Prepared
Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman,
Senate Judiciary Committee
Firearm
Accessory Regulation and Enforcing Federal and State Reporting to the National
Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)
December 6,
2017
Good morning and thank you for
attending today’s hearing.
We gather here today in the wake of
violent acts by evil men in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs. Today, with the
help of our witnesses, we hope to learn more about how those tragedies might
have been prevented. And we will discuss various proposals on preventing
similar tragedies in the future.
Before October 1, 2017, few Americans
knew what a bump stock was. Then a shooter used bump stocks to fire more than
1,100 rounds into a crowd attending a country music concert. The shooting
lasted only ten minutes. But bump stocks enabled him to fire ammunition as fast
as if he had used an automatic weapon. 58 people died and more than 500 were
wounded. It was the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
Our laws prohibit the manufacture of
machineguns and greatly restrict their sale. But during the Obama
Administration the ATF determined that bump stocks are legal. A number of
members of Congress, led by Senator Heller of Nevada, recently wrote the ATF to
ask it to revisit its decision. Two days ago, the ATF announced it was changing
its mind and issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that would apply
the statutory definition of “machinegun” to bump stocks and similar
devices.
Publication of this notice will provide
the public and the firearms industry an opportunity to submit formal comments
to ATF on the proposed rulemaking. We do not have any proposed regulatory text
before us today. But I think the Committee deserves to know why the ATF decided
that its classification of bump stocks during the Obama administration was
incorrect.
It is also important for the Committee
to understand how ATF is now proposing to interpret the statutory definition of
machinegun. Under current case law, the courts may give deference to the
agency’s interpretation of the statutes governing firearms. Depending on the
ATF’s interpretation, Congress might wish to weigh in.
Today we will also discuss the National
Instant Criminal Background Check System, commonly referred to as NICS. NICS is
the system used by those licensed to sell firearms to quickly determine whether
a prospective buyer is eligible. NICS background checks are supposed to prevent
prohibited persons like convicted felons, domestic abusers, and those who have
been determined to have certain mental health problems from purchasing
firearms. Every year, tens of thousands of prohibited persons are turned away
from purchasing weapons. But for NICS to keep weapons out of the hands of
dangerous individuals, federal and state agencies must swiftly and accurately
report information on prohibited persons.
Unfortunately, this does not always
happen as it should. The Sutherland Springs shooting was carried out by an
individual who should not have been able to purchase a firearm under current
law. While in the Air Force, Devin Kelley was court martialed for domestic
violence. He served prison time and was discharged from the Air Force for bad
conduct. But because his information was not entered into the NICS system as
the law required, Kelley was able to purchase four weapons after his release
from prison, including the weapon he used in the Sutherland Springs shooting.
Kelley killed 26 people attending Sunday services at the First Baptist Church
in Sutherland Springs, and wounded 20 more.
In the days following the shooting, the
Air Force acknowledged its role in failing to report Kelley’s conviction to the
FBI. The Air Force’s failure to comply with NICS reporting standards is
inexcusable. But I appreciate the way the Air Force has moved to accept
responsibility for their mistakes. And I look forward to learning more about
the steps the Air Force is taking to make sure that every prohibited person is
reported to the FBI.
NICS reporting issues are not limited
to the Air Force, however. NICS reporting in 1997 and 2015 showed severe
reporting problems across the Department of Defense. A report released by the
Department of Defense’s Inspector General just two days ago shows that from
2015 to 2016 more than 30% of convictions in the Department of Defense were not
reported to the FBI.
Other federal agencies and states can
also improve their NICS reporting. I was pleased to hear that my former
colleague Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a federal review of NICS by
the FBI and ATF to ensure that all federal agencies are reporting all required
information into NICS.
As far as states are concerned, some
progress in NICS reporting has been made in recent years, especially in the
area of reporting mental health records. But some states, even those
represented by members of our own committee such as Rhode Island, Vermont,
Hawaii, and Louisiana, continue to lag behind—reporting fewer records to NICS
on a per capita basis than most other states. And more improvement can be made
in other areas, such as reporting domestic violence offenses. It is clear that
this is a systemic problem and that there are many thousands of abusers who are
not in the NICS system, but should be. States should also work to ensure that
all records submitted to NICS are complete and up to date.
All of us wish that the recent
tragedies in Texas and Nevada could have been avoided. Nothing we do today or
in the weeks to come will restore the lives of those lost to the senseless
violence in Las Vegas or Sutherland Springs. We owe it to the victims of those
shootings to seriously consider what we should do as policymakers.
As legislators, one of the most
powerful tools we possess is in crafting new legislation. The problem with such
a big hammer, however, is that often everything looks like a nail. We must
wield our legislative power carefully, particularly where it involves the
fundamental liberties of our republic. The Supreme Court has made it clear that
laws that concern the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms are subject
to heightened scrutiny. So new laws affecting firearms and firearm accessories
must be narrowly tailored to address important government interests.
In addition, we have laws and
regulations already on the books that require NICS reporting and that regulate
automatic weapons. The ATF has just issued a notice that they intend to
promulgate a new regulation about bump stocks based on existing law. Before we
pass new laws, we should make sure that our current laws are being effectively
followed and enforced. We should also make sure that existing programs designed
to ensure NICS reporting compliance are fully funded and effectively run.
I look forward to discussing these
issues at today’s hearing. I thank our witnesses and Committee members for
their preparations.
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