) collect and analyze data needed to 

23 demonstrate levels of State compliance with this 

24 Act. 

25 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL USES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the uses 

2 described in paragraph (1)— 

3 ‘‘(i) a grant awarded under subsection 

4 (a)(1)(A) may be used to assist States in es5 tablishing or enhancing a relief from dis6 abilities program in accordance with sec7 tion 105; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) a grant awarded under subsection 

9 (a)(1)(B) may be used to maintain the re10 lief from disabilities program in accordance 

11 with section 105. 

12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Not less than 3 percent 

13 and no more than 10 percent of each grant 

14 awarded under subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be used 

15 for the purpose described in subparagraph (A)(i). 

16 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant under 

17 section 103(a)(1)(B), a State shall certify, to the satisfac18 tion of the Attorney General, that the State has imple19 mented a relief from disabilities program in accordance 

20 with section 105.’’; and 

21 (3) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are to be authorized to 

25 be appropriated to carry out this section 


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1 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 

2 2018. 

3 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) USE OF AMOUNTS AUTHORIZED.—Of 

5 the amounts authorized to be appropriated for 

6 each fiscal year under paragraph (1), not more 

7 than 30 percent may be used to carry out sub8 section (a)(1)(B) . 

9 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATIONS.—A State may not be 

10 awarded more than 2 grants under subsection 

11 (a)(1)(B).’’. 

12 SEC. 102. PENALTIES FOR STATES THAT DO NOT MAKE 

13 DATA ELECTRONICALLY AVAILABLE TO THE 

14 NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

15 CHECK SYSTEM. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104(b) of the NICS Im17 provement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) 

18 is amended by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and insert19 ing the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) DISCRETIONARY REDUCTION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) During the 2-year period beginning on 

22 the date on which the Attorney General publishes 

23 final rules required under section 102(b)(2)(B), 

24 the Attorney General may withhold not more 

25 than 3 percent of the amount that would otherVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:09 Mar 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S374.RS S374

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1 wise be allocated to a State under section 505 of 

2 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

3 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) if the State provides 

4 less than 50 percent of the records required to be 

5 provided under sections 102 and 103. 

6 ‘‘(B) During the 3-year period after the ex7 piration of the period described in subparagraph 

8 (A), the Attorney General may withhold 4 per9 cent of the amount that would otherwise be allo10 cated to a State under section 505 of the Omni11 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

12 (42 U.S.C. 3755) if the State provides less than 

13 70 percent of the records required to be provided 

14 under sections 102 and 103. 

15 ‘‘(2) MANDATORY REDUCTION.—After the expira16 tion of the period referred to in paragraph (1)(B), the 

17 Attorney General shall withhold 5 percent of the 

18 amount that would otherwise be allocated to a State 

19 under section 505 of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

20 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755), if the 

21 State provides less than 90 percent of the records re22 quired to be provided under sections 102 and 103.’’. 

23 (b) REPORTING OF STATE COMPLIANCE.—Not later 

24 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 

25 every year thereafter, the Attorney General shall publish, 


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1 and make available on a publicly accessible website, a re2 port that ranks the States by the ratio of number of records 

3 submitted by each State under sections 102 and 103 of the 

4 NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 

5 922 note) to the estimated total number of available records 

6 of the State. 

7 SEC. 103. CLARIFICATION THAT FEDERAL COURT INFORMA8 TION IS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE NA9 TIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

10 CHECK SYSTEM. 

11 Section 103(e)(1) of the Brady Handgun Violence Pre12 vention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note), is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(F) APPLICATION TO FEDERAL COURTS.— 

15 In this paragraph— 

16 ‘‘(i) the terms ‘department of agency of 

17 the United States’ and ‘Federal department 

18 or agency’ include a Federal court; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of any request, sub20 mission, or notification, the Director of the 

21 Administrative Office of the United States 

22 Courts shall perform the functions of the 

23 head of the department or agency.’’. 


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1 TITLE II—REQUIRING A BACK2 GROUND CHECK FOR EVERY 

3 FIREARM SALE 

4 SEC. 201. PURPOSE. 

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

6 background check procedures to all sales and transfers of 

7 firearms. 

8 SEC. 202. FIREARMS TRANSFERS. 

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

10 States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) by repealing subsection (s); 

12 (2) by redesignating subsection (t) as subsection 

13 (s); 

14 (3) in subsection (s), as redesignated— 

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

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

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

18 ‘‘(7) In this subsection, the term ‘chief law en19 forcement officer’ means the chief of police, the sheriff, 

20 or an equivalent officer or the designee of any such 

21 individual.’’; and 

22 (4) by inserting after subsection (s), as redesig23 nated, the following: 

24 ‘‘(t)(1) Beginning on the date that is 180 days after 

25 the date of enactment of this subsection, it shall be unlawful 


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1 for any person who is not licensed under this chapter to 

2 transfer a firearm to any other person who is not licensed 

3 under this chapter, unless a licensed importer, licensed 

4 manufacturer, or licensed dealer has first taken possession 

5 of the firearm for the purpose of complying with subsection 

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

7 comply with all requirements of this chapter as if the li8 censee were transferring the firearm from the licensee’s in9 ventory to the unlicensed transferee. 

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

11 ‘‘(A) bona fide gifts between spouses, between 

12 parents and their children, between siblings, or be13 tween grandparents and their grandchildren; 

14 ‘‘(B) a transfer made from a decedent’s estate, 

15 pursuant to a legal will or the operation of law; 

16 ‘‘(C) a temporary transfer of possession that oc17 curs between an unlicensed transferor and an unli18 censed transferee, if — 

19 ‘‘(i) the temporary transfer of possession oc20 curs in the home or curtilage of the unlicensed 

21 transferor; 

22 ‘‘(ii) the firearm is not removed from that 

23 home or curtilage during the temporary transfer; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the transfer has a duration of less 

2 than 7 days; and 

3 ‘‘(D) a temporary transfer of possession without 

4 transfer of title made in connection with lawful hunt5 ing or sporting purposes if the transfer occurs— 

6 ‘‘(i) at a shooting range located in or on 

7 premises owned or occupied by a duly incor8 porated organization organized for conservation 

9 purposes or to foster proficiency in firearms and 

10 the firearm is, at all times, kept within the 

11 premises of the shooting range; 

12 ‘‘(ii) at a target firearm shooting competi13 tion under the auspices of or approved by a 

14 State agency or nonprofit organization and the 

15 firearm is, at all times, kept within the premises 

16 of the shooting competition; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) while hunting or trapping, if— 

18 ‘‘(I) the activity is legal in all places 

19 where the unlicensed transferee possesses the 

20 firearm; 

21 ‘‘(II) the temporary transfer of posses22 sion occurs during the designated hunting 

23 season; and 

24 ‘‘(III) the unlicensed transferee holds 

25 any required license or permit. 


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1 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘trans2 fer’— 

3 ‘‘(A) shall include a sale, gift, loan, return from 

4 pawn or consignment, or other disposition; and 

5 ‘‘(B) shall not include temporary possession of 

6 the firearm for purposes of examination or evaluation 

7 by a prospective transferee while in the presence of the 

8 prospective transferee. 

9 ‘‘(4)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

10 chapter, the Attorney General may implement this sub11 section with regulations. 

12 ‘‘(B) Regulations promulgated under this para13 graph— 

14 ‘‘(i) shall include a provision setting a max15 imum fee that may be charged by licensees for services 

16 provided in accordance with paragraph (1); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) shall include a provision requiring a record 

18 of transaction of any transfer that occurred between 

19 an unlicensed transferor and unlicensed transferee ac20 cordance with paragraph (1).’’. 

21 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) SECTION 922.—Section 922(y)(2) of title 18, 

23 United States Code, is amended, in the matter pre24 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘, (g)(5)(B), 

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


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1 (2) SECTION 925A.—Section 925A of title 18, 

2 United States Code, is amended, in the matter pre3 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘subsection (s) or 

4 (t) of section 922’’ and inserting ‘‘section 922(s)’’. 

5 SEC. 203. LOST AND STOLEN REPORTING. 

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

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end— 

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

9 possesses or owns a firearm that has been shipped or trans10 ported in, or has been possessed in or affecting, interstate 

11 or foreign commerce, to fail to report the theft or loss of 

12 the firearm, within 24 hours after the person discovers the 

13 theft or loss, to the Attorney General and to the appropriate 

14 local authorities.’’. 

15 (b) PENALTY.—Section 924(a)(1) of title 18, United 

16 States Code, is amended by striking subparagraph (B) and 

17 inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(B) knowingly violates subsection (a)(4), (f), 

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

20 SEC. 204. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 180 

22 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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Calendar No. 25 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 374 

A BILL 

To ensure that all individuals who should be profirearm sale. tem and require a background check for every national instant criminal background check sys- hibited from buying a firearm are listed in the 

MARCH 12, 2013 

Reported with an amendment 


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