[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 12 (Thursday, January 23, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1492-S1493]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. Lautenberg):
  S. 217. A bill to reinstate felony penalties for licensed gun dealers 
who fail to maintain records of sales; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I am introducing a bill that could 
have a large impact on reducing gun violence in this country.
  Last fall, two snipers terrorized the Washington, D.C. metropolitan 
area, killing ten victims and wounding others including children. Among 
the weapons used by the snipers was a high powered military-style 
assault rifle known as a Bushmaster XM15. Following the arrest of 
sniper suspects John Mohammed and John Lee Malvo, this weapon was 
linked to killings in Maryland, Virginia,Louisiana, and Alabama.
  Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms traced the 
Bushmaster weapon to a Tacoma, Washington gun dealership, the Bull's 
Eye Shooter Supply. Investigators even found the empty box in which the 
weapon was shipped.
  But What the agents did not find was any record of the sale of the 
weapon because the gun dealer did not keep adequate records. If the gun 
was bought from Bull's Eye, we do not know when because there is no 
record of the Sale. There is no record of a gun application or a 
background check for John Mohammed. Had a background check been carried 
out, John Mohammed would not have obtained the weapon because a 
domestic violence restraining order had been field against him.
  What is the weapon was stolen? If the owner of Bull's Eye had kept 
proper records and followed Federal law, he would have reported the 
weapon missing or stolen when it disappeared from the store. The 
knowledge that a Bushmaster XM15 was missing from a Tacoma area weapons 
store could have greatly aided investigators looking into the case.
  The sloppy recordkeeping for this particular weapon was not an 
isolated case. it has been learned that inspectors had uncovered 
record-keeping violations in audits at Bull's Eye in 1998, 2000 and 
2001. A total of 160 missing guns could not be accounted for in the 
2000 audit.
  This type of shoddy recordkeeping is dangerous. A small percentage of 
licensed dealers are responsible for a disproportionate number of crime 
guns. Specifically, 1.2 percent of all licensed gun dealers are 
responsible for the original sale of 57 percent of all firearms used in 
crimes, according to data from the ATF.
  Gun dealers are not being punished when they ignore Federal 
recordkeeping laws. Why? Because in 1986, the National Rifle 
Association pushed a law through Congress that significantly weakened 
penalties for poor recordkeeping reducing maximum jail time for five 
years to one year. This meant that the crime was reduced from

[[Page S1493]]

a felony to a misdemeanor. With this change, the undermanned and 
underfunded Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Federal 
prosecutors simply could not afford to bring cases against gun dealers 
for misdemeanor violations.
  It is time we restore record keeping violations to a felony and that 
is what my bill does. It is not a new gun law. It is merely making the 
penalties tougher for violations for existing law. Regardless of 
whether you support or oppose additional gun laws, we all agree that we 
need strong enforcement of existing laws. My bill would make 
enforcement easier and tougher. I hope my colleagues will support this 
common-sense legislation. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the 
bill and a letter of support from the Violence Policy Center be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 217

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. REINSTATEMENT OF CRIMINAL FELONY PENALTIES FOR 
                   FAILURE TO MAINTAIN RECORDS OF FIREARMS SALES.

       Section 924(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``one year'' and inserting ``5 years''.
                                  ____



                                       Violence Policy Center,

                                 Washington, DC, January 21, 2003.
     Hon. Barbara Boxer,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Boxer: The Violence Policy strongly endorses 
     your legislation to reinstate felony penalties for firearm 
     recordkeeping violations. That this legislation is urgently 
     needed is highlighted by the circumstances surrounding the 
     tragic Washington-area sniper shootings. Bull's Eye Shooter 
     Supply, the gun dealer in Washington state from which the 
     snipers acquired their Bushmaster XM15 assault rifle, had no 
     record of the gun leaving its inventory. The store simply 
     could not account for the disposition of the gun used to kill 
     10 and would three in a shooting spree that terrorized the 
     Washington metropolitan area.
       This is not surprising taking into account the feeble 
     penalties that currently apply to gun dealers who fail to 
     keep adequate records. Your legislation would simply restore 
     the felony penalty that applied until legislation backed by 
     the National Rifle Association reduced it to a misdemeanor in 
     1986.
       At the time, the Reagan Administration agreed that reducing 
     recordkeeping violations to a misdemeanor was a dangerous 
     idea. In 1986, the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco 
     and Firearms (ATF) identified this penalty change as a 
     ``weakness'' of the legislation in which it was included. In 
     a memorandum to the Department of the Treasury's Assistant 
     Secretary for Enforcement, the ATF Director wrote, ``By 
     reducing all licensee recordkeeping violations to 
     misdemeanors, serious violations could not be adequately 
     prosecuted and punished, i.e., a dealer's sale of firearms 
     off-record and his willful refusal to make or maintain any 
     required record could only be prosecuted as misdemeanors.''
       It's time to put the teeth back in dealer recordkeeping 
     enforcement. The Violence Policy Center strongly supports 
     swift passage of the Boxer legislation to reinstate felony 
     penalties for failure to maintain records of firearms 
     transfers.
           Sincerely,
                                                  M. Kristen Rand,
                                             Legislative Director.
                                 ______