Reducing Gun Violence in our Neighborhoods Act of 2015

To reduce gun violence, increase mental health counseling, and enhance the tracking of lost and stolen firearms. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Reducing Gun Violence in our Neighborhoods Act of 2015 2. Tax on firearms (a) In general Section 4181 (1) by striking There is hereby (a) In general There is hereby , and (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection: (b) Additional tax on firearms In addition to the tax imposed by subsection (a), there is hereby imposed upon the sale by the manufacturer, producer, or importer of any firearm a tax in the amount of $100. . (b) Exemption for firearms acquired for law enforcement Section 4182 of such Code is amended by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e) and by inserting after subsection (c) the following new subsection: (d) Exemption from additional tax for firearms acquired for law enforcement The tax imposed by section 4181(b) shall not apply to any firearm which is purchased by the United States or by a State or local government for police or other law enforcement purposes. . (c) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply to sales in calendar months beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 3. Establishment of Gun Violence Reduction and Mental Health Counseling Trust Fund (a) In general Subchapter A of chapter 98 9512. Gun Violence Reduction and Mental Health Counseling Trust Fund (a) Creation of trust fund There is established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the Gun Violence Reduction and Mental Health Counseling Trust Fund (b) Transfers to trust fund There are hereby appropriated to the Gun Violence Reduction and Mental Health Counseling Trust Fund amounts equivalent to taxes received in the Treasury under section 4181(b). (c) Expenditures Amounts in the Gun Violence Reduction and Mental Health Counseling Trust Fund shall be available, without need of further appropriation and without regard to any fiscal year limitation, as follows: (1) 50 percent of such amounts for making expenditures to carry out, with respect to block grants for community mental health services, subparts I and III of part B of title XIX of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 300x et seq. (2) 50 percent of such amounts for making expenditures to carry out subpart 1 of part E of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq. Amounts made available under this subsection shall supplement and not supplant amounts otherwise made available to carry out the provisions referred to this subsection. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of sections for subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new item: Sec. 9512. Gun Violence Reduction and Mental Health Counseling Trust Fund. . 4. Passive capability to identify lost and stolen firearms (a) Establishment of national standard (1) In general The Attorney General shall, in consultation with the National Institute for Standards and Technology, establish in regulations a national standard for the incorporation of a passive identification capability into all firearms sold in the United States. (2) Passive identification capability defined In this section, the term passive identification capability (A) enables a firearm to be identified by a mobile or fixed reading device; and (B) does not emit or broadcast an electronic signal or other information that would enable the firearm or its owner to be monitored or tracked. (3) Considerations In developing the standard, the Attorney General shall give equal priority to the following: (A) The right of firearm owners to maintain their full right to privacy under the 4th Amendment and their right to legally own firearms under the 2nd Amendment. (B) The ability of law enforcement authorities to use the capability to track lost and stolen guns. (C) The ability of manufacturers to incorporate the capability using existing firearm manufacturing processes. (D) The resistance to tampering and destruction of the technology used to incorporate the capability. (b) Prohibition; penalty (1) Prohibition It shall be unlawful for a person, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, to manufacture a firearm that does not have a passive identification capability that meets the national standard established under subsection (a). (2) Civil penalty After notice and opportunity for hearing, the Attorney General shall impose on a person who violates paragraph (1) a civil money penalty in such amount, not exceeding $1,000 per firearm, as the Attorney General shall prescribe in regulations. (3) Effective date This subsection shall take effect on such date as the Attorney General shall prescribe in regulations that is not later than 3 years after the establishment of the national standard under subsection (a). 5. Reporting of lost and stolen firearms (a) In general Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives shall establish a database of firearms reported to be lost or stolen in the United States, which shall be known as the National Database of Lost and Stolen Firearms (b) Contents The database shall include the following information with respect to each firearm reported to the database: (1) A description of the firearm, including the type of the firearm. (2) Whether the firearm is reported lost or stolen. (3) The date of the report. (4) The name of the owner of the firearm, if known. (5) The name and location of the person from whom the firearm was obtained, if known. (6) The location where the firearm is reported to have been lost or stolen. (7) Whether the firearm has been reported to the database as having been recovered, since being reported to the database as lost or stolen. (c) Availability of database The information in the database shall be made available to all Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities. (d) Reporting of lost or stolen firearms to local law enforcement authorities (1) Reporting requirement Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (aa) Within 48 hours after a person who owns a firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce discovers the theft or loss of the firearm, the person shall report the theft or loss to local law enforcement authorities. . (2) Penalty Section 924 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following: (q) Penalty for failure To report loss or theft of firearm Whoever violates section 922(aa) shall be fined $10,000 with respect to each firearm involved in the violation. . (e) Requirement that local law enforcement authorities report lost or stolen firearms to the national registry Within 7 days after a local law enforcement authority receives a report that a firearm is lost or stolen, the authority shall transmit the report to the National Database of Lost and Stolen Firearms.

Summary: Reducing Gun Violence in our Neighborhoods Act of 2015 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an additional tax of $100 on the sale of a firearm by a manufacturer, producer, or importer. Firearm purchases by federal, state, and local governments for law enforcement purposes are exempt from the additional tax. The bill establishes the Gun Violence Reduction and Mental Health Counseling Trust Fund at the Department of the Treasury. It transfers revenues from the additional tax into the trust fund to support the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant program and the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program. The Department of Justice (DOJ) must establish and newly manufactured firearms must meet a national standard for incorporating passive identification capability into all firearms sold in the United States. Passive identification capability means technology that: (1) enables identification by a mobile or fixed reading device, and (2) does not transmit an electronic monitoring or tracking signal. DOJ's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives must establish the National Database of Lost and Stolen Firearms. This bill amends the federal criminal code to require a gun owner to report a lost or stolen firearm to local law enforcement authorities within 48 hours of discovery. Local law enforcement authorities must transmit the report to the national database within seven days.