Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1824 Compare Versions

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11 II
22 118THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION S. 1824
55 To provide grants to States to encourage the implementation and maintenance
66 of firearms licensing requirements, and for other purposes.
77 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
88 JUNE6, 2023
99 Mr. M
1010 ARKEY(for himself and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill;
1111 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
1212 A BILL
1313 To provide grants to States to encourage the implementation
1414 and maintenance of firearms licensing requirements, and
1515 for other purposes.
1616 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
1717 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
1818 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
1919 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Making America Safe 4
2020 and Secure Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘MASS Act’’. 5
2121 SEC. 2. FIREARMS LICENSING. 6
2222 (a) I
2323 NGENERAL.—Title I of the Omnibus Crime 7
2424 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 8
2525 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 9
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2929 ‘‘PART PP—FIREARMS LICENSING 1
3030 ‘‘SEC. 3061. DEFINITIONS. 2
3131 ‘‘(a) I
3232 NGENERAL.—In this part— 3
3333 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered license’ means a— 4
3434 ‘‘(A) firearms license; or 5
3535 ‘‘(B) firearms dealer license; 6
3636 ‘‘(2) the term ‘domestic violence protection 7
3737 order’ means a protection order, as defined in sec-8
3838 tion 2266 of title 18, United States Code; 9
3939 ‘‘(3) the term ‘extreme risk protection order’— 10
4040 ‘‘(A) means a written order, issued by a 11
4141 State court or signed by a magistrate that, for 12
4242 a period not to exceed a time frame established 13
4343 by the State— 14
4444 ‘‘(i) prohibits the individual named in 15
4545 the order from having under the custody or 16
4646 control of the individual, purchasing, pos-17
4747 sessing, or receiving a firearm or ammuni-18
4848 tion; and 19
4949 ‘‘(ii) requires that any firearm or am-20
5050 munition under the custody or control of 21
5151 the individual be removed; and 22
5252 ‘‘(B) does not include a domestic violence 23
5353 protection order; 24
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5757 ‘‘(4) the term ‘prohibited individual’ means an 1
5858 individual who is categorically ineligible to receive a 2
5959 covered license; 3
6060 ‘‘(5) the term ‘suitable’ means that an indi-4
6161 vidual does not create a risk to public safety; and 5
6262 ‘‘(6) the term ‘thorough background check’ 6
6363 means a Federal and State background check, which 7
6464 may include a fingerprint-based background check. 8
6565 ‘‘(b) P
6666 ROHIBITEDINDIVIDUALS.—For purposes of 9
6767 this part, a State— 10
6868 ‘‘(1) shall establish standards for categorizing 11
6969 an individual as a prohibited individual for purposes 12
7070 of receiving a covered license; and 13
7171 ‘‘(2) in establishing standards with respect to a 14
7272 covered license under paragraph (1), shall take into 15
7373 consideration whether limitations may be warranted 16
7474 based on— 17
7575 ‘‘(A) criminal history; 18
7676 ‘‘(B) whether an individual has been— 19
7777 ‘‘(i) deemed a danger to himself or 20
7878 herself or other individuals by a court or 21
7979 authorized administrative body; or 22
8080 ‘‘(ii) committed to a hospital or insti-23
8181 tution as a danger to himself or herself or 24
8282 other individuals; 25
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8585 •S 1824 IS
8686 ‘‘(C) age; 1
8787 ‘‘(D) legal residency; 2
8888 ‘‘(E) military dishonorable discharges; 3
8989 ‘‘(F) whether an individual— 4
9090 ‘‘(i) is subject to a permanent or tem-5
9191 porary protection order; or 6
9292 ‘‘(ii) has been convicted of a mis-7
9393 demeanor crime of domestic violence (as 8
9494 defined in section 921 of title 18, United 9
9595 States Code); 10
9696 ‘‘(G) outstanding arrest warrants; 11
9797 ‘‘(H) status as a fugitive; 12
9898 ‘‘(I) renunciation of United States citizen-13
9999 ship; and 14
100100 ‘‘(J) other factors relevant to the suit-15
101101 ability of a license holder. 16
102102 ‘‘SEC. 3062. GRANTS AND CONDITIONS. 17
103103 ‘‘(a) G
104104 RANTSAUTHORIZED.—The Assistant Attorney 18
105105 General may make grants to States to implement or main-19
106106 tain firearms and firearms dealer licensing requirements. 20
107107 ‘‘(b) D
108108 URATION OFGRANTS.—A grant under sub-21
109109 section (a) shall be for a period of 3 fiscal years. 22
110110 ‘‘(c) U
111111 SE OFFUNDS FORFIREARMS ANDFIREARMS 23
112112 D
113113 EALERLICENSING.— 24
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117117 ‘‘(1) ACTIVITIES.—Amounts received under a 1
118118 grant under subsection (a) shall be used for the im-2
119119 plementation or maintenance of firearms and fire-3
120120 arms dealer licensing requirements, which shall in-4
121121 corporate and implement the elements described in 5
122122 paragraph (2) of this subsection. 6
123123 ‘‘(2) E
124124 LEMENTS.—The elements described in 7
125125 this paragraph are those providing that— 8
126126 ‘‘(A) an individual shall have a firearms li-9
127127 cense— 10
128128 ‘‘(i) at the time of the purchase, rent-11
129129 al, or lease of a firearm or purchase of am-12
130130 munition; and 13
131131 ‘‘(ii) during the entire period of own-14
132132 ership or possession of a firearm or ammu-15
133133 nition; 16
134134 ‘‘(B)(i) an individual who (including the 17
135135 owner or operator of a business that) sells, 18
136136 rents, or leases a minimum number of firearms, 19
137137 or sells ammunition, during a calendar year 20
138138 shall obtain a firearms dealer license; and 21
139139 ‘‘(ii) the State shall establish the minimum 22
140140 number of firearms for purposes of clause (i), 23
141141 which may not be higher than 10 per calendar 24
142142 year; 25
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146146 ‘‘(C) the chief of police or the board or of-1
147147 ficer having control of the police department of 2
148148 a local government, or a designee within the 3
149149 same department, shall function as the licensing 4
150150 authority; 5
151151 ‘‘(D) for an application for issuance or re-6
152152 newal of a firearms license, the licensing au-7
153153 thority shall— 8
154154 ‘‘(i) conduct a thorough background 9
155155 check, which may include— 10
156156 ‘‘(I) conducting an interview with 11
157157 the applicant; 12
158158 ‘‘(II) requiring the submission of 13
159159 letters of reference stating that the 14
160160 applicant is of sound mind and char-15
161161 acter; and 16
162162 ‘‘(III) any other requirements the 17
163163 State determines relevant; and 18
164164 ‘‘(ii) make a determination of suit-19
165165 ability; 20
166166 ‘‘(E) a first-time firearms license applicant 21
167167 shall complete safety training; 22
168168 ‘‘(F) for an application for issuance or re-23
169169 newal of a firearms dealer license, the licensing 24
170170 authority shall conduct an investigation into the 25
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173173 •S 1824 IS
174174 criminal history of the applicant, which may in-1
175175 clude— 2
176176 ‘‘(i) an interview with the applicant; 3
177177 ‘‘(ii) a thorough background check; 4
178178 and 5
179179 ‘‘(iii) any other requirements the 6
180180 State determines relevant; 7
181181 ‘‘(G) the State shall establish appropriate 8
182182 application processes for covered licenses con-9
183183 sistent with Federal, State, and local law; 10
184184 ‘‘(H) the State shall establish standards 11
185185 and processes by which licensing authorities can 12
186186 revoke, suspend, or deny the issuance or re-13
187187 newal of a covered license; 14
188188 ‘‘(I) the State shall ensure that a revoca-15
189189 tion, suspension, or denial cannot be based on 16
190190 race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual ori-17
191191 entation, or gender identity; 18
192192 ‘‘(J) the State shall establish judicial re-19
193193 view processes by which any applicant for or 20
194194 holder of a covered license may, within a rea-21
195195 sonable time period, petition to obtain judicial 22
196196 review of a revocation, suspension, or denial of 23
197197 the issuance or renewal of a covered license; 24
198198 ‘‘(K) the State shall establish— 25
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201201 •S 1824 IS
202202 ‘‘(i) standards and a process under 1
203203 which a family member of an individual 2
204204 who the family member fears is a danger 3
205205 to himself, herself, or others may petition 4
206206 for an extreme risk protection order; and 5
207207 ‘‘(ii) standards for the termination or 6
208208 extension of an order described in clause 7
209209 (i); 8
210210 ‘‘(L) the State shall establish processes 9
211211 under which— 10
212212 ‘‘(i) an individual whose covered li-11
213213 cense is revoked or suspended, or whose 12
214214 application for issuance or renewal of a 13
215215 covered license is denied, shall surrender or 14
216216 transfer all firearms and ammunition that 15
217217 are or would have been covered by the li-16
218218 cense; and 17
219219 ‘‘(ii) an individual who is subject to 18
220220 an extreme risk protection order or domes-19
221221 tic violence protection order shall surrender 20
222222 or transfer all firearms and ammunition in 21
223223 the possession of the individual; 22
224224 ‘‘(M) the State shall establish requirements 23
225225 with which a firearms dealer licensee must com-24
226226 ply, which— 25
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229229 •S 1824 IS
230230 ‘‘(i) shall include requirements relat-1
231231 ing to— 2
232232 ‘‘(I) the location at which the li-3
233233 censee conducts firearm or ammuni-4
234234 tion transactions; 5
235235 ‘‘(II) the manner in which the li-6
236236 censee records firearm or ammunition 7
237237 transactions; 8
238238 ‘‘(III) background checks for em-9
239239 ployees of the licensee; and 10
240240 ‘‘(IV) any other matter that the 11
241241 State determines appropriate; and 12
242242 ‘‘(ii) may include requirements that a 13
243243 licensee— 14
244244 ‘‘(I) maintain a permanent place 15
245245 of business— 16
246246 ‘‘(aa) that is not a resi-17
247247 dence; and 18
248248 ‘‘(bb) at which the licensee 19
249249 conducts all firearms or ammuni-20
250250 tion transactions; 21
251251 ‘‘(II) submit to mandatory record 22
252252 and inventory inspections by a licens-23
253253 ing authority; 24
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256256 •S 1824 IS
257257 ‘‘(III) maintain a sales record 1
258258 book at the permanent place of busi-2
259259 ness described in subclause (I) in ac-3
260260 cordance with standards established 4
261261 by the State; 5
262262 ‘‘(IV) conduct a pre-employment 6
263263 background check on each potential 7
264264 employee to determine the suitability 8
265265 of any potential employee who may 9
266266 have direct and unmonitored contact 10
267267 with a firearm or ammunition; and 11
268268 ‘‘(V) take any other action that 12
269269 the State determines appropriate; 13
270270 ‘‘(N) the State shall promulgate rules and 14
271271 regulations to ensure the prompt collection, ex-15
272272 change, dissemination, and distribution of infor-16
273273 mation pertaining to the issuance, renewal, ex-17
274274 piration, suspension, or revocation of a covered 18
275275 license; 19
276276 ‘‘(O) the State shall establish standards 20
277277 that are consistent with Federal and State 21
278278 law— 22
279279 ‘‘(i) governing the transfer of a fire-23
280280 arm or ammunition; and 24
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284284 ‘‘(ii) for identifying a prohibited indi-1
285285 vidual, in accordance with section 3061(b); 2
286286 ‘‘(P) the State shall promulgate rules and 3
287287 regulations that require a dealer or private sell-4
288288 er of firearms or ammunition to verify the va-5
289289 lidity of a firearms license before the sale, rent-6
290290 al, or lease of any firearm or the sale of any 7
291291 ammunition; 8
292292 ‘‘(Q) a dealer or private seller of firearms 9
293293 or ammunition shall report all sales, rentals, 10
294294 and leases of firearms, and sales of ammuni-11
295295 tion, to State authorities; 12
296296 ‘‘(R) a dealer of firearms or ammunition 13
297297 shall notify the licensing authority when pre-14
298298 sented with an invalid or expired firearms li-15
299299 cense; 16
300300 ‘‘(S) any firearms licensee whose firearm 17
301301 or ammunition is lost or stolen shall report the 18
302302 loss or theft to the licensing authority and 19
303303 State authorities within a reasonable time 20
304304 frame and in a manner established by the 21
305305 State; 22
306306 ‘‘(T) an individual holding a firearms li-23
307307 cense or firearms dealer license shall renew the 24
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311311 license on a time frame established by the 1
312312 State; 2
313313 ‘‘(U) an individual may not use the fire-3
314314 arms license of the individual to purchase a 4
315315 firearm or ammunition for— 5
316316 ‘‘(i) the unlawful use of the firearm or 6
317317 ammunition by another individual; or 7
318318 ‘‘(ii) the resale or other transfer of 8
319319 the firearm or ammunition to an unli-9
320320 censed individual; and 10
321321 ‘‘(V)(i) it shall be unlawful to store or keep 11
322322 a firearm in any place unless the firearm is se-12
323323 cured in a locked container or equipped with a 13
324324 tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety 14
325325 device, properly engaged so as to render the 15
326326 firearm inoperable by any individual other than 16
327327 the owner or other lawfully authorized user; and 17
328328 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of clause (i), a firearm 18
329329 shall not be considered to be stored or kept if 19
330330 carried by or under the control of the owner or 20
331331 other lawfully authorized user. 21
332332 ‘‘(3) S
333333 EPARATEAMMUNITION DEALERLICENSE 22
334334 P
335335 ERMITTED.—A State that requires a license for dealing 23
336336 ammunition that is separate from a license for dealing 24
337337 firearms shall be deemed to have satisfied the require-25
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340340 •S 1824 IS
341341 ments under paragraph (2) relating to a firearms dealer 1
342342 license, as that license relates to the dealing of ammuni-2
343343 tion, if the State imposes the same requirements for an 3
344344 ammunition dealer license as are mandated under para-4
345345 graph (2) for a firearms dealer license, as that license re-5
346346 lates to the dealing of ammunition. 6
347347 ‘‘(d) A
348348 PPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 7
349349 under subsection (a), a State shall submit to the Assistant 8
350350 Attorney General an application at such time, in such 9
351351 manner, and containing such information as the Assistant 10
352352 Attorney General may require, including a description of 11
353353 how the State will use the grant to implement or maintain 12
354354 firearms and firearms dealer licensing requirements that 13
355355 include the elements described in subsection (c)(2). 14
356356 ‘‘(e) A
357357 NNUALREPORT.—Each State receiving a 15
358358 grant under subsection (a) shall submit to the Assistant 16
359359 Attorney General, for each fiscal year during which the 17
360360 State expends amounts received under the grant, a report, 18
361361 at such time and in such manner as the Assistant Attor-19
362362 ney General may reasonably require, that contains— 20
363363 ‘‘(1) a summary of the activities carried out 21
364364 using amounts made available under the grant; 22
365365 ‘‘(2) an assessment of whether the activities are 23
366366 achieving the elements described in subsection 24
367367 (c)(2); and 25
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371371 ‘‘(3) such other information as the Assistant 1
372372 Attorney General may require. 2
373373 ‘‘(f) L
374374 IMITATIONS ON THE ALLOCATION OF 3
375375 F
376376 UNDS.—Not more than 2 percent of the amount made 4
377377 available to carry out this section in any fiscal year may 5
378378 be used by the Assistant Attorney General for salaries and 6
379379 administrative expenses. 7
380380 ‘‘(g) R
381381 EALLOCATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.—A recipi-8
382382 ent of a grant under subsection (a) shall return to the 9
383383 Assistant Attorney General any amounts received under 10
384384 the grant that are not expended for a purpose described 11
385385 in this section.’’. 12
386386 (b) A
387387 UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 13
388388 1001(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 14
389389 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(a)) is amended by 15
390390 adding at the end the following: 16
391391 ‘‘(29) There are authorized to be appropriated such 17
392392 sums as may be necessary to carry out part PP.’’. 18
393393 Æ
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