| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 660 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to require the safe |
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| 6 | 6 | | storage of firearms, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | JANUARY31, 2023 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Ms. D |
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| 10 | 10 | | ELAURO(for herself, Mr. LARSONof Connecticut, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. |
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| 11 | 11 | | H |
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| 12 | 12 | | IMES, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following bill; which was re- |
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| 13 | 13 | | ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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| 15 | 15 | | To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to |
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| 16 | 16 | | require the safe storage of firearms, and for other purposes. |
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| 17 | 17 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 18 | 18 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 19 | 19 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 20 | 20 | | This Act may be cited as ‘‘Ethan’s Law’’. 4 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Congress find the following: 6 |
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| 23 | 23 | | (1) An estimated 4,600,000 minors in the 7 |
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| 24 | 24 | | United States live in homes with at least 1 unse-8 |
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| 25 | 25 | | cured firearm. 9 |
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| 27 | 27 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •HR 660 IH |
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| 29 | 29 | | (2) Seventy-three percent of children under the 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | age of 10 living in homes with firearms reported 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | knowing the location of their parents’ firearms. 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | Thirty-six percent of those children reported han-4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | dling their parents’ unsecured firearms. 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (3) The presence of unsecured firearms in the 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | home increases the risk of unintentional and inten-7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | tional shootings. Over 75 percent of firearms used in 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | youth suicide attempts and unintentional firearm in-9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | juries were stored in the residence of the victim, a 10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | relative, or a friend. 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (4) The United States Secret Service and the 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | Department of Education report that in 65 percent 13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | of deadly school shootings, the attacker obtained the 14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | firearm from his or her own home or that of a rel-15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | ative. 16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (5) In the last decade, nearly 2,000,000 fire-17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | arms have been reported stolen. In 2016 alone, 18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | 238,000 firearms were reported stolen in the United 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | States. Between 2010 and 2016, police recovered 20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | more than 23,000 stolen firearms across jurisdic-21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | tions that were used to commit kidnappings, armed 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | robberies, sexual assaults, murders, and other vio-23 |
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| 52 | 52 | | lent crimes. 24 |
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| 54 | 54 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 55 | 55 | | •HR 660 IH |
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| 56 | 56 | | (6) Higher levels of neighborhood gun violence 1 |
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| 57 | 57 | | drive depopulation, discourage commercial activity, 2 |
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| 58 | 58 | | and decrease property values, resulting in fewer 3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | business establishments, fewer jobs, lower home val-4 |
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| 60 | 60 | | ues, and lower home ownership rates. 5 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (7) The negative economic impact of gun vio-6 |
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| 62 | 62 | | lence in communities is tied directly to the national 7 |
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| 63 | 63 | | economy and interstate commerce. 8 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (8) Congress has the power under the interstate 9 |
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| 65 | 65 | | commerce clause and other provisions of the Con-10 |
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| 66 | 66 | | stitution of the United States to enact measures en-11 |
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| 67 | 67 | | suring firearms are securely stored. 12 |
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| 68 | 68 | | SEC. 3. SECURE GUN STORAGE OR SAFETY DEVICE. 13 |
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| 69 | 69 | | Section 922(z) of title 18, United States Code, is 14 |
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| 70 | 70 | | amended by adding at the end the following: 15 |
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| 71 | 71 | | ‘‘(4) S |
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| 72 | 72 | | ECURE GUN STORAGE BY OWNERS .— 16 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ‘‘(A) O |
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| 74 | 74 | | FFENSE.— 17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | ‘‘(i) I |
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| 76 | 76 | | N GENERAL.—Except as pro-18 |
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| 77 | 77 | | vided in clause (ii), it shall be unlawful for 19 |
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| 78 | 78 | | a person to store or keep any firearm that 20 |
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| 79 | 79 | | has moved in, or that has otherwise af-21 |
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| 80 | 80 | | fected, interstate or foreign commerce on 22 |
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| 81 | 81 | | the premises of a residence under the con-23 |
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| 82 | 82 | | trol of the person if the person knows, or 24 |
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| 83 | 83 | | reasonably should know, that— 25 |
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| 85 | 85 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 |
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| 86 | 86 | | •HR 660 IH |
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| 87 | 87 | | ‘‘(I) a minor is likely to gain ac-1 |
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| 88 | 88 | | cess to the firearm without the per-2 |
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| 89 | 89 | | mission of the parent or guardian of 3 |
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| 90 | 90 | | the minor; or 4 |
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| 91 | 91 | | ‘‘(II) a resident of the residence 5 |
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| 92 | 92 | | is ineligible to possess a firearm under 6 |
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| 93 | 93 | | Federal, State, or local law. 7 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘(ii) E |
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| 95 | 95 | | XCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall 8 |
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| 96 | 96 | | not apply to a person if the person— 9 |
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| 97 | 97 | | ‘‘(I) keeps the firearm— 10 |
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| 98 | 98 | | ‘‘(aa) secure using a secure 11 |
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| 99 | 99 | | gun storage or safety device; or 12 |
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| 100 | 100 | | ‘‘(bb) in a location that a 13 |
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| 101 | 101 | | reasonable person would believe 14 |
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| 102 | 102 | | to be secure; or 15 |
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| 103 | 103 | | ‘‘(II) carries the firearm on his 16 |
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| 104 | 104 | | or her person or within such close 17 |
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| 105 | 105 | | proximity thereto that the person can 18 |
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| 106 | 106 | | readily retrieve and use the firearm as 19 |
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| 107 | 107 | | if the person carried the firearm on 20 |
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| 108 | 108 | | his or her person. 21 |
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| 109 | 109 | | ‘‘(B) P |
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| 110 | 110 | | ENALTY.— 22 |
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| 111 | 111 | | ‘‘(i) I |
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| 112 | 112 | | N GENERAL.—Any person who 23 |
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| 113 | 113 | | violates subparagraph (A) shall be fined 24 |
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| 114 | 114 | | $500 per violation. 25 |
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| 116 | 116 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 |
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| 118 | 118 | | ‘‘(ii) ENHANCED PENALTY .—If a per-1 |
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| 119 | 119 | | son violates subparagraph (A) and a minor 2 |
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| 120 | 120 | | or a resident who is ineligible to possess a 3 |
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| 121 | 121 | | firearm under Federal, State, or local law 4 |
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| 122 | 122 | | obtains the firearm and causes injury or 5 |
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| 123 | 123 | | death to such minor or resident, or to any 6 |
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| 124 | 124 | | other individual, the person shall be fined 7 |
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| 125 | 125 | | under this title, imprisoned for not more 8 |
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| 126 | 126 | | than 5 years, or both. 9 |
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| 127 | 127 | | ‘‘(iii) F |
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| 128 | 128 | | ORFEITURE OF IMPROPERLY 10 |
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| 129 | 129 | | STORED FIREARM.—Any firearm stored in 11 |
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| 130 | 130 | | violation of subparagraph (A) shall be sub-12 |
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| 131 | 131 | | ject to seizure and forfeiture in accordance 13 |
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| 132 | 132 | | with the procedures described in section 14 |
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| 133 | 133 | | 924(d). 15 |
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| 134 | 134 | | ‘‘(C) M |
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| 135 | 135 | | INOR DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 16 |
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| 136 | 136 | | the term ‘minor’ means an individual who is 17 |
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| 137 | 137 | | less than 18 years of age.’’. 18 |
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| 138 | 138 | | SEC. 4. FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM. 19 |
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| 139 | 139 | | Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 20 |
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| 140 | 140 | | Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 21 |
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| 141 | 141 | | by adding at the end the following: 22 |
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| 143 | 143 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 |
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| 144 | 144 | | •HR 660 IH |
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| 145 | 145 | | ‘‘PART PP—FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM 1 |
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| 146 | 146 | | ‘‘SEC. 3061. FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM. 2 |
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| 147 | 147 | | ‘‘(a) I |
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| 148 | 148 | | NGENERAL.—The Assistant Attorney General 3 |
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| 149 | 149 | | shall make grants to an eligible State or Indian Tribe to 4 |
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| 150 | 150 | | assist the State or Indian Tribe in carrying out the provi-5 |
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| 151 | 151 | | sions of any State or Tribal law that is functionally iden-6 |
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| 152 | 152 | | tical to section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States Code. 7 |
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| 153 | 153 | | ‘‘(b) E |
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| 154 | 154 | | LIGIBLESTATE ORINDIANTRIBE.— 8 |
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| 155 | 155 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 156 | 156 | | N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-9 |
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| 157 | 157 | | graph (2), a State or Indian Tribe shall be eligible 10 |
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| 158 | 158 | | to receive grants under this section on and after the 11 |
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| 159 | 159 | | earliest date as of which— 12 |
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| 160 | 160 | | ‘‘(A) the State or Indian Tribe has enacted 13 |
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| 161 | 161 | | a law that is functionally identical to section 14 |
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| 162 | 162 | | 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States Code; and 15 |
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| 163 | 163 | | ‘‘(B) the attorney general of the State (or 16 |
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| 164 | 164 | | comparable Tribal official) has submitted a 17 |
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| 165 | 165 | | written certification to the Assistant Attorney 18 |
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| 166 | 166 | | General stating that the law of the State or In-19 |
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| 167 | 167 | | dian Tribe reflects the sense of Congress in sec-20 |
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| 168 | 168 | | tion 922(z)(4)(D) of such title 18. 21 |
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| 169 | 169 | | ‘‘(2) F |
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| 170 | 170 | | IRST YEAR ELIGIBILITY EXCEPTION .— 22 |
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| 171 | 171 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 172 | 172 | | N GENERAL.—A covered State or In-23 |
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| 173 | 173 | | dian Tribe shall be eligible to receive a grant 24 |
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| 174 | 174 | | under this section during the 1-year period be-25 |
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| 175 | 175 | | ginning on the date of enactment of this part. 26 |
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| 178 | 178 | | •HR 660 IH |
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| 179 | 179 | | ‘‘(B) COVERED STATE OR INDIAN TRIBE .— 1 |
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| 180 | 180 | | In this paragraph, the term ‘covered State or 2 |
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| 181 | 181 | | Indian Tribe’ means a State or Indian Tribe 3 |
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| 182 | 182 | | that, before the date of enactment of this part, 4 |
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| 183 | 183 | | enacted a law— 5 |
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| 184 | 184 | | ‘‘(i) that is functionally identical to 6 |
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| 185 | 185 | | section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States 7 |
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| 186 | 186 | | Code; and 8 |
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| 187 | 187 | | ‘‘(ii) for which the attorney general of 9 |
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| 188 | 188 | | the State (or comparable Tribal official) 10 |
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| 189 | 189 | | submits a written certification to the As-11 |
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| 190 | 190 | | sistant Attorney General stating that the 12 |
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| 191 | 191 | | law of the State or Indian Tribe reflects 13 |
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| 192 | 192 | | the sense of Congress in section 14 |
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| 193 | 193 | | 922(z)(4)(D) of such title 18. 15 |
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| 194 | 194 | | ‘‘(c) U |
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| 195 | 195 | | SE OFFUNDS.—Funds awarded under this 16 |
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| 196 | 196 | | section may be used by a State or Indian Tribe to assist 17 |
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| 197 | 197 | | law enforcement agencies or the courts of the State or In-18 |
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| 198 | 198 | | dian Tribe in enforcing and otherwise facilitating compli-19 |
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| 199 | 199 | | ance with any State or Tribal law functionally identical 20 |
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| 200 | 200 | | to section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States Code. 21 |
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| 201 | 201 | | ‘‘(d) A |
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| 202 | 202 | | PPLICATION.—An eligible State or Indian 22 |
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| 203 | 203 | | Tribe desiring a grant under this section shall submit to 23 |
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| 204 | 204 | | the Assistant Attorney General an application at such 24 |
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| 205 | 205 | | time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied by 25 |
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| 207 | 207 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 |
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| 209 | 209 | | such information, as the Assistant Attorney General may 1 |
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| 210 | 210 | | reasonably require. 2 |
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| 211 | 211 | | ‘‘(e) I |
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| 212 | 212 | | NCENTIVES.—For each of fiscal years 2023 3 |
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| 213 | 213 | | through 2027, the Attorney General shall give affirmative 4 |
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| 214 | 214 | | preference to all Bureau of Justice Assistance discre-5 |
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| 215 | 215 | | tionary grant applications of a State or Indian Tribe that 6 |
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| 216 | 216 | | has enacted a law— 7 |
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| 217 | 217 | | ‘‘(1) functionally identical to section 922(z)(4) 8 |
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| 218 | 218 | | of title 18, United States Code; and 9 |
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| 219 | 219 | | ‘‘(2) for which the attorney general of the State 10 |
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| 220 | 220 | | (or comparable Tribal official) submits a written cer-11 |
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| 221 | 221 | | tification to the Assistant Attorney General stating 12 |
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| 222 | 222 | | that the law of the State or Indian Tribe reflects the 13 |
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| 223 | 223 | | sense of Congress in section 922(z)(4)(D) of such 14 |
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| 224 | 224 | | title 18.’’. 15 |
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| 225 | 225 | | SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 16 |
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| 226 | 226 | | Paragraph (4) of section 922(z) of title 18, United 17 |
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| 227 | 227 | | States Code, as added by section 3, is amended by adding 18 |
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| 228 | 228 | | at the end the following: 19 |
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| 229 | 229 | | ‘‘(D) S |
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| 230 | 230 | | ENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO 20 |
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| 231 | 231 | | LIABILITY.—It is the sense of Congress that— 21 |
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| 232 | 232 | | ‘‘(i) failure to comply with subpara-22 |
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| 233 | 233 | | graph (A) constitutes negligence under any 23 |
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| 234 | 234 | | relevant statute or common law rule; and 24 |
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| 236 | 236 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 |
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| 237 | 237 | | •HR 660 IH |
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| 238 | 238 | | ‘‘(ii) when a violation of subparagraph 1 |
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| 239 | 239 | | (A) is the but-for cause of a harm caused 2 |
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| 240 | 240 | | by the discharge of a firearm, such viola-3 |
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| 241 | 241 | | tion should be deemed to be the legal or 4 |
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| 242 | 242 | | proximate cause of such harm, regardless 5 |
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| 243 | 243 | | of whether such harm was also the result 6 |
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| 244 | 244 | | of an intentional tort.’’. 7 |
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| 245 | 245 | | SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 8 |
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| 246 | 246 | | If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made 9 |
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| 247 | 247 | | by this Act, or the application of such provision to any 10 |
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| 248 | 248 | | person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remain-11 |
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| 249 | 249 | | der of this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, or 12 |
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| 250 | 250 | | the application of such provision to other persons or cir-13 |
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| 251 | 251 | | cumstances, shall not be affected. 14 |
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| 252 | 252 | | Æ |
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| 254 | 254 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS |
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