Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act

PROTECTION OF LAWFUL COMMERCE IN ARMS ACT

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I send an amendment to the desk.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is it the Chair's understanding this amendment is just to be submitted?

Mr. CORNYN. To clarify, I send an amendment to the desk to be filed.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment will be received.

The Senator from Texas.

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, this amendment is the gun owner privacy protection amendment. This amendment actually will not change the laws that currently exist, but it will continue a temporary provision that was included in the omnibus appropriations bill that will otherwise expire at the end of this fiscal year.

I believe when it comes to protecting the American people, the instant background checks that are required upon the sale of firearms are a very important part of protecting the public. Principally, I believe it is important because it does, on a near instantaneous basis, determine who can legally purchase a firearm and who cannot. Indeed, it is a Federal crime for a convicted felon, or some other person who cannot legally possess a firearm, to purchase one and, conversely, for the retailer to sell it. This provides an instantaneous piece of essential information when it comes to compliance with the law.

Of course, we know the primary threat, in terms of public safety, comes from when career criminals illegally use firearms to commit crimes, which they do typically from the time they get up in the morning until the time they go to bed at night.

This would provide for the continuation of this privacy protection that was contained in the omnibus appropriations bill.

It is specific. What this would require is 24 hours after a sale takes place to a lawful gun owner-that is, there is no reason to limit or otherwise be concerned about the legality of that sale; it is as if the gun were sold to you, me, Senator Reed, or Senator Craig-that it would be required to be destroyed. The purpose of this, of course, is to determine the sale takes place to somebody who can legally purchase the gun and is no threat to the public safety.

The purpose of the instant background check is not-I repeat not-for the Government to maintain a permanent record of who owns firearms. That invasion of personal privacy is not justified by any sound public policy of which I am aware, and I think it would be altogether appropriate for those records of instant background checks to lawful purchasers be destroyed, as is currently the law, after no more than 24 hours.

I emphasize this does not change the requirement that dealers must keep records of all firearms sales. Under current law, these records must be retained for up to 20 years to help trace firearms purchases, and dealers must still comply with all Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives trace requests in the course of a criminal investigation.

Finally, for any instant background check that reveals a potential sale to an unlawful purchaser, those records would be retained, as they are under current law, and they would not be subject to destruction after 24 hours.

I submit to my colleagues this would be altogether an appropriate way of protecting the privacy of gun owners of an important corollary to the instant background checks which I believe have protected the American people from felons and others who cannot legally purchase or even possess firearms, which is the policy of the current law.

I yield back the remaining time.