“To provide for a cause of action enabling recovery of any person harmed by the limitation on ability to carry a firearm in a different jurisdiction.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section requires states and units of local government receiving grants under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne-JAG) program (i.e., formula block grants for state and local criminal justice activities) to conform laws and policies, after the first full fiscal year following enactment, to permit a person authorized to carry a firearm in their state of residence—who is harmed by firearm use in a gun-free zone (i.e., any area prohibiting public carry under federal, state, or local law) and could have averted or mitigated the harm if permitted to carry—to recover compensatory damages and pain-and-suffering damages in a civil action against the state or unit of local government. Noncompliant recipients are ineligible for up to 99% of their Byrne-JAG allocation in subsequent fiscal years, with withheld amounts reallocated to compliant recipients.
This section requires states and units of local government to conform their laws and policies to the gun-free zone policy requirement in section 2(a) as a condition of receiving Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants after the period specified in section 2(b), with non-compliant recipients subject to a reduction of up to 99% of allocated funds after the period specified in section 2(b)(1). (COPS grants under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 support community policing initiatives, including hiring and rehiring additional career law enforcement officers.)