Tiahrt Restrictions Repeal Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3299 To repeal certain impediments to the administration of the firearms laws. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 13, 2020 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HARRIS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To repeal certain impediments to the administration of the firearms laws. 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 ‘‘Tiahrt Restrictions Re- 4 peal Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds as follows: 7 (1) The Tiahrt Amendments severely limit the 8 authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3299.IS S3299 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3299 IS arms and Explosives (ATF) to disclose crime gun 1 trace data to the public. 2 (2) The Tiahrt Amendments prevent the collec- 3 tion of valuable information, and the establishment 4 of effective policies to prevent illegal guns from 5 being used in crimes. 6 (3) The Tiahrt Amendments impede enforce- 7 ment of the gun laws by requiring most background 8 check records to be destroyed within 24 hours, and 9 by barring the Government from requiring annual 10 inventory audits by owners of gun shops. 11 (4) A 2012 study by researchers at Johns Hop- 12 kins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that 13 the Tiahrt Amendments dramatically increased gun 14 sales to criminals. 15 (5) A 2016 study from the University of Pitts- 16 burgh Graduate School of Public Health found that 17 in 2008, 79 percent of all guns recovered by police 18 from crime scenes belonged to someone other than 19 the perpetrator—30 percent had been stolen. 20 (6) A gun is stolen in the United States every 21 2 minutes. 22 (7) Every year, nearly 115,000 Americans are 23 shot. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3299.IS S3299 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3299 IS (8) In 2016, 38,658 Americans were killed with 1 a gun. 2 (9) In 2016, 289,223 firearms were recovered 3 and traced in the United States, of which 211,384 4 were traced to a final retail purchaser. 5 (10) Having effective policies to prevent illegal 6 gun trafficking makes our families and communities 7 safer. 8 (11) Repealing the Tiahrt Amendments would 9 support law enforcement efforts and give the public 10 vital information needed to craft the most effective 11 policies against illegal guns. 12 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF 13 DATABASE INFORMATION OF THE BUREAU 14 OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EX- 15 PLOSIVES. 16 (a) The matter under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alco- 17 hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex- 18 penses’’ in title I of division B of the Consolidated and 19 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 20 923 note; Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 609–610) is 21 amended by striking the 6th proviso and inserting the fol- 22 lowing: ‘‘Provided further, That, during the current fiscal 23 year and in each fiscal year thereafter, no funds appro- 24 priated under this or any other Act may be used to pub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3299.IS S3299 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3299 IS licly disclose part or all of the contents of the Firearms 1 Trace System database maintained by the National Trace 2 Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 3 Explosives or any information required to be kept by li- 4 censees pursuant to section 923(g) of title 18, United 5 States Code, or required to be reported pursuant to para- 6 graphs (3) and (7) of such section if the particular con- 7 tents or information is determined to be exempt from dis- 8 closure under subsection (b)(7) or (c) of section 552 of 9 title 5, United States Code:’’. 10 (b) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 11 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 12 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated Ap- 13 propriations Act, 2010 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 14 111–117; 123 Stat. 3128–3129) is amended by striking 15 ‘‘beginning in fiscal year 2010 and thereafter’’ and insert- 16 ing ‘‘in fiscal year 2010’’. 17 (c) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 18 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 19 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Omnibus Appro- 20 priations Act, 2009 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 111– 21 8; 123 Stat. 574–576) is amended by striking ‘‘beginning 22 in fiscal year 2009 and thereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘in fiscal 23 year 2009’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3299.IS S3299 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3299 IS (d) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 1 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 2 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated Ap- 3 propriations Act, 2008 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 4 110–161; 121 Stat. 1903–1904) is amended by striking 5 ‘‘beginning in fiscal year 2008 and thereafter’’ and insert- 6 ing ‘‘in fiscal year 2008’’. 7 (e) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 8 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 9 Expenses’’ in title I of the Science, State, Justice, Com- 10 merce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 11 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 109–108; 119 Stat. 12 2295–2296) is amended by striking ‘‘with respect to any 13 fiscal year’’. 14 (f) The 6th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 15 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 16 Expenses’’ in title I of division B of the Consolidated Ap- 17 propriations Act, 2005 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 18 108–447; 118 Stat. 2859–2860) is amended by striking 19 ‘‘with respect to any fiscal year’’. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3299.IS S3299 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3299 IS SEC. 4. REPEAL OF LIMITATION ON IMPOSITION OF RE- 1 QUIREMENT THAT FIREARMS DEALERS TO 2 CONDUCT PHYSICAL CHECK OF FIREARMS 3 INVENTORY. 4 (a) The 5th proviso under the heading ‘‘Bureau of 5 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and 6 Expenses’’ in title II of division B of the Consolidated and 7 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (18 U.S.C. 8 923 note; Public Law 113–6; 127 Stat. 248) is amended 9 by striking ‘‘and any fiscal year thereafter’’. 10 (b) The matter under the heading ‘‘Bureau of Alco- 11 hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Salaries and Ex- 12 penses’’ in title I of division B of the Consolidated and 13 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 14 923 note; Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 609–610) is 15 amended by striking the 7th proviso. 16 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO DESTROY INSTANT 17 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK RECORDS 18 WITHIN 24 HOURS. 19 Section 511 of the Consolidated and Further Con- 20 tinuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 922 note; 21 Public Law 112–55; 125 Stat. 632) is amended— 22 (1) by striking ‘‘for—’’ and all that follows 23 through ‘‘(1)’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3299.IS S3299 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3299 IS (2) by striking the semicolon and all that fol- 1 lows and inserting a period. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3299.IS S3299 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS