Read, per a release directly from the White House, the fact sheet on: New Executive Actions to Reduce Gun Violence and Make Our Communities Safer
Gun
violence has taken a heartbreaking toll on too many communities across
the country. Over the past decade in America, more than 100,000 people
have been killed as a result of gun violence—and millions more have been
the victim of assaults, robberies, and other crimes involving a gun.
Many of these crimes were committed by people who never should have been
able to purchase a gun in the first place. Over the same period,
hundreds of thousands of other people in our communities committed
suicide with a gun and nearly half a million people suffered other gun
injuries. Hundreds of law enforcement officers have been shot to death
protecting their communities. And too many children are killed or
injured by firearms every year, often by accident. The vast majority of
Americans—including the vast majority of gun owners—believe we must
take sensible steps to address these horrible tragedies.
The
President and Vice President are committed to using every tool at the
Administration’s disposal to reduce gun violence. Some of the gaps in
our country’s gun laws can only be fixed through legislation, which is
why the President continues to call on Congress to pass the kind of
commonsense gun safety reforms supported by a majority of the American
people. And while Congress has repeatedly failed to take action and
pass laws that would expand background checks and reduce gun violence,
today, building on the significant steps that have already been taken
over the past several years, the Administration is announcing a series
of commonsense executive actions designed to:
1. Keep guns out of the wrong hands through background checks.
· The
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is making
clear that it doesn’t matter where you conduct your business—from a
store, at gun shows, or over the Internet: If you’re in the business of
selling firearms, you must get a license and conduct background checks.
· ATF
is finalizing a rule to require background checks for people trying to
buy some of the most dangerous weapons and other items through a trust,
corporation, or other legal entity.
· Attorney
General Loretta E. Lynch has sent a letter to States highlighting the
importance of receiving complete criminal history records and criminal
dispositions, information on persons disqualified because of a mental
illness, and qualifying crimes of domestic violence.
· The
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is overhauling the background
check system to make it more effective and efficient. The envisioned
improvements include processing background checks 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, and improving notification of local authorities when certain
prohibited persons unlawfully attempt to buy a gun. The FBI will hire
more than 230 additional examiners and other staff to help process these
background checks.
2. Make our communities safer from gun violence.
· The
Attorney General convened a call with U.S. Attorneys around the country
to direct federal prosecutors to continue to focus on smart and
effective enforcement of our gun laws.
· The President’s FY2017 budget will include funding for 200 new ATF agents and investigators to help enforce our gun laws.
· ATF
has established an Internet Investigation Center to track illegal
online firearms trafficking and is dedicating $4 million and additional
personnel to enhance the National Integrated Ballistics Information
Network.
· ATF
is finalizing a rule to ensure that dealers who ship firearms notify
law enforcement if their guns are lost or stolen in transit.
· The Attorney General issued a memo encouraging every U.S. Attorney’s Office to renew domestic violence outreach efforts.
3. Increase mental health treatment and reporting to the background check system.
· The Administration is proposing a new $500 million investment to increase access to mental health care.
· The
Social Security Administration has indicated that it will begin the
rulemaking process to include information in the background check system
about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a firearm for
mental health reasons.
· The
Department of Health and Human Services is finalizing a rule to remove
unnecessary legal barriers preventing States from reporting relevant
information about people prohibited from possessing a gun for specific
mental health reasons.
4. Shape the future of gun safety technology.
· The
President has directed the Departments of Defense, Justice, and
Homeland Security to conduct or sponsor research into gun safety
technology.
· The
President has also directed the departments to review the availability
of smart gun technology on a regular basis, and to explore potential
ways to further its use and development to more broadly improve gun
safety.
Congress
should support the President’s request for resources for 200 new ATF
agents and investigators to help enforce our gun laws, as well as a new
$500 million investment to address mental health issues.
Because
we all must do our part to keep our communities safe, the
Administration is also calling on States and local governments to do all
they can to keep guns out of the wrong hands and reduce gun violence.
It is also calling on private-sector leaders to follow the lead of other
businesses that have taken voluntary steps to make it harder for
dangerous individuals to get their hands on a gun. In the coming weeks,
the Administration will engage with manufacturers, retailers, and other
private-sector leaders to explore what more they can do.
New Actions by the Federal Government
Keeping Guns Out of the Wrong Hands Through Background Checks
The
most important thing we can do to prevent gun violence is to make sure
those who would commit violent acts cannot get a firearm in the first
place. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS),
which was created by Congress to prevent guns from being sold to
prohibited individuals, is a critical tool in achieving that goal.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the background check
system has prevented more than 2 million guns from getting into the
wrong hands. We know that making the system more efficient, and
ensuring that it has all appropriate records about prohibited
purchasers, will help enhance public safety. Today, the Administration
is announcing the following executive actions to ensure that all gun
dealers are licensed and run background checks, and to strengthen the
background check system itself:
· Clarify
that it doesn’t matter where you conduct your business—from a store, at
gun shows, or over the Internet: If you’re in the business of selling
firearms, you must get a license and conduct background checks. Background
checks have been shown to keep guns out of the wrong hands, but too
many gun sales—particularly online and at gun shows—occur without basic
background checks. Today, the Administration took action to ensure that
anyone who is “engaged in the business” of selling firearms is licensed
and conducts background checks on their customers. Consistent with
court rulings on this issue, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives (ATF) has clarified the following principles:
o A
person can be engaged in the business of dealing in firearms regardless
of the location in which firearm transactions are conducted.
For example, a person can be engaged in the business of dealing in
firearms even if the person only conducts firearm transactions at gun
shows or through the Internet. Those engaged in the business of dealing
in firearms who utilize the Internet or other technologies must obtain a
license, just as a dealer whose business is run out of a traditional
brick-and-mortar store.
o Quantity and frequency of sales are relevant indicators.
There is no specific threshold number of firearms purchased or sold
that triggers the licensure requirement. But it is important to note
that even a few transactions, when combined with other evidence, can be
sufficient to establish that a person is “engaged in the business.” For
example, courts have upheld convictions for dealing without a license
when as few as two firearms were sold or when only one or two
transactions took place, when other factors also were present.
o There are criminal penalties for failing to comply with these requirements.
A person who willfully engages in the business of dealing in firearms
without the required license is subject to criminal prosecution and can
be sentenced up to five years in prison and fined up to $250,000.
Dealers are also subject to penalties for failing to conduct background
checks before completing a sale.
· Require
background checks for people trying to buy some of the most dangerous
weapons and other items through a trust or corporation. The
National Firearms Act imposes restrictions on sales of some of the most
dangerous weapons, such as machine guns and sawed-off shotguns. But
because of outdated regulations, individuals have been able to avoid the
background check requirement by applying to acquire these firearms and
other items through trusts, corporations, and other legal entities. In
fact, the number of these applications has increased significantly over
the years—from fewer than 900 applications in the year 2000 to more than
90,000 applications in 2014. ATF is finalizing a rule that makes clear
that people will no longer be able to avoid background checks by buying
NFA guns and other items through a trust or corporation.
· Ensure
States are providing records to the background check system, and work
cooperatively with jurisdictions to improve reporting. Congress
has prohibited specific categories of people from buying guns—from
convicted felons to users of illegal drugs to individuals convicted of
misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence. In the wake of the shootings
at Virginia Tech in 2007, Congress also created incentives for States to
make as many relevant records as possible accessible to NICS. Over the
past three years, States have increased the number of records they make
accessible by nearly 70 percent. To further encourage this reporting,
the Attorney General has written a letter to States highlighting the
importance of receiving complete criminal history records and criminal
dispositions, information on persons disqualified for mental health
reasons, and qualifying crimes of domestic violence. The Administration
will begin a new dialogue with States to ensure the background check
system is as robust as possible, which is a public safety imperative.
· Make the background check system more efficient and effective. In
2015, NICS received more than 22.2 million background check requests,
an average of more than 63,000 per day. By law, a gun dealer can
complete a sale to a customer if the background check comes back clean
or has taken more than three days to complete. But features of the
current system, which was built in the 1990s, are outdated. The Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will take the following steps to ensure
NICS operates more efficiently and effectively to keep guns out of the
wrong hands:
o FBI
will hire more than 230 additional NICS examiners and other staff
members to assist with processing mandatory background checks.
This new hiring will begin immediately and increase the existing
workforce by 50 percent. This will reduce the strain on the NICS system
and improve its ability to identify dangerous people who are prohibited
from buying a gun before the transfer of a firearm is completed.
o FBI has partnered with the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) to modernize NICS.
Although NICS has been routinely upgraded since its launch in 1998, the
FBI is committed to making the system more efficient and effective, so
that as many background checks as possible are fully processed within
the three-day period before a dealer can legally sell a gun even if a
background check is not complete. The improvements envisioned by FBI
and USDS include processing background checks 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week to improve overall response time and improving notification of
local authorities when certain prohibited persons unlawfully attempt to
purchase a firearm.
Making Our Communities Safer from Gun Violence
In
order to improve public safety, we need to do more to ensure smart and
effective enforcement of our gun laws and make sure that criminals and
other prohibited persons cannot get their hands on lost or stolen
weapons. The Administration is therefore taking the following actions:
· Ensure smart and effective enforcement of our gun laws. In
a call earlier today, the Attorney General discussed the importance of
today’s announcements and directed the Nation’s 93 U.S. Attorneys across
the country to continue to focus their resources—as they have for the
past several years under the Department’s Smart on Crime initiative—on
the most impactful cases, including those targeting violent offenders,
illegal firearms traffickers, and dangerous individuals who bypass the
background check system to acquire weapons illegally. During the call,
the Attorney General also emphasized ongoing initiatives to assist
communities in combating violent crime, including ATF’s efforts to
target the “worst of the worst” gun crimes. These efforts will also
complement the following actions announced today:
o The
President’s budget for FY2017 will include funding for 200 new ATF
agents and investigators who can help enforce our gun laws, including
the measures announced today.
Strategic and impactful enforcement will help take violent criminals
off the street, deter other unlawful activity, and prevent guns from
getting into the wrong hands.
o ATF is dedicating $4 million and additional personnel to enhance the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN).
The NIBIN database includes ballistic evidence that can be used by
analysts and investigators to link violent crimes across jurisdictions
and to track down shooters who prey on our communities. In February
2016, ATF is standing up the National NIBIN Correlation and Training
Center—which will ultimately provide NIBIN matching services at one
national location, rather than requiring local police departments to do
that work themselves. The Center will provide consistent and capable
correlation services, making connections between ballistic crime scene
evidence and crime guns locally, regionally, and nationally. These
enhancements will support ATF’s crime gun intelligence and enforcement
efforts, particularly in communities most affected by violent crime.
o ATF
has established an Internet Investigations Center (IIC) staffed with
federal agents, legal counsel, and investigators to track illegal online
firearms trafficking and to provide actionable intelligence to agents
in the field.
The IIC has already identified a number of significant traffickers
operating over the Internet. This work has led to prosecutions against
individuals or groups using the “dark net” to traffic guns to criminals
or attempting to buy firearms illegally online.
· Ensure that dealers notify law enforcement about the theft or loss of their guns. Under
current law, federal firearms dealers and other licensees must report
when a gun from their inventory has been lost or stolen. The
regulations are ambiguous, however, about who has this responsibility
when a gun is lost or stolen in transit. Many lost and stolen guns end
up being used in crimes. Over the past five years, an average of 1,333
guns recovered in criminal investigations each year were traced back to a
licensee that claimed it never received the gun even though it was
never reported lost or stolen either. Today, ATF issued a final rule
clarifying that the licensee shipping a gun is responsible for notifying
law enforcement upon discovery that it was lost or stolen in transit.
· Issue a memo directing every U.S. Attorney’s Office to renew domestic violence outreach efforts.
In the event of an emergency, victims of domestic violence should call
911 or otherwise contact state or local law enforcement officials, who
have a broader range of options for responding to these crimes. To
provide an additional resource for state, local, and tribal law
enforcement and community groups focused on domestic violence, the
Attorney General is issuing a memo directing U.S. Attorney’s Offices
around the country to engage in renewed efforts to coordinate with these
groups to help combat domestic violence and to prevent prohibited
persons from obtaining firearms.
Increase Mental Health Treatment and Reporting to the Background Check System
The
Administration is committed to improving care for Americans
experiencing mental health issues. In the last seven years, our country
has made extraordinary progress in expanding mental health coverage for
millions of Americans. This includes the Affordable Care Act’s end to
insurance company discrimination based on pre-existing conditions,
required coverage of mental health and substance use disorder services
in the individual and small group markets, and an expansion of mental
health and substance use disorder parity policies, all of which are
estimated to help more than 60 million Americans. About 13.5 million
more Americans have gained Medicaid coverage since October 2013,
significantly improving access to mental health care. And thanks to
more than $100 million in funding from the Affordable Care Act,
community health centers have expanded behavioral health services for
nearly 900,000 people nationwide over the past two years. We must
continue to remove the stigma around mental illness and its
treatment—and make sure that these individuals and their families know
they are not alone. While individuals with mental illness are more
likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators, incidents of
violence continue to highlight a crisis in America’s mental health
system. In addition to helping people get the treatment they need, we
must make sure we keep guns out of the hands of those who are prohibited
by law from having them. Today, the Administration is announcing the
following steps to help achieve these goals:
· Dedicate significant new resources to increase access to mental health care. Despite
our recent significant gains, less than half of children and adults
with diagnosable mental health problems receive the treatment they
need. To address this, the Administration is proposing a new $500
million investment to help engage individuals with serious mental
illness in care, improve access to care by increasing service capacity
and the behavioral health workforce, and ensure that behavioral health
care systems work for everyone. This effort would increase access to
mental health services to protect the health of children and
communities, prevent suicide, and promote mental health as a top
priority.
· Include
information from the Social Security Administration in the background
check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a
firearm. Current
law prohibits individuals from buying a gun if, because of a mental
health issue, they are either a danger to themselves or others or are
unable to manage their own affairs. The Social Security Administration
(SSA) has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to ensure
that appropriate information in its records is reported to NICS. The
reporting that SSA, in consultation with the Department of Justice, is
expected to require will cover appropriate records of the approximately
75,000 people each year who have a documented mental health issue,
receive disability benefits, and are unable to manage those benefits
because of their mental impairment, or who have been found by a state or
federal court to be legally incompetent. The rulemaking will also
provide a mechanism for people to seek relief from the federal
prohibition on possessing a firearm for reasons related to mental
health.
· Remove unnecessary legal barriers preventing States from reporting relevant information to the background check system.
Although States generally report criminal history information to NICS,
many continue to report little information about individuals who are
prohibited by Federal law from possessing or receiving a gun for
specific mental health reasons. Some State officials raised concerns
about whether such reporting would be precluded by the Privacy Rule
issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996 (HIPAA). Today, the Department of Health and Human Services issued
a final rule expressly permitting certain HIPAA covered entities to
provide to the NICS limited demographic and other necessary information
about these individuals.
Shaping the Future of Gun Safety Technology
Tens
of thousands of people are injured or killed by firearms every year—in
many cases by guns that were sold legally but then stolen, misused, or
discharged accidentally. Developing and promoting technology that would
help prevent these tragedies is an urgent priority. America has done
this in many other areas—from making cars safer to improving the tablets
and phones we use every day. We know that researchers and engineers
are already exploring ideas for improving gun safety and the tracing of
lost or stolen guns. Millions of dollars have already been invested to
support research into concepts that range from fingerprint scanners to
radio-frequency identification to microstamping technology.
As
the single largest purchaser of firearms in the country, the Federal
Government has a unique opportunity to advance this research and ensure
that smart gun technology becomes a reality—and it is possible to do so
in a way that makes the public safer and is consistent with the Second
Amendment. Today, the President is taking action to further this work
in the following way:
· Issue
a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Defense,
Department of Justice, and Department of Homeland Security to take two
important steps to promote smart gun technology.
o Increase research and development efforts. The
Presidential Memorandum directs the departments to conduct or sponsor
research into gun safety technology that would reduce the frequency of
accidental discharge or unauthorized use of firearms, and improve the
tracing of lost or stolen guns. Within 90 days,
these agencies must prepare a report outlining a
research-and-development strategy designed to expedite the real-world
deployment of such technology for use in practice.
o Promote the use and acquisition of new technology.
The Presidential Memorandum also directs the departments to review the
availability of smart gun technology on a regular basis, and to explore
potential ways to further its use and development to more broadly
improve gun safety. In connection with these efforts, the departments
will consult with other agencies that acquire firearms and take
appropriate steps to consider whether including such technology in
specifications for acquisition of firearms would be consistent with
operational needs.
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