[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3299 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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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 following 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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Tiahrt Restrictions Repeal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Tiahrt Amendments severely limit the authority of
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
to disclose crime gun trace data to the public.
(2) The Tiahrt Amendments prevent the collection of
valuable information, and the establishment of effective
policies to prevent illegal guns from being used in crimes.
(3) The Tiahrt Amendments impede enforcement of the gun
laws by requiring most background check records to be destroyed
within 24 hours, and by barring the Government from requiring
annual inventory audits by owners of gun shops.
(4) A 2012 study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health found that the Tiahrt Amendments
dramatically increased gun sales to criminals.
(5) A 2016 study from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate
School of Public Health found that in 2008, 79 percent of all
guns recovered by police from crime scenes belonged to someone
other than the perpetrator--30 percent had been stolen.
(6) A gun is stolen in the United States every 2 minutes.
(7) Every year, nearly 115,000 Americans are shot.
(8) In 2016, 38,658 Americans were killed with a gun.
(9) In 2016, 289,223 firearms were recovered and traced in
the United States, of which 211,384 were traced to a final
retail purchaser.
(10) Having effective policies to prevent illegal gun
trafficking makes our families and communities safer.
(11) Repealing the Tiahrt Amendments would support law
enforcement efforts and give the public vital information
needed to craft the most effective policies against illegal
guns.
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF DATABASE
INFORMATION OF THE BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS
AND EXPLOSIVES.
(a) The matter under the heading ``Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives--Salaries and Expenses'' in title I of division
B of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012
(18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 112-55; 125 Stat. 609-610) is amended
by striking the 6th proviso and inserting the following: ``Provided
further, That, during the current fiscal year and in each fiscal year
thereafter, no funds appropriated under this or any other Act may be
used to publicly disclose part or all of the contents of the Firearms
Trace System database maintained by the National Trace Center of the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or any information
required to be kept by licensees pursuant to section 923(g) of title
18, United States Code, or required to be reported pursuant to
paragraphs (3) and (7) of such section if the particular contents or
information is determined to be exempt from disclosure under subsection
(b)(7) or (c) of section 552 of title 5, United States Code:''.
(b) The 6th proviso under the heading ``Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives--Salaries and Expenses'' in title II of
division B of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (18 U.S.C. 923
note; Public Law 111-117; 123 Stat. 3128-3129) is amended by striking
``beginning in fiscal year 2010 and thereafter'' and inserting ``in
fiscal year 2010''.
(c) The 6th proviso under the heading ``Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives--Salaries and Expenses'' in title II of
division B of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (18 U.S.C. 923 note;
Public Law 111-8; 123 Stat. 574-576) is amended by striking ``beginning
in fiscal year 2009 and thereafter'' and inserting ``in fiscal year
2009''.
(d) The 6th proviso under the heading ``Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives--Salaries and Expenses'' in title II of
division B of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (18 U.S.C. 923
note; Public Law 110-161; 121 Stat. 1903-1904) is amended by striking
``beginning in fiscal year 2008 and thereafter'' and inserting ``in
fiscal year 2008''.
(e) The 6th proviso under the heading ``Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives--Salaries and Expenses'' in title I of the
Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 2006 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 109-108; 119 Stat. 2295-2296)
is amended by striking ``with respect to any fiscal year''.
(f) The 6th proviso under the heading ``Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives--Salaries and Expenses'' in title I of division
B of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (18 U.S.C. 923 note;
Public Law 108-447; 118 Stat. 2859-2860) is amended by striking ``with
respect to any fiscal year''.
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF LIMITATION ON IMPOSITION OF REQUIREMENT THAT FIREARMS
DEALERS TO CONDUCT PHYSICAL CHECK OF FIREARMS INVENTORY.
(a) The 5th proviso under the heading ``Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives--Salaries and Expenses'' in title II of
division B of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations
Act, 2013 (18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 113-6; 127 Stat. 248) is
amended by striking ``and any fiscal year thereafter''.
(b) The matter under the heading ``Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives--Salaries and Expenses'' in title I of division
B of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012
(18 U.S.C. 923 note; Public Law 112-55; 125 Stat. 609-610) is amended
by striking the 7th proviso.
SEC. 5. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO DESTROY INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
CHECK RECORDS WITHIN 24 HOURS.
Section 511 of the Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 922 note; Public Law 112-55; 125
Stat. 632) is amended--
(1) by striking ``for--'' and all that follows through
``(1)''; and
(2) by striking the semicolon and all that follows and
inserting a period.
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