article: SECTION 1. AMENDMENT OF THE BRADY HANDGUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION ACT. (a) Section 922 of Title 18, United States Code.--Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, as added by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, is amended-- (1) in subsection (s)(1) by striking ``ending on the day before the date that is 60 months after such date of enactment,'' and inserting ``ending either on the day before the date that is 48 months after such date of enactment, unless the Attorney General extends the date by 12 additional months, or on the day that the Attorney General notifies the licensees under section 103(e)(1) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, whichever occurs earlier,''; and (2) by amending subsection (t) to read as follows: ``(t)(1) Beginning on the date that is 30 days after the Attorney General notifies licensees under section 103(e)(1) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act that the national instant criminal background check system is established, and upon notification by the Attorney General to licensees that the system is operational and capable of supplying information immediately (during which 30-day period subsection (s) shall remain in effect), a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer shall not transfer a firearm to any other person who is not licensed under this chapter, unless-- ``(A) before the completion of the transfer, the licensee contacts the national instant criminal background check system established under section 103 of that Act; ``(B)(i) the system provides the licensee with a unique identification number; or ``(ii) 3 business days (meaning a day on which State offices are open) have elapsed since the licensee contacted the system, and the system has not notified the licensee that the receipt of a firearm by such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of this section or State law; and ``(C) the transferor has verified the identity of the transferee by examining a valid identification document (as defined in section 1028(d)(1) of this title) of the transferee containing a photograph of the transferee. ``(2) If receipt of a firearm would not violate section 922 (g) or (n) or State law, the system shall immediately ``(A) assign a unique identification number to the transfer; ``(B) provide the licensee with the number; and ``(C) destroy all records of the system with respect to the call (other than the identifying number and the date the number was assigned) and all records of the system relating to the person or the transfer. ``(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a firearm transfer between a licensee and another person if-- ``(A)(i) such other person has presented to the licensee a permit that-- ``(I) allows such other person to possess, acquire, or carry a firearm; and ``(II) was issued not more than 5 years earlier by the State in which the transfer is to take place; and ``(ii) the law of the State provides that such a permit is to be issued only after an authorized government official has verified that the information available to such official does not indicate that possession of a firearm by such other person would be in violation of law; ``(B) the Secretary has approved the transfer under section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or ``(C) on application of the transferor, the Secretary has certified that compliance with paragraph (1)(A) is impracticable because-- ``(i) the ratio of the number of law enforcement officers of the State in which the transfer is to occur to the number of square miles of land area of the State does not exceed 0.0025; ``(ii) the business premises of the licensee at which the transfer is to occur are extremely remote in relation to the chief law enforcement officer (as defined in subsection (s)(8)); and ``(iii) there is an absence of telecommunications facilities in the geographical area in which the business premises are located. ``(4) If the national instant criminal background check system notifies the licensee that the information available to the system does not demonstrate that the receipt of a firearm by such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) or State law, and the licensee transfers a firearm to such other person, the licensee shall include in the record of the transfer the unique identification number provided by the system with respect to the transfer. ``(5) If the licensee knowingly transfers a firearm to such other person and knowingly fails to comply with paragraph (1) of this subsection with respect to the transfer and, at the time such other person most recently proposed the transfer, the national instant criminal background check system was operating and information was available to the system demonstrating that receipt of a firearm by such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of this section or State law, the Secretary may, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, suspend for not more than 6 months or revoke any license issued to the licensee under section 923, and may impose on the licensee a civil fine of not more than $5,000. ``(6) Neither a local government nor an employee of the Federal Government or of any State or local government, responsible for providing information to the national instant criminal background check system shall be liable in an action at law for damages-- ``(A) for failure to prevent the sale or transfer of a firearm to a person whose receipt or possession of the firearm is unlawful under this section; or ``(B) for preventing such a sale or transfer to a person who may lawfully receive or possess a firearm.''. (b) National Instant Criminal Background Check System.--Section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is amended to read as follows: ``SEC. 103. NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM. ``(a) Determination of Timetables.--Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall-- ``(1) determine the type of computer hardware and software that will be used to operate the national instant criminal background check system and the means by which State criminal records systems and the telephone or electric device of licensees that will communicate with the national system; ``(2) investigate the criminal records system of each State and determine for each State a timetable by which the State should be able to provide criminal records on an on-line capacity basis to the national system; and ``(3) notify each State of the determinations made pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2). ``(b) Establishment of System.-- ``(1) Determinations.--Not later than the date that is 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall-- ``(A) determine whether-- ``(i) the equipment used to link State criminal history records systems to the national criminal history records system and the equipment necessary to operate the national instant criminal background check system are operational; and ``(ii) any group of States that-- ``(I) have at least 80 percent of the population of the United States; and ``(II) have reported during a 12- month period at least 80 percent of the number of crimes of violence reported by all of the States during that period, have achieved and maintained at an average of at least 60 percent currency of felony case dispositions in computerized criminal history files for all cases in which there has been an event or activity within the last 5 years; and ``(B) if such determinations are made in the affirmative, certify that the national system is established. ``(2) Establishment.--The Attorney General shall establish a national instant criminal background check system that any licensee may contact, by telephone and by other electronic means in addition to the telephone, for information, to be supplied immediately, on whether receipt of a firearm by a prospective transferee would violate section 922 of title 18, United States Code, or State law. ``(c) Expedited Action by the Attorney General.--The Attorney General shall expedite-- ``(1) the upgrading and indexing of State criminal history records in the Federal criminal records system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; ``(2) the development of hardware and software systems to link State criminal history check systems into the national instant criminal background check system established by the Attorney General pursuant to this section; and ``(3) the current revitalization initiatives by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for technologically advanced fingerprint and criminal records identification. ``(d) Notification of Licensees.-- ``(1) System established.--On establishment of the system under this section, the Attorney General shall notify each licensee and the chief law enforcement officer of each State of the existence and purpose of the system and the means to be used to contact the system. ``(2) Compliance with timetable.--At any time at which the Attorney General determines that a State is in compliance with the timetable set for that State under section (a), the Attorney General shall notify each licensee in the State and the chief law enforcement officer of the State of the determination. ``(e) Administrative Provisions.-- ``(1) Authority to obtain official information.-- Notwithstanding any other law, the Attorney General may secure directly from any department or agency of the United States such information on persons for whom receipt of a firearm would violate subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code, or State law as is necessary to enable the system to operate in accordance with this section. On request of the Attorney General, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the system. ``(2) Other authority.--The Attorney General shall develop such computer software, design and obtain such telecommunications and computer hardware, and employ such personnel, as are necessary to establish and operate the system in accordance with this section. ``(f) Written Reasons Provided on Request.--If the national instant criminal background check system determines that an individual is ineligible to receive a firearm and the individual requests the system to provide the reasons for the determination, the system shall provide such reasons to the individual, in writing, within 5 business days after the date of the request. ``(g) Correction of Erroneous System Information.--A prospective transferee may submit to the Attorney General information that to correct, clarify, or supplement records of the system with respect to the prospective transferee. After receipt of such information, the Attorney General shall immediately consider the information, investigate the matter further, and correct all erroneous Federal records relating to the prospective transferee and give notice of the error to any Federal department or agency or any State that was the source of such erroneous records. ``(h) Regulations.--After 90 days' notice to the public and an opportunity for hearing by interested parties, the Attorney General shall prescribe regulations to ensure the privacy and security of the information of the system established under this section. ``(i) Prohibition Relating To Establishment of Registration Systems With Respect to Firearms.--No department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States may-- ``(1) require that any record or portion thereof generated by the system established under this section be recorded at or transferred to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States or any State or political subdivision thereof; or ``(2) use the system established under this section to establish any system for the registration of firearms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions or dispositions, except with respect to persons, prohibited by section 922 (g) or (n) of title 18, United States Code, or State law from receiving a firearm. ``(j) Definitions.--As used in this section: (1) Licensee.--The term ``licensee'' means a licensed importer (as defined in section 921(a)(9) of title 18, United States Code), a licensed manufacturer (as defined in section 921(a)(10) of that title), or a licensed dealer (as defined in section 921(a)(11) of that title). ``(2) Other terms.--The terms ``firearm'', ``handgun'', ``licensed importer'', ``licensed manufacturer'', and ``licensed dealer'' have the meanings stated in section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a)(2). ``(k) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated, which may be appropriated from the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund established by section 1115 of title 31, United States Code, such sums as are necessary to enable the Attorney General to carry out this section.''. (c) Notification of Adjudications of Persons as Mental Defectives and Commitments to Mental Institutions.--Section 503(a) of title I of the Omnibus Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3753(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(12) A certification that the State has established a plan under which the State will provide to the Department of Justice, without fee-- ``(A) within 30 days after the date on which any person in the State is adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution, notice of the adjudication or commitment; and ``(B) within 30 days after the date on which the Department of Justice requests it, a copy of the certified record of the adjudication or commitment.''.
summary: Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to: (1) shorten to 48 months the period that a five-day waiting period and background check are to be imposed pending establishment of a national instant criminal background check system (system) for handgun transfers; and (2) provide that system check requirements shall not apply until notification by the Attorney General to licensees that the system is operational and capable of supplying information immediately. Makes the latter provision inapplicable to a firearm transfer between a licensee and another person who has presented a firearm permit meeting certain conditions. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish the system within 24 (currently, 60) months after the enactment of such Act; and (2) notify each licensee in, and the chief law enforcement officer of, a State at any time of a determination that the State is in compliance with the timetable set for that State. Authorizes a prospective transferee to submit to the Attorney General information to correct, clarify, or supplement records of the system with respect to the prospective transferee. Requires the Attorney General to immediately consider the information, to investigate further, and to correct erroneous information and give notice of the error to any Federal department or agency or any State that was the source of such records. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to include among State application requirements for drug control and system improvement grants a certification that the State has established a plan under which the State will provide the Department of Justice with notification of adjudications of persons as mental defectives and of commitments to mental institutions.