Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act of 2021

II Calendar No. 62 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1775 To address gun violence, improve the availability of records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, address mental illness in the criminal justice system, and end straw purchases and trafficking of illegal firearms, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. CRUZ, and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which was read the first time MAY 24, 2021 Read the second time and placed on the calendar A BILL To address gun violence, improve the availability of records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check Sys- tem, address mental illness in the criminal justice sys- tem, and end straw purchases and trafficking of illegal firearms, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1775 PCS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second 3 Amendment Act of 2021’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 5 this Act is as follows: 6 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. Reauthorization and improvements to NICS. Sec. 4. Availability of records to NICS. Sec. 5. Definitions relating to mental health. Sec. 6. Conditions for treatment of certain persons as adjudicated mentally in- competent for certain purposes. Sec. 7. Reports and certifications to Congress. Sec. 8. Increasing Federal prosecution of gun violence. Sec. 9. Prosecution of felons and fugitives who attempt to illegally purchase firearms. Sec. 10. Limitation on operations by the Department of Justice. Sec. 11. Straw purchasing of firearms. Sec. 12. Increased penalties for lying and buying. Sec. 13. Amendments to section 924(a). Sec. 14. Amendments to section 924(h). Sec. 15. Amendments to section 924(k). Sec. 16. Multiple sales reports for rifles and shotguns. Sec. 17. Study by the National Institutes of Justice and National Academy of Sciences on the causes of mass shootings. Sec. 18. Reports to Congress regarding ammunition purchases by Federal agen- cies. Sec. 19. Reduction of Byrne JAG funds for State failure to provide mental health records to NICS. Sec. 20. Firearm commerce modernization. Sec. 21. Firearm dealer access to law enforcement information. Sec. 22. Interstate transportation of firearms or ammunition. Sec. 23. Preventing duplicative grants. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act— 8 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 9 the term in section 551 of title 5, United States 10 Code; 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1775 PCS (2) the term ‘‘NICS’’ means the National In- 1 stant Criminal Background Check System; and 2 (3) the term ‘‘relevant Federal records’’ means 3 any record demonstrating that a person is prohibited 4 from possessing or receiving a firearm under sub- 5 section (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United 6 States Code. 7 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION AND IMPROVEMENTS TO NICS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103 of the NICS Im- 9 provement Amendments Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40913) 10 is amended— 11 (1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and 12 (g) as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively; 13 (2) by amending subsection (f), as so redesig- 14 nated, to read as follows: 15 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 17 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.’’; 18 and 19 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘(e) ACCOUNTABILITY.—All grants awarded by the 22 Attorney General under this section shall be subject to the 23 following accountability provisions: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1775 PCS ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 1 ‘unresolved audit finding’ means a finding in the 2 final audit report of the Inspector General of the 3 Department of Justice that the audited grantee has 4 utilized grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure 5 or otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or 6 resolved within 12 months from the date when the 7 final audit report is issued. 8 ‘‘(2) AUDITS.—Beginning in the first fiscal 9 year beginning after the date of enactment of this 10 subsection, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the In- 11 spector General of the Department of Justice shall 12 conduct audits of recipients of grants under this sec- 13 tion to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by 14 grantees. The Inspector General shall determine the 15 appropriate number of grantees to be audited each 16 year. 17 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 18 section, the Attorney General shall give priority to 19 eligible applicants that did not have an unresolved 20 audit finding during the 3 fiscal years before sub- 21 mitting an application for a grant under this sec- 22 tion.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1775 PCS (b) MODIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE- 1 MENTS.—The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40902 et seq.) is amended— 3 (1) in section 102(b)(1) (34 U.S.C. 4 40912(b)(1))— 5 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub- 6 paragraph (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 7 (B)’’; 8 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 9 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 10 subparagraph (B); 11 (2) in section 103(a)(1) (34 U.S.C. 12 40913(a)(1)), by striking ‘‘and subject to section 13 102(b)(1)(B)’’; and 14 (3) in section 104(d) (34 U.S.C. 40914(d)), by 15 striking ‘‘section 102(b)(1)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec- 16 tion 102(b)(1)(B)’’. 17 SEC. 4. AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS TO NICS. 18 (a) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 45 days after the 19 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 20 issue guidance regarding— 21 (1) the identification and sharing of relevant 22 Federal records; and 23 (2) submission of the relevant Federal records 24 to NICS. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1775 PCS (b) PRIORITIZATION OF RECORDS.—Each agency 1 that possesses relevant Federal records shall prioritize 2 providing the relevant information contained in the rel- 3 evant Federal records to NICS on a regular and ongoing 4 basis in accordance with the guidance issued by the Attor- 5 ney General under subsection (a). 6 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after the At- 7 torney General issues guidance under subsection (a), the 8 head of each agency shall submit a report to the Attorney 9 General that— 10 (1) advises whether the agency possesses rel- 11 evant Federal records; and 12 (2) describes the implementation plan of the 13 agency for making the relevant information con- 14 tained in relevant Federal records available to NICS 15 in a manner consistent with applicable law. 16 (d) DETERMINATION OF RELEVANCE.—The Attorney 17 General shall resolve any dispute regarding whether— 18 (1) agency records are relevant Federal records; 19 and 20 (2) the relevant Federal records of an agency 21 should be made available to NICS. 22 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH. 23 (a) TITLE 18 DEFINITIONS.—Chapter 44 of title 18, 24 United States Code, is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1775 PCS (1) in section 921(a), by adding at the end the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(36)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the term ‘has 3 been adjudicated mentally incompetent or has been com- 4 mitted to a psychiatric hospital’, with respect to a per- 5 son— 6 ‘‘(i) means the person is the subject of an order 7 or finding by a judicial officer, court, board, commis- 8 sion, or other adjudicative body— 9 ‘‘(I) that was issued after— 10 ‘‘(aa) a hearing— 11 ‘‘(AA) of which the person re- 12 ceived actual notice; and 13 ‘‘(BB) at which the person had 14 an opportunity to participate with 15 counsel; or 16 ‘‘(bb) the person knowingly and intel- 17 ligently waived the opportunity for a hear- 18 ing— 19 ‘‘(AA) of which the person re- 20 ceived actual notice; and 21 ‘‘(BB) at which the person would 22 have had an opportunity to participate 23 with counsel; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1775 PCS ‘‘(II) that found that the person, as a re- 1 sult of marked subnormal intelligence, mental 2 impairment, or mental illness— 3 ‘‘(aa) was a danger to himself or to 4 others; 5 ‘‘(bb) was guilty but mentally ill in a 6 criminal case; 7 ‘‘(cc) was not guilty in a criminal case 8 by reason of insanity or mental disease or 9 defect; 10 ‘‘(dd) was incompetent to stand trial 11 in a criminal case; 12 ‘‘(ee) was not guilty only by reason of 13 lack of mental responsibility under section 14 850a of title 10 (article 50a of the Uni- 15 form Code of Military Justice); 16 ‘‘(ff) required involuntary inpatient 17 treatment by a psychiatric hospital; 18 ‘‘(gg) required involuntary outpatient 19 treatment by a psychiatric hospital based 20 on a finding that the person is a danger to 21 himself or to others; or 22 ‘‘(hh) required involuntary commit- 23 ment to a psychiatric hospital for any rea- 24 son, including drug use; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1775 PCS ‘‘(ii) does not include— 1 ‘‘(I) a person who is in a psychiatric hos- 2 pital for observation; or 3 ‘‘(II) a voluntary admission to a psy- 4 chiatric hospital. 5 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘order or finding’ 6 does not include— 7 ‘‘(i) an order or finding that has expired or has 8 been set aside or expunged; 9 ‘‘(ii) an order or finding that is no longer appli- 10 cable because a judicial officer, court, board, com- 11 mission, or other adjudicative body has found that 12 the person who is the subject of the order or find- 13 ing— 14 ‘‘(I) does not present a danger to himself 15 or to others; 16 ‘‘(II) has been restored to sanity or cured 17 of mental disease or defect; 18 ‘‘(III) has been restored to competency; or 19 ‘‘(IV) no longer requires involuntary inpa- 20 tient or outpatient treatment by, or involuntary 21 commitment to, a psychiatric hospital; or 22 ‘‘(iii) an order or finding with respect to which 23 the person who is subject to the order or finding has 24 been granted relief from disabilities under section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1775 PCS 925(c) or under a program described in section 1 101(c)(2)(A) or 105 of the NICS Improvement 2 Amendments Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40911, 3 40915). 4 ‘‘(37) The term ‘psychiatric hospital’ includes a men- 5 tal health facility, a mental hospital, a sanitarium, a psy- 6 chiatric facility, and any other facility that provides diag- 7 noses by licensed professionals of mental retardation or 8 mental illness, including a psychiatric ward in a general 9 hospital.’’; and 10 (2) in section 922— 11 (A) in subsection (d)(4)— 12 (i) by striking ‘‘as a mental defective’’ 13 and inserting ‘‘mentally incompetent’’; and 14 (ii) by striking ‘‘any mental institu- 15 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘a psychiatric hos- 16 pital’’; and 17 (B) in subsection (g)(4)— 18 (i) by striking ‘‘as a mental defective 19 or who has’’ and inserting ‘‘mentally in- 20 competent or has’’; and 21 (ii) by striking ‘‘mental institution’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘psychiatric hospital’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1775 PCS (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 1 The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (34 2 U.S.C. 40902 et seq.) is amended— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘as a mental defective’’ each 4 place that term appears and inserting ‘‘mentally in- 5 competent’’; 6 (2) by striking ‘‘mental institution’’ each place 7 that term appears and inserting ‘‘psychiatric hos- 8 pital’’; and 9 (3) in section 102(c)(3) (34 U.S.C. 10 40912(c)(3))— 11 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 12 ‘‘AS A MENTAL DEFECTIVE OR COMMITTED TO 13 A MENTAL INSTITUTION’’ and inserting ‘‘MEN- 14 TALLY INCOMPETENT OR COMMITTED TO A PSY- 15 CHIATRIC HOSPITAL’’; and 16 (B) by striking ‘‘mental institutions’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘psychiatric hospitals’’. 18 SEC. 6. CONDITIONS FOR TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PER- 19 SONS AS ADJUDICATED MENTALLY INCOM- 20 PETENT FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 38, United 22 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 23 lowing: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.PCS S1775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1775 PCS ‘‘§ 5511. Conditions for treatment of certain persons 1 as adjudicated mentally incompetent for 2 certain purposes 3 ‘‘In any case arising out of the administration by the 4 Secretary of laws and benefits under this title, a person 5 who is mentally incapacitated, deemed mentally incom- 6 petent, or experiencing an extended loss of consciousness 7 shall not be considered adjudicated as a mental defective 8 under subsection (d)(4) or (g)(4) of section 922 of title 9 18 without the order or finding of a judge, magistrate, 10 or other judicial authority of competent jurisdiction that 11 such person is a danger to himself or herself or others.’’. 12 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 13 The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 55 of 14 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 15 end the following: 16 ‘‘5511. Conditions for treatment of certain persons as adjudicated mentally in- competent for certain purposes.’’. SEC. 7. REPORTS AND CERTIFICATIONS TO CONGRESS. 17 (a) NICS REPORTS.—Not later than October 1, 18 2022, and every year thereafter, the head of each agency 19 that possesses relevant Federal records shall submit a re- 20 po [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]