Instant Check Gun Tax Repeal and Gun Owner Privacy Act of 2001

Instant Check Gun Tax Repeal and Gun Owner Privacy Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit a Federal, State, or local officer or employee acting on behalf of the United States from charging or collecting any fee for a required background check in connection with the transfer of a firearm. Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit any such individual from: (1) performing a national instant criminal background check through the system established pursuant to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act if that system does not require and result in the immediate destruction o f all information about the person who is determined not to be prohibited by Federal or State law from receiving a firearm (with an exception); or (2) continuing to operate the system unless specified conditions are met.

Establishes a private cause of action for violations of this Act.

[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 906 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 906

 To provide for protection of gun owner privacy and ownership rights, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 17, 2001

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for protection of gun owner privacy and ownership rights, 
                        and for other purposes.

    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 ``Instant Check Gun Tax Repeal and Gun 
Owner Privacy Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON GUN TAX.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 33 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 540C. Ban against fee for background check in connection with 
              firearm transfer
    ``No officer, employee, or agent of the United States, including a 
State or local officer or employee acting on behalf of the United 
States, may charge or collect any fee in connection with any background 
check required in connection with the transfer of a firearm (as defined 
in section 921(a)(3) of title 18).''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--The section analysis for 
chapter 33 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 540B the following:

``540C. Ban against fee for background check in connection with firearm 
                            transfer.''.

SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF GUN OWNER PRIVACY AND OWNERSHIP RIGHTS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 932. Gun owner privacy and ownership rights
    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 
department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States or officer, 
employee, or agent of the United States, including a State or local 
officer or employee acting on behalf of the United States may not--
            ``(1) except as provided in subsection (b), perform any 
        national instant criminal background check on any person 
        through the system established pursuant to section 103 of the 
        Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note) 
        (referred to in this section as the `system') if that system 
        does not require and result in the immediate destruction of all 
        information, in any form whatsoever or through any medium, 
        about such person who is determined, through the use of the 
        system, not to be prohibited by subsection (g) or (h) of 
        section 922 of title 18, United States Code, or by State law, 
        from receiving a firearm; or
            ``(2) continue to operate the system (including requiring a 
        background check before the transfer of a firearm) unless--
                    ``(A) the `NICS Index' complies with the 
                requirements of section 552a(e)(5) of title 5, United 
                States Code; and
                    ``(B) the agency responsible for the system and the 
                system's compliance with Federal law does not invoke 
                the exceptions under subsections (j)(2), (k)(2), and 
                (k)(3) of section 552a of title 5, United States Code, 
                except if specifically identifiable information is 
                compiled for a particular law enforcement investigation 
                or specific criminal enforcement matter.
    ``(b) Exception.--Subsection (a)(1) shall not apply to the 
retention or transfer of information relating to--
            ``(1) any unique identification number provided by the 
        national instant criminal background check system pursuant to 
        section 922(t)(1)(B)(i) of title 18, United States Code; or
            ``(2) the date on which that number is provided.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--The section analysis for 
chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``932. Gun owner privacy and ownership rights.''.

SEC. 4. CIVIL REMEDIES.

    Any person aggrieved by a violation of section 540(b) of title 28, 
or 932 of title 18, United States Code, as added by this section, may 
bring an action in the district court of the United States for the 
district in which the person resides. Any person who is successful with 
respect to any such action shall receive actual damages, punitive 
damages, and such other remedies as the court may determine to be 
appropriate, including a reasonable attorney's fee.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of 
enactment of this Act, except that the amendments made by section 2 
shall take effect as of October 1, 2001.
                                 <all>