Handgun Purchaser Licensing Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1844 To provide for a grant program for handgun licensing programs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 2019 Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. MURPHY) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide 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 2017, 91 percent of firearm homicides in 8 the United States, in which a firearm type was spec- 9 ified, were committed with a handgun. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1844.IS S1844 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1844 IS (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 40-percent reduction in the rate of 12 firearm homicide; and 13 (B) a 15-percent reduction in firearm sui- 14 cide rates during the first 10 years the law was 15 in place. 16 (4) Published research has shown that the re- 17 peal of a handgun purchaser licensing law in Mis- 18 souri in 2007 was associated with— 19 (A) a 27-percent increase in the rate of 20 firearm homicide; and 21 (B) a 16-percent increase in firearm sui- 22 cide rates. 23 (5) In States that have had effective handgun 24 purchaser licensing laws for decades, such as Con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1844.IS S1844 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1844 IS necticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, 1 the vast majority of firearms traced to crimes origi- 2 nated in States that do not have handgun purchaser 3 licensing laws, which supports the need for handgun 4 purchaser licensing laws in every State. 5 (6) Research has shown that States with hand- 6 gun purchaser licensing laws export far fewer fire- 7 arms for criminal use in other States than States 8 that lack handgun purchaser licensing laws. 9 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED FOR HANDGUN LI- 10 CENSING. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Omnibus Crime 12 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 13 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘PART OO—HANDGUN LICENSING GRANT 15 PROGRAM 16 ‘‘SEC. 3051. DEFINITION. 17 ‘‘In this part, the term ‘handgun’ has the meaning 18 given the term in section 921(a) of title 18, United States 19 Code. 20 ‘‘SEC. 3052. GRANT PROGRAM. 21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 22 award grants to States, units of local government, and In- 23 dian tribes for the development, implementation, and eval- 24 uation of handgun purchaser licensing requirements. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1844.IS S1844 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1844 IS ‘‘(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 other ex- 17 emptions 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, with 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1844.IS S1844 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1844 IS respect to an individual applying for a handgun license 1 or permit, the following requirements: 2 ‘‘(1) The individual shall be— 3 ‘‘(A) not less than 21 years old; and 4 ‘‘(B) a citizen or national of the United 5 States or an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 6 nent residence (as those terms are defined in 7 section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nation- 8 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))). 9 ‘‘(2) The individual shall apply for the handgun 10 purchaser license or permit at a law enforcement 11 agency in the State in which the individual resides. 12 ‘‘(3) The individual shall reapply for the hand- 13 gun purchaser license or permit after a period not 14 longer than 5 years. 15 ‘‘(4) The individual shall, in connection with the 16 application for the handgun purchaser license or 17 permit— 18 ‘‘(A) submit to a background investigation 19 and a criminal history check, as established by 20 the State, which shall ensure, at a minimum, 21 that the individual is not prohibited from pos- 22 sessing a firearm under section 922(g) of title 23 18, United States Code; and 24 ‘‘(B) submit fingerprints and photographs. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1844.IS S1844 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1844 IS ‘‘(5) An individual who is prohibited from pos- 1 sessing a firearm under section 922(g) of title 18, 2 United States Code, may not be issued a handgun 3 purchasing license or permit. 4 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 5 this part shall be used to improve the handgun purchaser 6 licensing program of that grant recipient.’’. 7 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 8 1001(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 9 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(a)) is amended by 10 adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(29) There are authorized to be appropriated such 12 sums as may be necessary to carry out part OO.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1844.IS S1844 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS