Bipartisan Gun Legislation: Read It For Yourself

The full text for the bipartisan gun legislation that the US Senate has been working on since the shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo is now up for consideration.

From The Reload:

The package represents the first expansion to the category of Americans who are prohibited from owning guns in decades, a longtime political priority of Democrats. However, it also represents an expansion in funding for mental health and school security initiatives which Republicans have long favored as solutions to school shootings. The deal is likely to have political consequences for both parties as they approach the midterm elections in November.

The bill would make it illegal for anyone to knowingly sell guns or ammunition to anyone who has a juvenile record that includes a felony conviction, domestic violence misdemeanor conviction, or an involuntary commitment after the age of 16. Until now those prohibitions had only applied to adult records. However, the law does not amend the prohibition on gun possession to include those with disqualifying juvenile records.

So, the proposal would make it illegal to knowingly sell a gun or ammo to somebody of any age who has a disqualifying juvenile record but not for them to attempt to buy or possess a gun.

In the same provision, the bill also creates a special background check process for 18-to-20-year-olds. Under the special process, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) would be required to contact the juvenile criminal record system in the buyer’s state, the state’s mental health record custodian, and “a local law enforcement agency” where the buyer lives to check for disqualifying juvenile records. NICS then has three days to tell the gun dealer whether it found cause to further investigate the buyer’s background. If so, NICS can then take up to ten days to do that investigation.

After that point, the gun can be sold even if NICS has not made a determination.

The process is similar to the current procedure for when NICS identifies a potential disqualifying record it doesn’t have immediate access to. In those situations, the FBI can delay a sale for up to three days in order to further investigate the potentially disqualifying records. The text says NICS must return a result on whether it found reason to believe the buyer has disqualifying juvenile records “as soon as possible” but the new process appears likely to result in sales to 18-to-20-year-olds being delayed more often.

The entire specialized background check process is set to expire after 10 years. However, disqualifying juvenile records will remain still in NICS after that point.

The bill also expands the definition of domestic violence to include “dating relationships.” It applies to anyone who is convicted of a misdemeanor violent attack they are, or recently were, in “a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature.” The text says whether the relationship falls under this definition will be determined by its length, nature, as well as the “frequency and type of interaction between” those involved. It specifically rejects any “casual acquaintanceship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context” as part of the definition.

The updated definition would not be applied retroactively. Additionally, anybody barred under the new “dating relationship” provision would also be automatically eligible for their record to be expunged and removed from the background check system after five years if they don’t commit any further crimes during that time period. That clemency would not extend to the misdemeanor domestic violence offenses against spouses or children that are already prohibiting for life under federal law.

The expungement of “dating partner” records appear to be part of concessions made to Cornyn and other Republicans during the negotiations. His request to expand funding intended to encourage states to adopt Red Flag laws out to other kinds of state crisis intervention programs made it into the final deal as well.

States can request grant money for crisis intervention programs including “mental health courts,” “drug courts,” and “veterans courts” instead of Red Flag programs. Additionally, in order for a Red Flag law to qualify for funding it has to include “due process rights that prevent any violation or infringement of the Constitution,” have an evidentiary standard in line with similar federal court proceedings, and penalties for “abuse of the program.”

The bill also creates a new, and potentially redundant, crime for purchasing guns for others who can’t legally own them or for gun trafficking. Both of those offenses are already illegal under federal law, though critics often complain about low prosecution rates associated with the current prohibitions.

The deal also reworks the standard for when people legally selling firearms are required to obtain a federal license. The standard will be changed from those who sell guns “with the principal objective of livelihood and profit” to those who sell “predominantly” to “earn a profit.” The text further defines that as somebody who sells guns with the goal of “obtaining pecuniary gain” instead of somebody who has the goal of “improving or liquidating a personal firearms collection.”

Reaction from the gun groups was swift and divergent. Gun-control groups praised the bill.

Read the full bill for yourself here:

The shorter talking points rip out can be read here: