[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2089 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2089

                To combat criminal misuse of explosives.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 11, 2002

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, cause to be transported, ship, 
                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) in paragraph (1), by adding ``or'' at 
                        the end;
                            (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ``; or'' 
                        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:
    ``(q) 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(d)) 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.--
                            ``(i) In general.--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.
                            ``(ii) Ineligibility due to violation.--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.
                    ``(B) Treatment of requests.--On receipt of a 
                request under subparagraph (A), the Attorney General 
                shall immediately comply with the request.
                    ``(C) 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 receiving information under clause (i), 
                        the Attorney General shall--
                                    ``(I) immediately consider the 
                                information;
                                    ``(II) investigate the matter 
                                further;
                                    ``(III) correct all erroneous 
                                Federal records relating to the 
                                prospective transferee; and
                                    ``(IV) 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(q)--
            ``(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 established under section 103 of the Brady Handgun 
        Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note); 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--
            ``(1) the State or political subdivision responsible for--
                    ``(A) providing the erroneous information referred 
                to in subsection (a)(1); or
                    ``(B) denying the transfer of explosives; or
            ``(2) the United States.
    ``(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 striking ``shall be in such form and contain such 
        information'' and inserting ``shall include fingerprints and a 
        photograph of the applicant, and shall be in such form and 
        contain such other information''; 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) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) violates section 842(q) 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) shall take effect 18 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
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