Office of Gun Violence Prevention Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 951 To establish the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 22, 2023 Mr. MURPHY (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, 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 ‘‘Office of Gun Violence 4 Prevention Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Advisory 8 Council’’ means the advisory council established 9 under section 3(c)(1). 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S951.IS S951 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 951 IS (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 1 the Director of the Office. 2 (3) GUN VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘gun violence’’ 3 includes homicide, violent crime, domestic violence, 4 attempted suicide, suicide, and unintentional death 5 or injury involving a firearm. 6 (4) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of- 7 fice of Gun Violence Prevention established under 8 section 3(a). 9 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION. 10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 12 establish within the Office of Legal Policy of the De- 13 partment of Justice the Office of Gun Violence Pre- 14 vention. 15 (2) DIRECTOR.—The Attorney General shall 16 appoint a Director to be the head of the Office. 17 (b) DUTIES.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in consulta- 19 tion with the Advisory Council, shall coordinate, in- 20 tegrate, and maximize the efficacy of each responsi- 21 bility, program, and service relating to gun violence 22 prevention administered by the Attorney General to 23 maximize an integrated approach to reducing gun vi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S951.IS S951 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 951 IS olence and serving victims of gun violence, includ- 1 ing— 2 (A) the responsibilities of the heads of the 3 Criminal and Civil Divisions of the Department 4 of Justice, the Director of the Office of Com- 5 munity Oriented Policing Services, each United 6 States Attorney, Director of the Bureau of Al- 7 cohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the 8 Director of the Office on Violence Against 9 Women, the Director of the Office of Victims of 10 Crime, and the Director of the Office of Justice 11 Programs; and 12 (B) the administration of the national in- 13 stant criminal background check system estab- 14 lished under section 103 of the Brady Handgun 15 Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901). 16 (2) EVALUATION.—The Director, in consulta- 17 tion with the Advisory Council, shall evaluate laws, 18 regulations, Federal programs, offices, data sources, 19 and grant programs relating to gun violence preven- 20 tion administered by the Attorney General to assess 21 how each such law, regulation, Federal program, of- 22 fice, data source, and grant program can be maxi- 23 mized, modernized, and coordinated to reduce gun 24 violence. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S951.IS S951 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 951 IS (3) POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Director 1 shall recommend to Congress and the President leg- 2 islative and executive policy options to promote evi- 3 dence-based gun violence prevention strategies, in- 4 cluding the implementation of existing laws, regula- 5 tions, and grant programs. 6 (4) DATA.—The Director, in consultation with 7 the Advisory Council, shall— 8 (A) identify gaps in available data needed 9 for gun violence prevention research, policy de- 10 velopment, and the implementation of evidence- 11 based gun violence prevention strategies; and 12 (B) develop a plan to collect and analyze 13 the data described in subparagraph (A). 14 (5) ASSESSMENT.—The Director, in consulta- 15 tion with the Advisory Council, shall assess ongoing 16 research efforts of the Department of Justice relat- 17 ing to gun violence to establish a comprehensive re- 18 search agenda on the causes and solutions of gun vi- 19 olence. 20 (6) EDUCATION.—The Director, in consultation 21 with the Advisory Council, shall educate the general 22 public about Federal laws, regulations, and grant 23 programs relating to gun violence prevention, includ- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S951.IS S951 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 951 IS ing by conducting education and awareness cam- 1 paigns— 2 (A) directed at— 3 (i) owners of firearms; 4 (ii) parents and legal guardians of mi- 5 nors; and 6 (iii) professionals who provide services 7 to individuals and communities dispropor- 8 tionately impacted by gun violence; and 9 (B) that include education relating to the 10 secure storage or firearms and suicide preven- 11 tion. 12 (7) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the duties 13 under this subsection, the Director shall coordinate 14 with Federal agencies and commissions that have ju- 15 risdiction over gun violence prevention, including— 16 (A) the Department of Health and Human 17 Services; 18 (B) the Department of Veterans Affairs; 19 (C) the Department of Education; 20 (D) the Department of Housing and 21 Urban Development; 22 (E) the Department of Commerce; 23 (F) the Department of Homeland Security; 24 (G) the Department of Defense; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S951.IS S951 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 951 IS (H) the Department of the Interior; 1 (I) the Consumer Product Safety Commis- 2 sion; 3 (J) the Federal Trade Commission; and 4 (K) the United States Sentencing Commis- 5 sion. 6 (8) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 7 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 8 thereafter, the Director shall submit to Congress a 9 report that includes— 10 (A) information on the state of gun vio- 11 lence in the United States; 12 (B) recommendations for policy initiatives 13 and legislation to reduce gun violence in the 14 United States; and 15 (C) a description of the efforts of the Di- 16 rector to carry out the duties under this sub- 17 section. 18 (c) ADVISORY COUNCIL.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 20 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less 21 frequently than quarterly thereafter, the Attorney 22 General shall convene an advisory council— 23 (A) chaired by the Director; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S951.IS S951 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 951 IS (B) the membership of which includes the 1 following individuals or a designee of the indi- 2 vidual: 3 (i) The Deputy Attorney General. 4 (ii) The Associate Attorney General. 5 (iii) The Assistant Attorney General 6 for the Office of Legal Policy. 7 (iv) The Assistant Attorney General 8 for the Office of Justice Programs. 9 (v) The Assistant Attorney General 10 for the Criminal Division. 11 (vi) The Director of the Bureau of Al- 12 cohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 13 (vii) The Director of the Federal Bu- 14 reau of Investigation. 15 (viii) The Director of the Bureau of 16 Justice Assistance. 17 (ix) The Director of the Office on Vio- 18 lence Against Women. 19 (x) The Director of the Office of Vic- 20 tims of Crime. 21 (xi) The Director of the Bureau of 22 Justice Statistics. 23 (xii) The Director of the National In- 24 stitute of Justice. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S951.IS S951 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 951 IS (2) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.— 1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 2 make every reasonable effort to include as 3 members of the Advisory Council not fewer 4 than 12 additional individuals. 5 (B) REPRESENTATIVES.—The additional 6 members described in subparagraph (A) shall 7 include not fewer than 1— 8 (i) survivor of gun violence; 9 (ii) community violence intervention 10 service provider; 11 (iii) public health official; 12 (iv) medical professional who provides 13 trauma care; 14 (v) mental health clinician; 15 (vi) official from a department of jus- 16 tice of a State; 17 (vii) State or local public health de- 18 partment official; 19 (viii) teacher; 20 (ix) member of a student group; and 21 (x) veteran. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S951.IS S951 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 951 IS (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec- 2 essary to carry out this section. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S951.IS S951 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS