[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 41 (Monday, March 26, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2896-S2897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. TORRICELLI:
  S. 610. A bill to provide grants to law enforcement agencies to 
purchase firearms needed to perform law enforcement duties; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President today I introduce a bill that will 
reduce the number of firearms on the street and help keep guns out of 
the hands of criminals. In the wake of the tragic shooting this year 
outside of San Diego, we are reminded of what happens when the wrong 
people have access to guns. Such 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 smaller cash-strapped municipalities. Thus, to offset the costs of 
purchasing new weapons, law enforcement agencies have often in the last 
two decades either sold their old guns to dealers or auctioned them off 
to the public. 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 10 years, firearms once used by law enforcement agencies 
have been involved in more than 3,000 crimes throughout the United 
States, including 293 homicides, 301 assaults, and 279 drug-related 
crimes. In 1999, 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.
  It is time that we help our law enforcement agencies do what they are 
trying to do--get out of the business of selling guns. With the help of 
the bill I am introducing, 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 agencies to assist them in purchasing new firearms. 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 possibility that those guns would contribute to 
additional suffering or loss of life. It is simply bad public 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, 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 the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 610

       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 that were 
     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.

[[Page S2897]]

       (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 in eliminating 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 a law enforcement 
     agency.
       (c) Use of Funds.--A State or unit of local government that 
     receives a grant under this Act shall only use that grant 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) In General.--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.
       (b) Budget Assurances.--The report required under 
     subsection (a) shall include budget assurances that any 
     future purchase of a firearm by a law enforcement agency will 
     be possible without transferring a decommissioned firearm.

     SEC. 7. DEFINITION.

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

     SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

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