Gun Records Restoration and Preservation Act

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) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To repeal certain impediments to the administration of the firearms laws. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gun Records Restora- 4 tion and Preservation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds as follows: 7 (1) The Tiahrt Amendments prevent the collec- 8 tion of valuable information, and the establishment 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S974.IS S974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 974 IS of effective policies to prevent illegal guns from 1 being used in crimes. 2 (2) The Tiahrt Amendments impede enforce- 3 ment of the gun laws by requiring most background 4 check records to be destroyed within 24 hours, and 5 by barring the Federal Government from requiring 6 annual inventory audits by owners of gun shops. 7 (3) A 2012 study by researchers at Johns Hop- 8 kins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that 9 the Tiahrt Amendments dramatically increased gun 10 trafficking to the criminal market. 11 (4) A 2016 study from the University of Pitts- 12 burgh Graduate School of Public Health found that 13 in 2008, 79 percent of all guns recovered by police 14 from crime scenes belonged to someone other than 15 the perpetrator—30 percent had been stolen. 16 (5) Every year, more than 123,000 Americans 17 are shot. 18 (6) 2020 was one of the deadliest years on 19 record for the United States, with an estimated 20 19,300 people killed in firearm homicides or non-sui- 21 cide related shootings, which is a 25 percent increase 22 over 2019. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S974.IS S974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 974 IS (7) In 2019, 58.9 percent of firearm homicide 1 victims were Black and 15.9 percent of firearm 2 homicide victims were Hispanic. 3 (8) In 2019, the National Tracing Center at 4 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex- 5 plosives processed 450,000 trace requests on fire- 6 arms from Federal, State, and local law enforcement 7 agencies. 8 (9) Having effective policies to prevent illegal 9 gun trafficking makes our families and communities 10 safer. 11 (10) Repealing the Tiahrt Amendments would 12 support law enforcement efforts and give the public 13 vital information needed to craft the most effective 14 policies against illegal guns. 15 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF 16 DATABASE INFORMATION OF THE BUREAU 17 OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EX- 18 PLOSIVES. 19 (a) The matter under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alco- 20 hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex- 21 penses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated and 22 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 23 923 note; Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 609–610) is 24 amended by striking the 6th proviso. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S974.IS S974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 974 IS (b) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 1 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 2 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated Ap- 3 propriations Act, 2010 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 4 111–117; 123 Stat. 3128–3129) is amended by striking 5 ‘‘beginning in fiscal year 2010 and thereafter’’ and insert- 6 ing ‘‘in fiscal year 2010’’. 7 (c) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 8 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 9 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Omnibus Appro- 10 priations Act, 2009 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 111– 11 8; 123 Stat. 574–576) is amended by striking ‘‘beginning 12 in fiscal year 2009 and thereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘in fiscal 13 year 2009’’. 14 (d) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 15 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 16 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated Ap- 17 propriations Act, 2008 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 18 110–161; 121 Stat. 1903–1904) is amended by striking 19 ‘‘beginning in fiscal year 2008 and thereafter’’ and insert- 20 ing ‘‘in fiscal year 2008’’. 21 (e) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 22 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 23 Expenses’’ in title I of the Science, State, Justice, Com- 24 merce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S974.IS S974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 974 IS (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 109–108; 119 Stat. 1 2295–2296) is amended by striking ‘‘with respect to any 2 fiscal year’’. 3 (f) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 4 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 5 Expenses’’ in title I of division B of the Consolidated Ap- 6 propriations Act, 2005 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 7 108–447; 118 Stat. 2859–2860) is amended by striking 8 ‘‘with respect to any fiscal year’’. 9 SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF PROHIBITION ON PROCESSING OF 10 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUESTS 11 ABOUT ARSON OR EXPLOSIVES INCIDENTS 12 OR FIREARM TRACES. 13 Section 644 of division J of the Consolidated Appro- 14 priations Resolution, 2003 (5 U.S.C. 552 note; Public 15 Law 108–7; 117 Stat. 473) is repealed. 16 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF LIMITATIONS ON IMPOSITION OF RE- 17 QUIREMENT THAT FIREARMS DEALERS CON- 18 DUCT PHYSICAL CHECK OF FIREARMS IN- 19 VENTORY. 20 The 5th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alco- 21 hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex- 22 penses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated and 23 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (18 U.S.C. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S974.IS S974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 974 IS 923 note; Public Law 113–6; 127 Stat. 248) is amended 1 by striking ‘‘and any fiscal year thereafter’’. 2 SEC. 6. ELIMINATION OF PROHIBITION ON CONSOLIDA- 3 TION OR CENTRALIZATION IN THE DEPART- 4 MENT OF JUSTICE OF FIREARMS ACQUISI- 5 TION AND DISPOSITION RECORDS MAIN- 6 TAINED BY FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEES. 7 The matter under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alcohol, 8 Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex- 9 penses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated and 10 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 11 923 note; Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 609) is amended 12 by striking the 1st proviso. 13 SEC. 7. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO DESTROY INSTANT 14 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK RECORDS 15 WITHIN 24 HOURS. 16 Section 511 of the Consolidated and Further Con- 17 tinuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 922 note; 18 Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 632) is amended— 19 (1) by striking ‘‘—’’ and all that follows 20 through ‘‘(1)’’; and 21 (2) by striking the semicolon and all that fol- 22 lows and inserting a period. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S974.IS S974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS