[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1353 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1353

                To combat criminal misuse of explosives.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 13 (legislative day, July 12), 1999

Mr. Torricelli introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                To combat criminal misuse of explosives.

    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 ``Dangerous Explosives Background 
Checks Requirement Act''.

SEC. 2. PERMITS AND BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR PURCHASES OF EXPLOSIVES.

    (a) Permits for Purchase of Explosives in General.--
            (1) In general.--Section 842 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(3), by striking subparagraphs 
                (A) and (B) and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) to transport, ship, cause to be transported, 
                or receive any explosive materials; or
                    ``(B) to distribute explosive materials to any 
                person other than a licensee or permittee.''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) by adding ``or'' at the end of 
                        paragraph (1);
                            (ii) by striking ``; or'' at the end of 
                        paragraph (2) and inserting a period; and
                            (iii) by striking paragraph (3).
            (2) Regulations.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
                Treasury shall promulgate final regulations with 
                respect to the amendments made by paragraph (1).
                    (B) Notice to states.--On the promulgation of final 
                regulations under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of 
                the Treasury shall notify the States of the regulations 
                in order that the States may consider legislation to 
                amend relevant State laws relating to explosives.
    (b) Background Checks.--Section 842 of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(p) Background Checks.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Chief law enforcement officer.--The term 
                `chief law enforcement officer' means the chief of 
                police, the sheriff, or an equivalent officer or the 
                designee of such an individual.
                    ``(B) System.--The term `system' means the national 
                instant criminal background check system established 
                under section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence 
                Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note).
            ``(2) Prohibition.--A licensed importer, licensed 
        manufacturer, or licensed dealer shall not transfer explosive 
        materials to a permitee unless--
                    ``(A) before the completion of the transfer, the 
                licensee contacts the system;
                    ``(B)(i) the system provides the licensee with a 
                unique identification number; or
                    ``(ii) 5 days 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 explosive materials by the transferee would 
                violate subsection (i);
                    ``(C) the transferor has verified the identity of 
                the transferee by examining a valid identification 
                document (as defined in section 1028) of the transferee 
                containing a photograph of the transferee; and
                    ``(D) the transferor has examined the permit issued 
                to the transferee under section 843 and recorded the 
                permit number on the record of the transfer.
            ``(3) Identification number.--If receipt of explosive 
        materials would not violate section 842(i) or State law, the 
        system shall--
                    ``(A) assign a unique identification number to the 
                transfer; and
                    ``(B) provide the licensee with the number.
            ``(4) Exceptions.--Paragraph (2) shall not apply to a 
        transfer of explosive materials between a licensee and another 
        person if, on application of the transferor, the Secretary has 
        certified that compliance with paragraph (2)(A) is 
        impracticable because--
                    ``(A) 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;
                    ``(B) the business premises of the licensee at 
                which the transfer is to occur are extremely remote in 
                relation to the chief law enforcement officer; and
                    ``(C) there is an absence of telecommunications 
                facilities in the geographical area in which the 
                business premises are located.
            ``(5) Inclusion of identification number.--If the system 
        notifies the licensee that the information available to the 
        system does not demonstrate that the receipt of explosive 
        materials by the transferee would violate subsection (i) or 
        State law, and the licensee transfers explosive materials to 
        the transferee, the licensee shall include in the record of the 
        transfer the unique identification number provided by the 
        system with respect to the transfer.
            ``(6) Penalties.--If the licensee knowingly transfers 
        explosive materials to another person and knowingly fails to 
        comply with paragraph (2) with respect to the transfer, the 
        Secretary may, after notice and opportunity for a hearing--
                    ``(A) suspend for not more than 6 months or revoke 
                any license issued to the licensee under section 843; 
                and
                    ``(B) impose on the licensee a civil penalty of not 
                more than $5,000.
            ``(7) No liability.--Neither a local government nor an 
        employee of the Federal Government or of any State or local 
        government, responsible for providing information to the system 
        shall be liable in an action at law for damages--
                    ``(A) for failure to prevent the transfer of 
                explosive materials to a person whose receipt or 
                possession of the explosive material is unlawful under 
                this section; or
                    ``(B) for preventing such a transfer to a person 
                who may lawfully receive or possess explosive 
                materials.
            ``(8) Determination of ineligibility.--
                    ``(A) Written reasons provided on request.--If the 
                system determines that an individual is ineligible to 
                receive explosive materials and the individual requests 
                the system to provide the reasons for the 
                determination, the system shall provide such reasons to 
                the individual, in writing, not later than 5 business 
                days after the date of the request.
                    ``(B) Correction of erroneous system information.--
                            ``(i) In general.--If the system informs an 
                        individual contacting the system that receipt 
                        of explosive materials by a prospective 
                        transferee would violate subsection (i) or 
                        applicable State law, the prospective 
                        transferee may request the Attorney General to 
                        provide the prospective transferee with the 
                        reasons for the determination.
                            ``(ii) Treatment of requests.--On receipt a 
                        request under subparagraph (A), the Attorney 
                        General shall immediately comply with the 
                        request.
                            ``(iii) Submission of additional 
                        information.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--A prospective 
                                transferee may submit to the 
Attorney General information to correct, clarify, or supplement records 
of the system with respect to the prospective transferee.
                                    ``(II) Action by the attorney 
                                general.--After receipt of information 
                                under clause (i), the Attorney General 
                                shall--
                                            ``(aa) immediately consider 
                                        the information;
                                            ``(bb) investigate the 
                                        matter further; and
                                            ``(cc) 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.''.
    (c) Remedy for Erroneous Denial of Explosive Materials.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 40 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended by inserting after section 843 the following:
``Sec. 843A. Remedy for erroneous denial of explosive materials
    ``(a) In General.--Any person denied explosive materials under 
section 842(p)--
            ``(1) due to the provision of erroneous information 
        relating to the person by any State or political subdivision of 
        a State or by the national instant criminal background check 
        system referred to in section 922(t); or
            ``(2) who was not prohibited from receiving explosive 
        materials under section 842(i);
may bring an action against an entity described in subsection (b) for 
an order directing that the erroneous information be corrected or that 
the transfer be approved, as the case may be.
    ``(b) Entities Described.--An entity referred to in subsection (a) 
is the State or political subdivision responsible for providing the 
erroneous information referred to in subsection (a)(1) or denying the 
transfer of explosives or the United States, as the case may be.
    ``(c) Attorney's Fees.--In any action brought under this section, 
the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party a 
reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs.''.
            (2) Technical amendment.--The analysis for chapter 40 of 
        title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 
        item relating to section 843 the following:

``843A. Remedy for erroneous denial of explosive materials.''.
    (d) Licenses and User Permits.--Section 843(a) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``, including fingerprints and a 
        photograph of the applicant'' before the period at the end of 
        the first sentence; and
            (2) by striking the second sentence and inserting the 
        following: ``Each applicant for a license shall pay for each 
        license a fee established by the Secretary in an amount not to 
        exceed $300. Each applicant for a permit shall pay for each 
        permit a fee established by the Secretary in an amount not to 
        exceed $100.''.
    (e) Penalties.--Section 844(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1) after ``(a)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Background checks.--A person who violates section 
        842(p) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 
        than 5 years, or both.''.
    (f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a), (b), 
(c), and (e) take effect 18 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act.
                                 <all>