WASHINGTON
– Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
today reintroduced legislation to protect Second Amendment rights, improve
firearm safety and prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands. The Protecting
Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act of 2021 prevents gun
violence by ensuring that relevant agencies and institutions accurately submit
records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
“The
failure to fully employ the national background checks system has come at the
cost of lives. Over the last several years, a number of mass shootings and
deaths could have been prevented had our current background check systems
worked properly. Our bill will improve that system to ensure the NICS system
receives the information it needs to keep firearms out of the hands of people
who pose a danger to themselves or others. It does that without burdening the
Second Amendment rights of Americans,” Grassley said. “When we first introduced
this legislation in 2013, after the tragedy at Sandy Hook, it received a
bipartisan majority vote in the Senate. There’s no reason that can’t happen
again.”
“When Sen. Grassley and I introduced this bill nine
years ago, it received the most bipartisan support of any comprehensive gun
legislation. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats recklessly blocked it. Our bill
seeks to increase support for school safety funding, ensure agencies accurately
submit records to the NICS, and develop a federal task force to prosecute
criminals who illegally purchase a firearm, rather than target law-abiding
citizens – as the Biden administration has continually signaled they intend to
do. I am honored to continue the fight to keep guns out of the hands of violent
felons, fugitives, and those with severe mental health issues that endanger
themselves and those around them. I once again urge my Senate colleagues on
both sides of the aisle to come together with us to prevent future tragedies,” Cruz said.
“The National Instant Criminal Background Check
System is a crucial tool to ensure guns don’t fall into the wrong hands,” said
Tillis. “The legislation will strengthen our background check system
while protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American
citizens.”
The
bill was first
introduced as the
“Grassley-Cruz” amendment in 2013, when the amendment received a positive
vote of 52-48 in the Senate but could not overcome a Democratic filibuster, and
Republicans were in the minority. The legislation takes important, concrete
steps to improve NICS, address mental health concerns relating to the purchase
of firearms and bolster alerts to law enforcement. It will commission a study
on the causes of mass shootings from the National Institute of Justice and
National Academy of Sciences.
Full
legislative text of the bill can be found
HERE,
a section-by section summary can be found
HERE,
and a one-page digest can be found
HERE.
Additionally,
this legislation will:
·
Ensure that relevant mental health records
are submitted by states to NICS;
·
Responsibly addresses gun violence by
criminalizing straw purchasing of firearms and gun trafficking;
·
Improve Second Amendment protections for
veterans;
·
Require the Justice Department to explain
to Congress why it has or has not been prosecuting gun cases;
·
Place limitations on Fast &
Furious-type operations by the Justice Department;
·
Authorize FFL’s to utilize the NICS
database to for voluntary background checks of employees.
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