Senate Bill S.480 - NICS Reporting Improvement Act of 2013

S.480 -- NICS Reporting Improvement Act of 2013

S 480 IS

113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 480

To improve the effectiveness of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by clarifying reporting requirements related to adjudications of mental incompetency, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 6, 2013

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. PRYOR, and Mr. HELLER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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A BILL

To improve the effectiveness of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by clarifying reporting requirements related to adjudications of mental incompetency, and for other purposes.

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 `NICS Reporting Improvement Act of 2013'.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH.

(a) Title 18 Definitions- Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in section 921(a), by adding at the end the following:

`(36)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the term `has been adjudicated mentally incompetent or has been committed to a psychiatric hospital', with respect to a person--

`(i) means the person is the subject of an order or finding by a judicial officer, court, board, commission, or other adjudicative body--

`(I) that was issued after a hearing--

`(aa) of which the person received actual notice; and

`(bb) at which the person had an opportunity to participate with counsel; and

`(II) that found that the person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, mental impairment, or mental illness--

`(aa) was an imminent danger to himself or to others;

`(bb) was guilty but mentally ill in a criminal case;

`(cc) was not guilty in a criminal case by reason of insanity or mental disease or defect;

`(dd) was incompetent to stand trial in a criminal case;

`(ee) was not guilty only by reason of lack of mental responsibility under section 850a of title 10 (article 50a of the Uniform Code of Military Justice);

`(ff) required involuntary inpatient treatment by a psychiatric hospital;

`(gg) required involuntary outpatient treatment by a psychiatric hospital based on a finding that the person is an imminent danger to himself or to others; or

`(hh) required involuntary commitment to a psychiatric hospital for any reason, including drug use; and

`(ii) does not include--

`(I) a person who is in a psychiatric hospital for observation; or

`(II) a voluntary admission to a psychiatric hospital.

`(B) In this paragraph, the term `order or finding' does not include--

`(i) an order or finding that--

`(I) has expired or has been set aside or expunged; or

`(II) requires treatment, supervision, or monitoring of a person, from which treatment, supervision, or monitoring the person has been fully released or discharged;

`(ii) an order or finding that is no longer applicable because a judicial officer, court, board, commission, or other adjudicative body has found that the person who is the subject of the order or finding--

`(I) does not present a danger to himself or to others;

`(II) has been restored to sanity or cured of mental disease or defect;

`(III) has been restored to competency; or

`(IV) no longer requires involuntary inpatient or outpatient treatment by, or involuntary commitment to, a psychiatric hospital; or

`(iii) an order or finding with respect to which the person who is subject to the order or finding has been found to be rehabilitated or has been granted relief from disabilities through any procedure available under the law of the jurisdiction in which the order or finding was issued.

`(37) The term `psychiatric hospital' includes a mental health facility, a mental hospital, a sanitarium, a psychiatric facility, and any other facility that provides diagnoses by licensed professionals of mental retardation or mental illness, including a psychiatric ward in a general hospital.'; and

(2) in section 922--

(A) in subsection (d)(4)--

(i) by striking `as a mental defective' and inserting `mentally incompetent'; and

(ii) by striking `any mental institution' and inserting `a psychiatric hospital'; and

(B) in subsection (g)(4)--

(i) by striking `as a mental defective or who has' and inserting `mentally incompetent or has'; and

(ii) by striking `mental institution' and inserting `psychiatric hospital'.

(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment- The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended--

(1) by striking `as a mental defective' each place that term appears and inserting `mentally incompetent';

(2) by striking `mental institution' each place that term appears and inserting `psychiatric hospital'; and

(3) in section 102(c)(3)--

(A) in the paragraph heading, by striking `AS A MENTAL DEFECTIVE OR COMMITTED TO A MENTAL INSTITUTION' and inserting `MENTALLY INCOMPETENT OR COMMITTED TO A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL'; and

(B) by striking `mental institutions' and inserting `psychiatric hospitals'.