Handgun Licensing and Registration Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3740 To provide for the mandatory licensing and registration of handguns, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 4, 2021 Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. SIRES, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. NORTON, Ms. ADAMS, and Mr. CARSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for the mandatory licensing and registration of handguns, 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 Licensing 4 and Registration Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3740.IH H3740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3740 IH SEC. 2. FEDERAL HANDGUN LICENSING AND REGISTRA- 1 TION SYSTEM TO APPLY IN ANY STATE THAT 2 DOES NOT HAVE A HANDGUN LICENSING AND 3 REGISTRATION SYSTEM THAT MEETS CER- 4 TAIN REQUIREMENTS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United 6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘§ 932. Licensing and registration of handguns 9 ‘‘(a)(1) The Attorney General of the United States 10 shall establish a Federal system for the licensing and reg- 11 istration of all handguns owned, possessed, or controlled 12 in the United States— 13 ‘‘(A) under which— 14 ‘‘(i) a person shall not be eligible to receive 15 such a license if the person— 16 ‘‘(I) has not attained 21 years of age; 17 ‘‘(II) is not a citizen, national, or law- 18 ful permanent resident of the United 19 States; 20 ‘‘(III) has not completed training in 21 firearms safety; 22 ‘‘(IV) as part of the process for apply- 23 ing for such a license— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3740.IH H3740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3740 IH ‘‘(aa) has not submitted to a 1 background investigation and criminal 2 history check of the person; or 3 ‘‘(bb) has not submitted the fin- 4 gerprints of the person and a recent 5 photograph that clearly shows the face 6 of the person; or 7 ‘‘(V) is prohibited by Federal law 8 from possessing a firearm; and 9 ‘‘(ii) such a license shall expire not more 10 than 5 years after issuance; and 11 ‘‘(B) which shall include a method for easily re- 12 trieving information sufficient to identify— 13 ‘‘(i) each resident of a State to which this 14 subsection applies who owns, possesses, or con- 15 trols a handgun; and 16 ‘‘(ii) the handgun. 17 ‘‘(2) It shall be unlawful for a person to own, possess, 18 or control a handgun in a State to which this subsection 19 applies unless the person— 20 ‘‘(A) is licensed to do so by the system estab- 21 lished pursuant to paragraph (1); and 22 ‘‘(B) has registered the handgun with a Fed- 23 eral, State, or local law enforcement agency. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3740.IH H3740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3740 IH ‘‘(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply in a State if there 1 is in effect a certification by the Attorney General of the 2 United States that the State has in effect a system for 3 the licensing and registration of handguns owned, pos- 4 sessed, or controlled in the State that— 5 ‘‘(1) meets the requirements of subsection 6 (a)(1)(A); 7 ‘‘(2) includes a method for easily retrieving in- 8 formation sufficient to identify— 9 ‘‘(A) each resident of the State who owns, 10 possesses, or controls a handgun in the State; 11 and 12 ‘‘(B) the handgun; and 13 ‘‘(3) at a minimum, imposes criminal penalties 14 on any person who— 15 ‘‘(A) owns, possesses, or controls a hand- 16 gun in the State, and— 17 ‘‘(i) is not licensed by the State to 18 possess a handgun; or 19 ‘‘(ii) has not registered the handgun 20 with a Federal, State, or local law enforce- 21 ment agency; or 22 ‘‘(B) transfers or receives handgun ammu- 23 nition, unless the recipient— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3740.IH H3740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3740 IH ‘‘(i) is a licensed importer, licensed 1 manufacturer, or licensed dealer; or 2 ‘‘(ii) before the receipt, has presented 3 to the transferor— 4 ‘‘(I) a valid firearms purchaser 5 identification card issued by the State 6 to the recipient; 7 ‘‘(II) a valid copy of a handgun 8 purchase permit issued by the State 9 to the recipient; or 10 ‘‘(III) a valid permit to carry a 11 handgun issued by the State to the re- 12 cipient. 13 ‘‘(c) A certification under subsection (b) with respect 14 to a State shall have no force or effect on or after the 15 date the Attorney General finds, after an opportunity for 16 a hearing on the record, that the State does not have in 17 effect the system described in subsection (b). 18 ‘‘(d) The Attorney General shall prescribe such regu- 19 lations as may be necessary to carry out this section.’’. 20 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of such title is 21 amended by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(8) Whoever knowingly violates section 932(a)(2) 23 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned, or both. The 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3740.IH H3740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3740 IH court shall not suspend a sentence of imprisonment im- 1 posed under this paragraph.’’. 2 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 3 for such chapter is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘932. Licensing and registration of handguns.’’. (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 6 this section shall apply to conduct engaged in after the 7 2-year period that begins with the date of the enactment 8 of this Act. 9 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF PRO- 10 GRAMS TO LICENSE AND REGISTER HAND- 11 GUNS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is author- 13 ized to award grants to States, units of local government, 14 and Indian tribes to comply with the requirements under 15 subsection (a) of section 932 of title 18, United States 16 Code, or to implement a system described in subsection 17 (b) of that section. 18 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap- 19 propriated to carry out this section, and not later than 20 90 days after such amounts are appropriated, the Attor- 21 ney General shall award grants, on a competitive basis, 22 to eligible applicants whose applications are approved 23 under subsection (c) to assist such applicants in carrying 24 out the activities described in subsection (a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3740.IH H3740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3740 IH (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 1 under this Act, a State, unit of local government, or In- 2 dian tribe shall submit to the Attorney General an applica- 3 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 4 information as the Attorney General may require, includ- 5 ing— 6 (1) whether the applicant will use the grant 7 to— 8 (A) comply with the requirements under 9 subsection (a) of section 932 of title 18, United 10 States Code; or 11 (B) implement a system described in sub- 12 section (b) of that section, including a descrip- 13 tion of the law that the applicant has enacted 14 to require a license for any purchase of a hand- 15 gun including a description of any other exemp- 16 tions to such law; and 17 (2) a description of the specific activities for 18 which the applicant will use the grant. 19 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A grantee under this Act shall 20 use such grant to carry out the activities described in sub- 21 section (a). 22 (e) AUDITS.—The Attorney General shall conduct an 23 audit every 2 years of each applicant receiving a grant 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3740.IH H3740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3740 IH under this section, and may conduct such additional audits 1 as the Attorney General determines necessary. 2 (f) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall submit an 3 annual report to Congress on the grant program under 4 this section, which shall include information on the 5 progress made in establishing the Federal system de- 6 scribed in subsection (a) of section 932 of title 18, United 7 States Code, and the progress made by States in estab- 8 lishing a system described in subsection (b) of such sec- 9 tion. 10 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 11 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec- 12 essary to carry out this Act. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3740.IH H3740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS