Law Enforcement Needs to Know Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3599 To establish a grant program for States and Indian Tribes to enroll individ- uals purchasing firearms and holders of licenses or permits to possess, carry, sell, or transfer firearms into the FBI’s Rap Back program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 28, 2019 Ms. ADAMS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish a grant program for States and Indian Tribes to enroll individuals purchasing firearms and holders of licenses or permits to possess, carry, sell, or transfer firearms into the FBI’s Rap Back program. 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 ‘‘Law Enforcement 4 Needs to Know Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3599.IH H3599 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3599 IH (1) The National Instant Criminal Background 1 Check System (NICS), which is used to conduct 2 background checks on individuals as they purchase 3 a gun from federally licensed firearms dealers, pro- 4 vides a one-time snapshot view of an individual’s 5 criminal history status. It does not, however, provide 6 notice to Federal, State, or local law enforcement of- 7 ficials if a firearm owner later falls into a category 8 of people prohibited by law from possessing fire- 9 arms. 10 (2) Law enforcement should be notified when a 11 firearm license or permit holder loses his or her legal 12 eligibility for the license or permit through criminal 13 activity anywhere in the country. 14 (3) The Rap Back Service is a capability of the 15 Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Next Generation 16 Identification (NGI) system. The Rap Back Service 17 provides notice to authorized agencies of activity of 18 licensed individuals that might impact their contin- 19 ued eligibility for a license. Enrollment in the Rap 20 Back Service eliminates the need for repeated back- 21 ground checks on a person in order to determine 22 whether they continue to be eligible for their license. 23 (4) In 2012, the Government Accountability Of- 24 fice issued a report based on a survey of State con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3599.IH H3599 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3599 IH cealed carry permitting systems. The report found 1 that 6 of the 9 States surveyed used in-State rap 2 back services to monitor the continued eligibility of 3 concealed carry permitholders. The report also found 4 that the FBI’s nationwide Rap Back Service may 5 provide States with ‘‘the opportunity to subscribe to 6 this service and automatically be notified of subse- 7 quent arrests across the United States for crimes 8 committed by permit holders.’’. 9 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall award 11 grants to States and Indian Tribal governments to assist 12 those States and Indian Tribal governments in enrolling 13 individuals purchasing firearms or applying for firearm li- 14 censes in the Rap Back Service. 15 (b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant 17 under subsection (a), a State or Indian Tribal gov- 18 ernment shall have in place a law that— 19 (A) with respect to an individual pur- 20 chasing a firearm— 21 (i) requires the individual to provide 22 fingerprints in connection with such pur- 23 chase, which fingerprints shall be sufficient 24 to enroll the individual in the Rap Back 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3599.IH H3599 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3599 IH Service upon the completion of the sale of 1 the firearm; and 2 (ii) requires each agency that facili- 3 tates the sale of the firearm to ensure that 4 the individual is enrolled in the Rap Back 5 Service; and 6 (B) in the case of a State or Indian Tribal 7 government that issues licenses for an indi- 8 vidual to purchase, possess, transfer, acquire, or 9 carry a firearm in some or all circumstances or 10 locations— 11 (i) requires the individual to provide 12 fingerprints in connection with an applica- 13 tion for the issuance or renewal of such a 14 license, which fingerprints shall be suffi- 15 cient to enroll the individual in the Rap 16 Back Service upon the completion of the 17 sale of the firearm; and 18 (ii) requires each agency that issues 19 or renews such license to ensure that the 20 individual is enrolled in the Rap Back 21 Service. 22 (2) APPLICATION.—A requirement for a law de- 23 scribed under paragraph (1) does not apply with re- 24 spect to individuals who are certified to purchase, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3599.IH H3599 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3599 IH possess, own, transfer, acquire, or carry a firearm in 1 the course of their employment. 2 (c) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Grants awarded to 3 States or Indian Tribes under this section may only be 4 used to— 5 (1) create electronic systems to enroll individ- 6 uals described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sub- 7 section (b)(1) in the Rap Back Service and for the 8 receipt of criminal history information about such 9 individuals from the Rap Back Service; 10 (2) assist local agencies in establishing or en- 11 hancing their own capacities to perform activities de- 12 scribed in paragraph (1); 13 (3) ensure the accuracy and security of the sys- 14 tems established under paragraphs (1) and (2); 15 (4) enroll such individuals in the Rap Back 16 Service; or 17 (5) collect and analyze data to measure compli- 18 ance with the level of enrollment of such individuals 19 in the Rap Back Service. 20 (d) MATCHING FUNDS.—The portion of the costs of 21 an activity provided by a grant under subsection (a) may 22 not exceed 50 percent, unless the Attorney General waives, 23 wholly or in part, the requirement under this subsection 24 of a non-Federal contribution to the costs of an activity. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3599.IH H3599 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3599 IH (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 1 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec- 2 essary to carry out this section. 3 (f) CONSISTENCY WITH NATIONAL CRIMINAL HIS- 4 TORY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.—The Attorney General 5 shall carry out the grant program under this section in 6 a manner that is consistent with the National Criminal 7 History Improvement Program. 8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 9 In this Act: 10 (1) The term ‘‘firearm’’ has the meaning given 11 the term in section 921 of title 18, United States 12 Code. 13 (2) The term ‘‘Rap Back Service’’ means the 14 capability of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 15 Next Generation Identification system to provide no- 16 tice to law enforcement agencies authorized by the 17 Federal Bureau of Investigation to use such capa- 18 bility of arrests or other activity of licensees that 19 might impact their continued eligibility for a license 20 to purchase, possess, own, transfer, acquire, or carry 21 a firearm in some or all circumstances or locations. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3599.IH H3599 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS