HR 329 IH
January 22, 2013
Mr. FITZPATRICK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
- 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 `Strengthening Background Checks Act of 2013'.
SEC. 2. PENALTIES FOR STATES THAT DO NOT MAKE DATA AVAILABLE TO THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM.
- (a) Increased Mandatory Penalties- Section 104(b) of the
NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended
by striking paragraph (3) and inserting after paragraph (2) the
following new paragraphs:
- `(3) INCREASED MANDATORY REDUCTIONS- Notwithstanding
paragraphs (1) and (2), after the expiration of the period referred to
in section 107(b), the Attorney General shall withhold 10 percent of the
amount that would otherwise be allocated to a State under section 505
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42
U.S.C. 3755), if--
- `(A) the State fails to comply with section 107; or
- `(B) the State provides less than 90 percent of the records required to be provided under sections 102 and 103.
- `(4) WAIVERS BY ATTORNEY GENERAL- The Attorney General may--
- `(A) waive the applicability of paragraph (2) to a
State if the State provides substantial evidence, as determined by the
Attorney General, that the State is making a reasonable effort to comply
with the requirements of sections 102 and 103, including an inability
to comply due to court order or other legal restriction;
- `(B) waive the applicability of paragraph (3) to a
State for one year if the State provides substantial evidence, as
determined by the Attorney General, that the State is making a
reasonable effort to comply with the requirements of sections 102, 103,
and 107, including an inability to comply due to court order, conflicts
between section 107 and the constitution of the State, or other legal
restriction; and
- `(C) waive the applicability of paragraph (3), in
part, to a State for which the waiver period under subparagraph (B) has
expired, for additional one-year periods, if--
- `(i) the State provides substantial evidence,
as determined by the Attorney General, that the State is making a
reasonable effort to comply with the requirements of sections 102, 103,
and 107, including an inability to comply due to court order, conflicts
between section 107 and the constitution of the State, or other legal
restriction; and
- `(ii) the Attorney General withholds 5 percent
of the amount that would otherwise be allocated to a State under section
505 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of
1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) for each such one-year period.'.
- (b) State Laws Requiring Provision of Records- Title I of
the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is
further amended by inserting after section 106 the following new
section:
`SEC. 107. STATE LAWS REQUIRING PROVISION OF RECORDS.
- `(a) In General- For each fiscal year after the expiration
of the period specified in subsection (b), the State shall have in
effect throughout the State laws and policies that--
- `(1) require the State to provide to the Attorney
General not less than 90 percent of the records required to be provided
under sections 102 and 103; and
- `(2) require the State to provide such records to the
Attorney General in the same manner, or in a manner substantially
similar to, the manner in which such records are required to be provided
by the State under such sections.
- `(b) Compliance Period- Each State shall have not more than
2 years from the date of enactment of the Strengthening Background
Checks Act of 2013 in which to fully implement this section.'.
- (c) Authorization and Appropriation for Implementation Assistance to States-
- (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- Section 103(e) of
the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is
amended--
- (A) in paragraph (1), by striking `$125,000,000 for
fiscal year 2012' and all that follows and inserting `and $125,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2015.'; and
- (B) in paragraph (2), by striking `fiscal years 2011, 2012, and 2013' and inserting `each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015'.
- (2) APPROPRIATION-
- (A) IN GENERAL- There are hereby appropriated for
the first fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of this Act,
out of funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $125,000,000
to carry out the grant program authorized under section 103 of the NICS
Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note).
- (B) OFFSET- Of the unobligated balances available
under the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund, $125,000,000 are
permanently cancelled.
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