Handgun Purchaser Licensing Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2707 To authorize for a grant program for handgun licensing programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2021 Mr. RASKIN (for himself and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To authorize for a grant program for handgun licensing programs, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Handgun Purchaser 4 Licensing Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds as follows: 7 (1) In 2019, 88.4 percent of firearm homicides 8 in the United States in which a firearm type was 9 specified were committed with a handgun. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2707.IH H2707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2707 IH (2) Research by top national experts show 1 that— 2 (A) adoption of handgun purchaser licens- 3 ing laws are associated with significant reduc- 4 tions in firearm-related homicides; and 5 (B) repeal of handgun purchaser licensing 6 laws are associated with significant increases in 7 firearm-related homicides. 8 (3) Research on the effects of the adoption of 9 a handgun purchaser licensing law in Connecticut in 10 1995 showed— 11 (A) a 27.8-percent reduction in the rate of 12 firearm homicide; and 13 (B) a 32.8-percent reduction in firearm 14 suicide rates. 15 (4) Published research has shown that the re- 16 peal of a handgun purchaser licensing law in Mis- 17 souri in 2007 was associated with— 18 (A) a 47.3-percent increase in the rate of 19 firearm homicide; and 20 (B) a 23.5-percent increase in firearm sui- 21 cide rates. 22 (5) In States that have had effective handgun 23 purchaser licensing laws for decades, such as Con- 24 necticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2707.IH H2707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2707 IH the vast majority of firearms traced to crimes origi- 1 nated in States that do not have handgun purchaser 2 licensing laws, which supports the need for handgun 3 purchaser licensing laws in every State. 4 (6) Research has shown that States with hand- 5 gun purchaser licensing laws export far fewer fire- 6 arms for criminal use in other States than States 7 that lack handgun purchaser licensing laws. 8 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED FOR HANDGUN LI- 9 CENSING. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Omnibus Crime 11 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 12 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘PART PP—HANDGUN LICENSING GRANT 14 PROGRAM 15 ‘‘SEC. 3061. DEFINITION. 16 ‘‘In this part, the term ‘handgun’ has the meaning 17 given the term in section 921(a) of title 18, United States 18 Code. 19 ‘‘SEC. 3062. GRANT PROGRAM. 20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 21 award grants to States, units of local government, and In- 22 dian tribes for the development, implementation, and eval- 23 uation of handgun purchaser licensing requirements. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2707.IH H2707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2707 IH ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts 1 appropriated to carry out this part, and not later than 2 90 days after such amounts are appropriated, the Attor- 3 ney General shall award grants, on a competitive basis, 4 to eligible applicants whose applications are approved 5 under subsection (c) to assist such applicants in imple- 6 menting and improving handgun purchaser licensing pro- 7 grams. 8 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 9 under this part, a State, unit of local government, or In- 10 dian tribe shall submit to the Attorney General an applica- 11 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 12 information as the Attorney General may require, includ- 13 ing— 14 ‘‘(1) a description of the law that the applicant 15 has enacted to require a license for any purchase of 16 a handgun, including a description of any exemp- 17 tions to such law; and 18 ‘‘(2) a description of how the applicant will use 19 the grant to carry out or improve its handgun pur- 20 chaser licensing program. 21 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible 22 for a grant under this part, an applicant shall have in ef- 23 fect a handgun purchaser licensing law that includes the 24 following requirements: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2707.IH H2707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2707 IH ‘‘(1) With respect to an individual applying for 1 a handgun license or permit— 2 ‘‘(A) the individual shall be— 3 ‘‘(i) not less than 21 years old; and 4 ‘‘(ii) a citizen or national of the 5 United States or an alien lawfully admitted 6 for permanent residence (as those terms 7 are defined in section 101(a) of the Immi- 8 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 9 1101(a))); 10 ‘‘(B) the individual shall apply for the 11 handgun purchaser license or permit at a law 12 enforcement agency in the State in which the 13 individual resides; 14 ‘‘(C) the individual shall reapply for the 15 handgun purchaser license or permit after a pe- 16 riod not longer than 5 years; and 17 ‘‘(D) the individual shall, in connection 18 with the application for the handgun purchaser 19 license or permit— 20 ‘‘(i) submit to a background investiga- 21 tion and a criminal history check, as estab- 22 lished by the State, which shall ensure, at 23 a minimum, that the individual is not pro- 24 hibited from possessing a firearm under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2707.IH H2707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2707 IH section 922(g) of title 18, United States 1 Code; and 2 ‘‘(ii) submit fingerprints and photo- 3 graphs. 4 ‘‘(2) An individual who is prohibited from pos- 5 sessing a firearm under section 922(g) of title 18, 6 United States Code, may not be issued a handgun 7 purchasing license or permit. 8 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 9 this part shall be used to improve the handgun purchaser 10 licensing program of the grant recipient.’’. 11 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 12 1001(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 13 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(a)) is amended by 14 adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(29) There are authorized to be appropriated such 16 sums as may be necessary to carry out part PP.’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2707.IH H2707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS