Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1519 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 16, 2019 Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second 5 Amendment Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1519 IS (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 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. 3 In this Act— 4 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 5 the term in section 551 of title 5, United States 6 Code; 7 (2) the term ‘‘NICS’’ means the National In- 8 stant Criminal Background Check System; and 9 (3) the term ‘‘relevant Federal records’’ means 10 any record demonstrating that a person is prohibited 11 from possessing or receiving a firearm under sub- 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1519 IS section (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United 1 States Code. 2 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION AND IMPROVEMENTS TO NICS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103 of the NICS Im- 4 provement Amendments Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40913) 5 is amended— 6 (1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and 7 (g) as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively; 8 (2) by amending subsection (f), as so redesig- 9 nated, to read as follows: 10 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 11 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 12 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.’’; 13 and 14 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘(e) ACCOUNTABILITY.—All grants awarded by the 17 Attorney General under this section shall be subject to the 18 following accountability provisions: 19 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 20 ‘unresolved audit finding’ means a finding in the 21 final audit report of the Inspector General of the 22 Department of Justice that the audited grantee has 23 utilized grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure 24 or otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1519 IS resolved within 12 months from the date when the 1 final audit report is issued. 2 ‘‘(2) AUDITS.—Beginning in the first fiscal 3 year beginning after the date of enactment of this 4 subsection, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the In- 5 spector General of the Department of Justice shall 6 conduct audits of recipients of grants under this sec- 7 tion to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by 8 grantees. The Inspector General shall determine the 9 appropriate number of grantees to be audited each 10 year. 11 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 12 section, the Attorney General shall give priority to 13 eligible applicants that did not have an unresolved 14 audit finding during the 3 fiscal years before sub- 15 mitting an application for a grant under this sec- 16 tion.’’. 17 (b) MODIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE- 18 MENTS.—The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 19 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40902 et seq.) is amended— 20 (1) in section 102(b)(1) (34 U.S.C. 21 40912(b)(1))— 22 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub- 23 paragraph (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 24 (B)’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1519 IS (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 1 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 2 subparagraph (B); 3 (2) in section 103(a)(1) (34 U.S.C. 4 40913(a)(1)), by striking ‘‘and subject to section 5 102(b)(1)(B)’’; and 6 (3) in section 104(d) (34 U.S.C. 40914(d)), by 7 striking ‘‘section 102(b)(1)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec- 8 tion 102(b)(1)(B)’’. 9 SEC. 4. AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS TO NICS. 10 (a) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 45 days after the 11 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 12 issue guidance regarding— 13 (1) the identification and sharing of relevant 14 Federal records; and 15 (2) submission of the relevant Federal records 16 to NICS. 17 (b) PRIORITIZATION OF RECORDS.—Each agency 18 that possesses relevant Federal records shall prioritize 19 providing the relevant information contained in the rel- 20 evant Federal records to NICS on a regular and ongoing 21 basis in accordance with the guidance issued by the Attor- 22 ney General under subsection (a). 23 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after the At- 24 torney General issues guidance under subsection (a), the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1519 IS head of each agency shall submit a report to the Attorney 1 General that— 2 (1) advises whether the agency possesses rel- 3 evant Federal records; and 4 (2) describes the implementation plan of the 5 agency for making the relevant information con- 6 tained in relevant Federal records available to NICS 7 in a manner consistent with applicable law. 8 (d) DETERMINATION OF RELEVANCE.—The Attorney 9 General shall resolve any dispute regarding whether— 10 (1) agency records are relevant Federal records; 11 and 12 (2) the relevant Federal records of an agency 13 should be made available to NICS. 14 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH. 15 (a) TITLE 18 DEFINITIONS.—Chapter 44 of title 18, 16 United States Code, is amended— 17 (1) in section 921(a), by adding at the end the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(36)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the term ‘has 20 been adjudicated mentally incompetent or has been com- 21 mitted to a psychiatric hospital’, with respect to a per- 22 son— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1519 IS ‘‘(i) means the person is the subject of an order 1 or finding by a judicial officer, court, board, commis- 2 sion, or other adjudicative body— 3 ‘‘(I) that was issued after— 4 ‘‘(aa) a hearing— 5 ‘‘(AA) of which the person re- 6 ceived actual notice; and 7 ‘‘(BB) at which the person had 8 an opportunity to participate with 9 counsel; or 10 ‘‘(bb) the person knowingly and intel- 11 ligently waived the opportunity for a hear- 12 ing— 13 ‘‘(AA) of which the person re- 14 ceived actual notice; and 15 ‘‘(BB) at which the person would 16 have had an opportunity to participate 17 with counsel; and 18 ‘‘(II) that found that the person, as a re- 19 sult of marked subnormal intelligence, mental 20 impairment, or mental illness— 21 ‘‘(aa) was a danger to himself or to 22 others; 23 ‘‘(bb) was guilty but mentally ill in a 24 criminal case; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1519 IS ‘‘(cc) was not guilty in a criminal case 1 by reason of insanity or mental disease or 2 defect; 3 ‘‘(dd) was incompetent to stand trial 4 in a criminal case; 5 ‘‘(ee) was not guilty only by reason of 6 lack of mental responsibility under section 7 850a of title 10 (article 50a of the Uni- 8 form Code of Military Justice); 9 ‘‘(ff) required involuntary inpatient 10 treatment by a psychiatric hospital; 11 ‘‘(gg) required involuntary outpatient 12 treatment by a psychiatric hospital based 13 on a finding that the person is a danger to 14 himself or to others; or 15 ‘‘(hh) required involuntary commit- 16 ment to a psychiatric hospital for any rea- 17 son, including drug use; and 18 ‘‘(ii) does not include— 19 ‘‘(I) a person who is in a psychiatric hos- 20 pital for observation; or 21 ‘‘(II) a voluntary admission to a psy- 22 chiatric hospital. 23 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘order or finding’ 24 does not include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1519 IS ‘‘(i) an order or finding that has expired or has 1 been set aside or expunged; 2 ‘‘(ii) an order or finding that is no longer appli- 3 cable because a judicial officer, court, board, com- 4 mission, or other adjudicative body has found that 5 the person who is the subject of the order or find- 6 ing— 7 ‘‘(I) does not present a danger to himself 8 or to others; 9 ‘‘(II) has been restored to sanity or cured 10 of mental disease or defect; 11 ‘‘(III) has been restored to competency; or 12 ‘‘(IV) no longer requires involuntary inpa- 13 tient or outpatient treatment by, or involuntary 14 commitment to, a psychiatric hospital; or 15 ‘‘(iii) an order or finding with respect to which 16 the person who is subject to the order or finding has 17 been granted relief from disabilities under section 18 925(c) or under a program described in section 19 101(c)(2)(A) or 105 of the NICS Improvement 20 Amendments Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40911, 21 40915). 22 ‘‘(37) The term ‘psychiatric hospital’ includes a men- 23 tal health facility, a mental hospital, a sanitarium, a psy- 24 chiatric facility, and any other facility that provides diag- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1519 IS noses by licensed professionals of mental retardation or 1 mental illness, including a psychiatric ward in a general 2 hospital.’’; and 3 (2) in section 922— 4 (A) in subsection (d)(4)— 5 (i) by striking ‘‘as a mental defective’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘mentally incompetent’’; and 7 (ii) by striking ‘‘any mental institu- 8 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘a psychiatric hos- 9 pital’’; and 10 (B) in subsection (g)(4)— 11 (i) by striking ‘‘as a mental defective 12 or who has’’ and inserting ‘‘mentally in- 13 competent or has’’; and 14 (ii) by striking ‘‘mental institution’’ 15 and inserting ‘‘psychiatric hospital’’. 16 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 17 The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (34 18 U.S.C. 40902 et seq.) is amended— 19 (1) by striking ‘‘as a mental defective’’ each 20 place that term appears and inserting ‘‘mentally in- 21 competent’’; 22 (2) by striking ‘‘mental institution’’ each place 23 that term appears and inserting ‘‘psychiatric hos- 24 pital’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1519 IS (3) in section 102(c)(3) (34 U.S.C. 1 40912(c)(3))— 2 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 3 ‘‘AS A MENTAL DEFECTIVE OR COMMITTED TO 4 A MENTAL INSTITUTION’’ and inserting ‘‘MEN- 5 TALLY INCOMPETENT OR COMMITTED TO A PSY- 6 CHIATRIC HOSPITAL’’; and 7 (B) by striking ‘‘mental institutions’’ and 8 inserting ‘‘psychiatric hospitals’’. 9 SEC. 6. CONDITIONS FOR TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PER- 10 SONS AS ADJUDICATED MENTALLY INCOM- 11 PETENT FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 38, United 13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘§ 5511. Conditions for treatment of certain persons 16 as adjudicated mentally incompetent for 17 certain purposes 18 ‘‘In any case arising out of the administration by the 19 Secretary of laws and benefits under this title, a person 20 who is mentally incapacitated, deemed mentally incom- 21 petent, or experiencing an extended loss of consciousness 22 shall not be considered adjudicated as a mental defective 23 under subsection (d)(4) or (g)(4) of section 922 of title 24 18 without the order or finding of a judge, magistrate, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.IS S1519 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1519 IS or other judicial authority of competent jurisdiction that 1 such person is a danger to himself or herself or others.’’. 2 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 3 The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 55 of 4 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 5 end the following: 6 ‘‘5511. Conditions for treatment of certain persons as adjudicated mentally in- competent for certain purposes.’’. SEC. 7. REPORTS AND CERTIFICATIONS TO CONGRESS. 7 (a) NICS REPORTS.—Not later than October 1, 8 2019, and every year thereafter, the head of each agency 9 that possesses relevant Federal records shall submit a re- 10 port to Congress that includes— 11 (1) a description of the relevant Federal recor [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]