[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 127 (Thursday, October 12, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10416-S10417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. TORRICELLI:
  S. 3192. A bill to provide grants to law enforcement agencies to 
purchase firearms needed to perform law enforcement duties; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.


                   police gun buyback assistance act

  Mr. TORRECELLI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that 
will reduce the number of firearms on the street and help guns out of 
the hands of criminals. In the wake of the tragic shootings this year 
in Michigan and Pennsylvania, we are reminded of what happens when the 
wrong people have access to guns. These tragic shootings become even 
more troubling when they involve a former police gun or firearms 
previously involved in a crime.
  It is vital that law enforcement agencies have the very best 
equipment available to ensure their safety and to protect America's 
communities, but purchasing new weapons can be expensive, particularly 
for cash-strapped municipalities. To deal with this problem, for almost 
two decades law enforcement agencies have been reselling their

[[Page S10417]]

old guns to dealers or auctioning them off to the public to offset the 
cost of purchasing new guns. However, this practice has led to an 
unintended result--increased risk that these guns would end up back on 
the streets and in the hands of criminals.
  In the past nine years, firearms once used by law enforcement 
agencies have been involved in more than 3,000 crimes, including 293 
homicides, 301 assaults and 279 drug-related crimes throughout the 
United States. Just last year, Bufford Furrow, a white supremacist, 
used a Glock pistol that was decommissioned and sold by a police agency 
in the State of Washington to terrorize and shoot children at a Jewish 
community center in Los Angeles and then kill a postal worker. Members 
of the Latin Kings, a violent Chicago street gang, used guns formerly 
owned by the Miami-Dade Police Department in Florida to commit violent 
crimes in Illinois. And a 1996 investigation by the New York State 
inspector general found that weapons used by New York law enforcement 
officers had been used in crimes in at least two other states.
  In is time that we help our law enforcement agencies do what they 
have long tried to do--get out of the business of selling guns. Under 
the bill I introduce today, law enforcement agencies will no longer be 
forced to resell their old guns or guns seized from criminals to help 
them obtain the new weapons that are necessary to carry out their 
duties. Instead, this bill would provide grants to state or local law 
enforcement agencys to assist them in purchasing new firearms so that 
they will no longer be forced to sell their decommissioned firearms to 
anyone. In order to receive these grants, the law enforcement agencies 
must simply agree to either destroy their decommissioned guns or not 
sell them to the public.
  A growing number of states and cities have already decided to ban the 
practice of pouring old police guns into the consumer market. They 
recognize that the extra money gained from selling old police guns is 
not worth the price of possible human suffering or loss of life. It is 
simply bad policy for governments to be suppliers of guns and 
potentially add to the problem of gun violence in America. Regardless 
of where one stands on gun control, logic, and common sense and decency 
demand that we also recognize this simple truth and unite behind moving 
this bill to passage.
  I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the legislation appear in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 3192

       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 ``Police Gun Buyback 
     Assistance Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) Buford Furrow, a white supremacist, used a Glock pistol 
     decommissioned and sold by a law enforcement agency in the 
     State of Washington, to shoot children at a Jewish community 
     center in Los Angeles and kill a postal worker.
       (2) Twelve firearms were recently stolen during shipment 
     from the Miami-Dade Police Department to Chicago, Illinois. 
     Four of these firearms have been traced to crimes in Chicago, 
     Illinois, including a shooting near a playground.
       (3) In the past 9 years, decommissioned firearms once used 
     by law enforcement agencies have been involved in more than 
     3,000 crimes, including 293 homicides, 301 assaults, and 279 
     drug-related crimes.
       (4) Many State and local law enforcement departments also 
     engage in the practice of reselling firearms involved in the 
     commission of a crime and confiscated. Often these firearms 
     are assault weapons that were in circulation prior to the 
     restrictions imposed by the Violent Crime Control and Law 
     Enforcement Act of 1994.
       (5) Law enforcement departments in the States of New York 
     and Georgia, the City of Chicago, and other localities have 
     adopted the practice of destroying decommissioned firearms.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to reduce the 
     number of firearms on the streets by assisting State and 
     local law enforcement agencies to eliminate the practice of 
     transferring decommissioned firearms to any person.

      SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

       (a) Grants.--The Attorney General may make grants to States 
     or units of local government--
       (1) to assist States and units of local government in 
     purchasing new firearms without transferring decommissioned 
     firearms to any person; and
       (2) to destroy decommissioned firearms.
       (b) Eligibility.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), to be 
     eligible to receive a grant under this Act, a State or unit 
     of local government shall certify that it has in effect a law 
     or official policy that--
       (A) eliminates the practice of transferring any 
     decommissioned firearm to any person; and
       (B) provides for the destruction of a decommissioned 
     firearm.
       (2) Exception.--A State or unit of local government may 
     transfer a decommissioned firearm to another law enforcement 
     agency.
       (c) Use of Funds.--A State or unit of local government that 
     receives a grant under this Act shall use such grant only to 
     purchase new firearms.

      SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS.

       (a) State Applications.--To request a grant under this Act, 
     the chief executive of a State shall submit an application, 
     signed by the Attorney General of the State requesting the 
     grant, to the Attorney General in such form and containing 
     such information as the Attorney General may reasonably 
     require.
       (b) Local Applications.--To request a grant under this Act, 
     the chief executive of a unit of local government shall 
     submit an application, signed by the chief law enforcement 
     officer in the unit of local government requesting the grant, 
     to the Attorney General in such form and containing such 
     information as the Attorney General may reasonably require.

     SEC. 5. REGULATIONS.

       Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Attorney General shall promulgate regulations to 
     implement this Act, which shall specify the information that 
     must be included and the requirements that the States and 
     units of local government must meet in submitting 
     applications for grants under this Act.

     SEC. 6. REPORTING.

       A State or unit of local government shall report to the 
     Attorney General not later than 2 years after funds are 
     received under this Act, regarding the implementation of this 
     Act. Such report shall include budget assurances that any 
     future purchase of a firearm by the law enforcement agency 
     will be possible without transferring a decommissioned 
     firearm.

     SEC. 7. DEFINITION.

       For purposes of this Act--
       (1) the term ``firearm'' has the same meaning given such 
     term in section 921(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code;
       (2) the term ``decommissioned firearm'' means a firearm--
       (A) no longer in service or use by a law enforcement 
     agency; or
       (B) involved in the commission of a crime and confiscated 
     and no longer needed for evidentiary purposes; and
        (3) the term ``person'' has the same meaning given such 
     term in section 1 of title 1 of the United States Code.

     SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
     Act $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2001 through 
     2005.
                                 ______