McCain/Reed Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2003 (Introduced in Senate)

[Harry Tuttle]

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:s1807is.txt.pdf

S.1807
Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2003 (Introduced in Senate)
Beginning
October 31, 2003
II
108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION S. 1807
To require criminal background checks on all firearms transactions occurring
at events that provide a venue for the sale, offer for sale, transfer,
or exchange of firearms, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
OCTOBER 31, 2003
Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. REED, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr.
CHAFEE, Mr. LAUTENBERG, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To require criminal background checks on all firearms transactions
occurring at events that provide a venue for
the sale, offer for sale, transfer, or exchange of firearms,
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 ‘‘Gun Show Loophole 4
Closing Act of 2003’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 7
amended by adding at the end the following: 8
2
•S 1807 IS
‘‘(36) SPECIAL FIREARMS EVENT.—The term 1
‘special firearms event’— 2
‘‘(A) means any event at which 75 or more 3
firearms are offered or exhibited for sale, ex- 4
change, or transfer, if 1 or more of the firearms 5
has been shipped or transported in, or other- 6
wise affects, interstate or foreign commerce; 7
‘‘(B) does not include an offer or exhibit of 8
firearms for sale, exchange, or transfer by an 9
individual from the personal collection of that 10
individual, at the private residence of that indi- 11
vidual, if the individual is not required to be li- 12
censed under section 923 or 932; and 13
‘‘(C) does not include an offer or exhibit of 14
firearms for sale, exchange, or transfer at 15
events conducted and attended by permanent or 16
annual dues paying members, and their imme- 17
diate family, of private, not-for-profit organiza- 18
tions whose primary purpose is owning and 19
maintaining real property for the purpose of 20
hunting activities. 21
‘‘(37) SPECIAL FIREARMS EVENT LICENSEE.— 22
The term ‘special firearms event licensee’ means any 23
person who has obtained and holds a valid license in 24
compliance with section 932(d) and who is author- 25
3
•S 1807 IS
ized to contact the national instant criminal back- 1
ground check system on behalf of another individual, 2
who is not licensed under this chapter, for the pur- 3
pose of conducting a background check for a poten- 4
tial firearms transfer at a special firearms event in 5
accordance with section 932(c). 6
‘‘(38) SPECIAL FIREARMS EVENT VENDOR.— 7
The term ‘special firearms event vendor’ means any 8
person who is not required to be licensed under sec- 9
tion 923 and who exhibits, sells, offers for sale, 10
transfers, or exchanges 1 or more firearms at a spe- 11
cial firearms event, regardless of whether or not the 12
person arranges with the special firearms event pro- 13
moter for a fixed location from which to exhibit, sell, 14
offer for sale, transfer, or exchange 1 or more fire- 15
arms.’’. 16
SEC. 3. REGULATION OF FIREARMS TRANSFERS AT SPE- 17
CIAL FIREARMS EVENTS. 18
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United 19
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 20
lowing: 21
‘‘§ 932. Regulation of firearms transfers at special 22
firearms events 23
‘‘(a) SPECIAL FIREARMS EVENTS OPERATORS.— 24
4
•S 1807 IS
‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION TO ATTORNEY GENERAL OF 1
SPECIAL FIREARMS EVENT OPERATORS.— 2
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful 3
for any person to operate a special firearms 4
event unless that person notifies the Attorney 5
General in accordance with regulations promul- 6
gated by the Attorney General. 7
‘‘(B) FEES.—The Attorney General shall 8
be prohibited from imposing or collecting any 9
fee from special firearms event operators in 10
connection with the notification requirement in 11
subparagraph (A). 12
‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF SPECIAL FIREARMS 13
EVENTS OPERATORS.—It shall be unlawful for a spe- 14
cial firearms events operator to organize, plan, pro- 15
mote, or operate a special firearms event unless that 16
operator— 17
‘‘(A) not later than 30 days before the 18
commencement of the special firearms event, 19
notifies the Attorney General, in writing, of the 20
date, time, duration, and location of the special 21
firearms event, and the special firearms event 22
vendors planning to participate; 23
‘‘(B) before the commencement of the spe- 24
cial firearms event, or in the case of a vendor 25
5
•S 1807 IS
who arrives after the commencement of the 1
event, upon the arrival of the vendor, verifies 2
the identity of each special firearms event ven- 3
dor participating in the special firearms event 4
by examining a valid identification document 5
(as defined in section 1028(d)(2)) of the vendor 6
containing a photograph of the vendor; 7
‘‘(C) before the commencement of the spe- 8
cial firearms event, or in the case of a vendor 9
who arrives after the commencement of the 10
event, upon the arrival of the vendor, requires 11
each special firearms event vendor to sign— 12
‘‘(i) a ledger with identifying informa- 13
tion concerning the vendor; and 14
‘‘(ii) a notice advising the vendor of 15
the obligations of the vendor under this 16
chapter; 17
‘‘(D) notifies each person who attends the 18
special firearms event of the requirements of 19
this chapter, in accordance with such regula- 20
tions as the Attorney General shall prescribe; 21
‘‘(E) not later than 5 days after the last 22
day of the special firearms event, submits to the 23
Attorney General a copy of the ledger and no- 24
tice described in subparagraph (C)(i); and 25
6
•S 1807 IS
‘‘(F) maintains a copy of the records de- 1
scribed in subparagraphs (B) and (C) at the 2
permanent place of business of the operator for 3
such period of time and in such form as the At- 4
torney General shall require by regulation. 5
‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRANSFERORS OTHER 6
THAN LICENSEES.— 7
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If any part of a firearm 8
transaction takes place at a special firearms event, 9
or on the curtilage of the event, it shall be unlawful 10
for any person who is not licensed under this chap- 11
ter to transfer a firearm to another person who is 12
not licensed under this chapter, unless the firearm 13
is transferred through a licensed importer, licensed 14
manufacturer, licensed dealer, or a special firearms 15
event licensee in accordance with subsection (c). 16
‘‘(2) CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS.—A per- 17
son who is subject to the requirement of paragraph 18
(1) shall not— 19
‘‘(A) transfer the firearm to the transferee 20
until the licensed importer, licensed manufac- 21
turer, licensed dealer, or a special firearms 22
event licensee through which the transfer is 23
made makes the notification described in sub- 24
section (c)(2)(A); or 25
7
•S 1807 IS
‘‘(B) transfer the firearm to the transferee 1
if the person has been notified under subsection 2
(c)(2)(B) that the transfer would violate section 3
922 or State law. 4
‘‘(3) ABSENCE OF RECORDKEEPING REQUIRE- 5
MENTS.—Nothing in this section shall permit or au- 6
thorize the Attorney General to impose record- 7
keeping requirements on any nonlicensed special 8
firearms event vendor. 9
‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF LICENSEES.—A licensed 10
importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or special 11
firearms event licensee who agrees to assist a person who 12
is not licensed under this chapter in carrying out the re- 13
sponsibilities of that person under subsection (b) with re- 14
spect to the transfer of a firearm shall— 15
‘‘(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), com- 16
ply with section 922(t) as if transferring the firearm 17
from the inventory of the licensed importer, licensed 18
manufacturer, or licensed dealer to the designated 19
transferee (although a licensed importer, licensed 20
manufacturer, or licensed dealer complying with this 21
subsection shall not be required to comply again 22
with the requirements of section 922(t) in delivering 23
the firearm to the nonlicensed transferor); 24
8
•S 1807 IS
‘‘(2) not later than 3 business days (meaning 1
days on which State offices are open) after the date 2
of the agreement to purchase, or if the event is held 3
in a State that has been certified by the Attorney 4
General under section 4 of the Gun Show Loophole 5
Closing Act of 2003, not later than 24 hours after 6
such date (or 3 business days after such date if ad- 7
ditional information is required in order to verify 8
disqualifying information from a State that has not 9
been certified by the Attorney General), notify the 10
nonlicensed transferor and the nonlicensed trans- 11
feree— 12
‘‘(A) of any response from the national 13
criminal background check system, or if the li- 14
censee has had no response from the national 15
criminal background check system within the 16
applicable time period under this paragraph, 17
notify the nonlicensed transferor that no re- 18
sponse has been received and that the transfer 19
may proceed; and 20
‘‘(B) of any receipt by the licensed im- 21
porter, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer 22
of a notification from the national instant 23
criminal background check system that the 24
9
•S 1807 IS
transfer would violate section 922 or would vio- 1
late State law; 2
‘‘(3) in the case of a transfer at one time or 3
during any 5 consecutive business days, of 2 or more 4
pistols or revolvers, or any combination of pistols 5
and revolvers totaling 2 or more, to the same non- 6
licensed person, in addition to the record keeping re- 7
quirements described in paragraph (4), prepare a re- 8
port of the multiple transfers, which report shall 9
be— 10
‘‘(A) on a form specified by the Attorney 11
General; and 12
‘‘(B) not later than the close of business 13
on the date on which the multiple transfer oc- 14
curs, forwarded to— 15
‘‘(i) the office specified on the form 16
described in subparagraph (A); and 17
‘‘(ii) the appropriate State law en- 18
forcement agency of the jurisdiction in 19
which the transfer occurs; and 20
‘‘(4) comply with all record keeping require- 21
ments under this chapter. 22
‘‘(d) SPECIAL FIREARMS EVENT LICENSE.— 23
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 24
issue a special firearms event license to a person 25
10
•S 1807 IS
who submits an application for a special firearms 1
event license in accordance with this subsection. 2
‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—The application required 3
by paragraph (1) shall be approved if— 4
‘‘(A) the applicant is 21 years of age or 5
over; 6
‘‘(B) the application includes a photograph 7
and the fingerprints of the applicant; 8
‘‘(C) the applicant (including, in the case 9
of a corporation, partnership, or association, 10
any individual possessing, directly or indirectly, 11
the power to direct or cause the direction of the 12
management and policies of the corporation, 13
partnership, or association) is not prohibited 14
from transporting, shipping, or receiving fire- 15
arms or ammunition in interstate or foreign 16
commerce under subsection (g) or (n) of section 17
922; 18
‘‘(D) the applicant has not willfully vio- 19
lated any of the provisions of this chapter or 20
regulations issued thereunder; 21
‘‘(E) the applicant has not willfully failed 22
to disclose any material information required, 23
or has not made any false statement as to any 24
11
•S 1807 IS
material fact, in connection with the applica- 1
tion; and 2
‘‘(F) the applicant certifies that— 3
‘‘(i) the applicant meets the require- 4
ments of subparagraphs (A) through (D) 5
of section 923(d)(1); 6
‘‘(ii) the business to be conducted 7
under the license is not prohibited by State 8
or local law in the place where the licensed 9
premises is located; and 10
‘‘(iii) the business will not be con- 11
ducted under the license until the require- 12
ments of State and local law applicable to 13
the business have been met. 14
‘‘(3) APPLICATION AND APPROVAL.— 15
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon the approval of 16
an application under this subsection and pay- 17
ment by the applicant of a fee of $200 for 3 18
years, and upon renewal of a valid registration 19
and payment of a fee of $90 for 3 years, the 20
Attorney General shall issue to the applicant an 21
instant check registration, and advise the Attor- 22
ney General of that registration. 23
‘‘(B) NICS.—A special firearms event li- 24
censee may contact the national instant crimi- 25
12
•S 1807 IS
nal background check system established under 1
section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence 2
Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note) for infor- 3
mation about any individual desiring to obtain 4
a firearm at a special firearms event from any 5
special firearms event vendor who has requested 6
the assistance of the registrant in complying 7
with subsection (c) with respect to the transfer 8
of the firearm, during the 3-year period that 9
begins on the date on which the registration is 10
issued. 11
‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements for a 12
special firearms event licensee shall not exceed the 13
requirements for a licensed dealer and the record 14
keeping requirements shall be the same. 15
‘‘(5) RESTRICTIONS.— 16
‘‘(A) BACKGROUND CHECKS.—A special 17
firearms event licensee may have access to the 18
national instant criminal background check sys- 19
tem to conduct a background check only at a 20
special firearms event and only on behalf of an- 21
other person. 22
‘‘(B) TRANSFER OF FIREARMS.—A special 23
firearms event licensee shall not transfer a fire- 24
arm at a special firearms event. 25
13
•S 1807 IS
‘‘(e) FIREARM TRANSACTION DEFINED.—In this sec- 1
tion, the term ‘firearm transaction’— 2
‘‘(1) includes the sale, offer for sale, transfer, 3
or exchange of a firearm; and 4
‘‘(2) does not include— 5
‘‘(A) the mere exhibition of a firearm; or 6
‘‘(B) the sale, transfer, or exchange of fire- 7
arms between immediate family members, in- 8
cluding parents, children, siblings, grand- 9
parents, and grandchildren.’’. 10
(b) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of title 18, United 11
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 12
lowing: 13
‘‘(8)(A) Whoever knowingly violates section 932(a)(1) 14
or 932(b)— 15
‘‘(i) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 16
not more than 2 years, or both; and 17
‘‘(ii) in the case of a second or subsequent con- 18
viction, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 19
not more than 5 years, or both. 20
‘‘(B) Whoever knowingly violates section 932(a)(2) or 21
932(c) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 22
than 5 years, or both. 23
14
•S 1807 IS
‘‘(C) Whoever knowingly violates section 932(a)(3) 1
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 2
2 years, or both. 3
‘‘(D) In addition to any other penalties imposed 4
under this paragraph, the Attorney General may, with re- 5
spect to any person who violates any provision of section 6
932— 7
‘‘(i) if the person is registered pursuant to sec- 8
tion 932(a), after notice and opportunity for a hear- 9
ing, suspend for not more than 6 months or revoke 10
the registration of that person under section 932(a); 11
and 12
‘‘(ii) impose a civil fine in an amount equal to 13
not more than $10,000.’’. 14
(c) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—Section 922(b) of title 18, 15
United States Code, is amended in the matter preceding 16
paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or licensed collector’’ and in- 17
serting ‘‘licensed collector, or special firearms event li- 18
censee’’. 19
(d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 20
Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 21
in the chapter analysis, by adding at the end the following: 22
‘‘932. Regulation of firearms transfers at special firearms events.’’.
15

 

[Harry Tuttle]

•S 1807 IS
SEC. 4. STATE OPTION FOR 24-HOUR BACKGROUND 1
CHECKS AT SPECIAL FIREARMS EVENTS FOR 2
STATES WITH COMPUTERIZED DISQUALI- 3
FYING RECORDS. 4
(a) IN GENERAL.—Effective 3 years after the date 5
of enactment of this Act, a State may apply to the Attor- 6
ney General for certification of the 24-hour verification 7
authority of that State. 8
(b) CERTIFICATION.—The Attorney General shall 9
certify a State for 24-hour verification authority only upon 10
a clear showing by the State, and certification by the Bu- 11
reau of Justice Statistics, that— 12
(1) not less than 95 percent of all records con- 13
taining information that would disqualify an indi- 14
vidual under subsections (g) and (n) of section 922 15
of title 18, United States Code, or under State law, 16
is available on computer records in the State, and is 17
searchable under the national instant criminal back- 18
ground check system established under section 103 19
of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 20
U.S.C. 922 note); 21
(2) not less than 95 percent of all records con- 22
taining information that would disqualify an indi- 23
vidual under paragraphs (8) and (9) of subsection 24
922(g) of title 18, United States Code, or under 25
State law, is available on computer records in the 26
16
•S 1807 IS
State, and is searchable under the national instant 1
criminal background check system established under 2
section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Protec- 3
tion Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note); and 4
(3) the chief judicial officer of the State re- 5
quires the courts of the State to use the toll-free 6
telephone number described in subsection (d)(1) to 7
immediately notify the National Instant Criminal 8
Background Check System each time a restraining 9
order (as described in section 922(g)(8) of title 18, 10
United States Code) is issued, lifted, or otherwise 11
removed by order of the court. 12
(c) CLARIFICATIONS.— 13
(1) DISQUALIFYING INFORMATION.—Disquali- 14
fying information for each State under subsection 15
(b) shall include the disqualifying records for that 16
State generated during the 30 years preceding the 17
date of application to the Attorney General for cer- 18
tification. 19
(2) TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE NUMBER.—Upon a 20
showing by the State that a court of the State has 21
developed computer systems which permit the court 22
to immediately electronically notify the National In- 23
stant Criminal Background Check System with re- 24
spect to the issuance or lifting of restraining orders, 25
17
•S 1807 IS
the use of the toll-free telephone number described 1
in subsection (d)(1) shall no longer be required 2
under subsection (b)(3). 3
(d) NOTIFICATION INFRASTRUCTURE.—Before certi- 4
fying any State under subsection (b), the Attorney Gen- 5
eral shall— 6
(1) create a toll-free telephone number through 7
which State and local courts may immediately notify 8
the National Instant Background Check System 9
whenever a restraining order (as described in section 10
922(g)(8) of title 18, United States Code) is issued, 11
lifted, or otherwise removed by order of the court; 12
and 13
(2) encourage States to develop computer sys- 14
tems that permit courts to immediately electronically 15
notify the National Instant Criminal Background 16
Check System whenever a restraining order (as de- 17
scribed in section 922(g)(8) of title 18, United 18
States Code) has been issued, lifted, or otherwise re- 19
moved by order of the court. 20
(e) 24-HOUR PROVISION.—Upon certification by the 21
Attorney General, the 24-hour provision in section 22
932(c)(2) of title 18, United States Code, shall apply to 23
the verification process (for transfers between unlicensed 24
persons) in that State unless additional information is re- 25
18
•S 1807 IS
quired in order to verify disqualifying information from 1
a State that has not been certified by the Attorney Gen- 2
eral, in which case the 3 business day limit shall apply. 3
(f) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Director of the Bureau 4
of Justice Statistics shall annually review the certifications 5
under this section. 6
(g) REVOCATION.—The Attorney General shall re- 7
voke the certification required under this section for any 8
State that is not in compliance with subsection (b). 9
SEC. 5. INSPECTION AUTHORITY. 10
Section 923(g)(1)(B), of title 18, United States Code, 11
is amended by striking ‘‘or licensed dealer’’ and inserting 12
‘‘licensed dealer, or special firearms event operator’’. 13
SEC. 6. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR SERIOUS RECORD- 14
KEEPING VIOLATIONS BY LICENSEES. 15
Section 924(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is 16
amended to read as follows: 17
‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph 18
(B), any licensed dealer, licensed importer, licensed 19
manufacturer, licensed collector, or special firearms 20
event licensee who knowingly makes any false state- 21
ment or representation with respect to the informa- 22
tion required by this chapter to be kept in the 23
records of a person licensed under this chapter, or 24
19
•S 1807 IS
violates section 922(m) shall be fined under this 1
title, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. 2
‘‘(B) If the violation described in subparagraph 3
(A) is in relation to an offense— 4
‘‘(i) under paragraph (1) or (3) of section 5
922(b), such person shall be fined under this 6
title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or 7
both; or 8
‘‘(ii) under subsection (a)(6) or (d) of sec- 9
tion 922, such person shall be fined under this 10
title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or 11
both.’’. 12
SEC. 7. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF CRIMI- 13
NAL BACKGROUND CHECK REQUIREMENTS. 14
Section 924(a) of title 18, United States Code, as 15
amended by section 3(b), is further amended— 16
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘subsection 17
(s) or (t) of section 922’’ and inserting ‘‘section 18
922(s)’’; and 19
(2) by adding at the end the following: 20
‘‘(9) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(t) 21
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 22
than 5 years, or both.’’. 23
20
•S 1807 IS
SEC. 8. RULE OF INTERPRETATION. 1
A provision of State law is not inconsistent with this 2
Act or an amendment made by this Act if the provision 3
imposes a regulation or prohibition of greater scope or a 4
penalty of greater severity than any prohibition or penalty 5
imposed by this Act or an amendment made by this Act. 6
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 7
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 8
take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this 9
Act. 10

 

[Harry Tuttle]

BTTT

To require criminal background checks on all firearms transactions
occurring at events that provide a venue for
the sale, offer for sale, transfer, or exchange of firearms,
and for other purposes.

 

[woerm]

Mccain/klintoon at it again

Already called Hutchison and Cornyn.

both were asked to ditch this piece of

r

 

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

All of that text to close a loophole?

My bet is that it will not make it out of the Judiciary Committee (Sen. Hatch, R-UT, Presiding).

 

[Bruce H]

Maybe I can get one of my senators to craft legislation that closes the loophole that allowed these morons into office.

 

[Harry Tuttle]

the above bill was part of what the anti gunners tried to attach to the Lawsuit protection bill

 

[boofus]

I'd be willing to let them commies 'close the loophole' if they let regular citizens register MGs, rockets and grenades again. Afterall, if every single sale is passing through background checks those gunlaw-nazis shouldn't have anything to worry about right? Fat chance of that happening though.

 

[Stickjockey]

All of that text to close a loophole?

And a nonexistant loophole at that.

 

[Dave R]

A more fundamental question:

Why haven't the Arizoners recalled this RINO* yet? Goldwater must be spinning in his grave.

(Republican In Name Only)

 

[Standing Wolf]

Never—ever!—trust a R.I.N.O.!

 

[madmike]

did that say "annual members of a club" are exempt?

So....the first time you attend the show, you get surcharged $1 to become a collector's club member.

Are these people THAT stupid?

Oh, wait. Of course they are. And then it will be the "gun club loophole."