H.R. 1456 — Gun Trafficker Detection Act

This section provides the short title of the Act as the “Gun Trafficker Detection Act.”

This section establishes a federal reporting requirement for lost or stolen firearms and creates related penalties and firearm-receipt restrictions. It requires a person who is not licensed under chapter 44 of title 18 and who owns a firearm that has been shipped or transported in, or possessed in or affecting, interstate or foreign commerce to report the theft or loss to the Attorney General within 48 hours after discovering, or reasonably should have discovered, the loss; if the report is not submitted through a web portal created by the Attorney General, the person must report the loss to local law enforcement authorities. It also requires the Attorney General, within 72 hours after receiving a report through the portal, to notify the chief law enforcement officer of the jurisdiction where the theft or loss occurred of the reporting person’s name and address. The section directs the Attorney General to create, within 180 days after enactment, a web-based portal for public reporting of lost or stolen firearms and to include notice of the penalties for knowingly making a false statement under 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1). It further amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require each grant applicant to use not less than 5 percent of the total grant award for the fiscal year to study and implement data management and collection for lost or stolen firearm reports, unless the applicant has ensured, and the Attorney General has certified, that its laws and procedures forward each report to the National Crime Information Center. The section adds civil penalties under 18 U.S.C. § 924(q) for violations of the new reporting requirement: up to $1,000 for a first violation and up to $5,000 for a second or subsequent violation, and requires notice of the firearm-receipt prohibitions added by the section. It also makes it unlawful for a person who has been twice assessed a civil money penalty under section 924(q) to receive a firearm for 1 year after the most recent assessment, and for a person who has been thrice assessed such a penalty to receive a firearm for 5 years after the most recent assessment. In addition, it amends the false-statement penalty provision in 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(A) to cover false reports of lost or stolen firearms. Finally, the section directs the Attorney General, within 6 months after enactment, to issue rules ensuring that the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) accounts for the new firearm-receipt prohibitions and that federally licensed firearms dealers notify purchasers of the penalties for violating the new reporting requirement. It also makes conforming amendments to federal background-check and firearms provisions to incorporate the new 18 U.S.C. § 922(bb) prohibitions.

This section delays the effective date of the Act and the amendments made by the Act until 90 days after enactment. (Thus, the new requirements and changes would not apply immediately upon enactment.)