Foreign National Firearms Background Check Enhancement Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2971 To amend title 18, United States Code, to require an alien lawfully admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa to obtain the approval of the Attorney General before receiving a firearm, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 4, 2021 Mr. CRIST (for himself, Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mrs. DEMINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to require an alien lawfully admitted to the United States under a non- immigrant visa to obtain the approval of the Attorney General before receiving a firearm, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign National Fire- 4 arms Background Check Enhancement Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2971.IH H2971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2971 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT ALIEN LAWFULLY ADMITTED 1 TO THE UNITED STATES UNDER A NON- 2 IMMIGRANT VISA OBTAIN THE APPROVAL OF 3 THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BEFORE RECEIV- 4 ING A FIREARM. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922(y) of title 18, United 6 States Code, is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (2)— 8 (A) by striking all that precedes subpara- 9 graph (B) and inserting the following: 10 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsections (d)(5)(B) and 11 (g)(5)(B) do not apply to the transfer or other dis- 12 position of a firearm to, or the possession or receipt 13 of a firearm by, an alien who has been lawfully ad- 14 mitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant 15 visa, if— 16 ‘‘(A)(i) the alien has obtained a valid waiv- 17 er issued by the Attorney General under para- 18 graph (3), and, in the case of a transfer or 19 other disposition, the transferor has received a 20 copy of the waiver and verified the validity of 21 the waiver with the Attorney General; and 22 ‘‘(ii) the alien— 23 ‘‘(I) is admitted to the United States 24 for lawful hunting or sporting purposes or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2971.IH H2971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2971 IH is in possession of a hunting license or per- 1 mit lawfully issued in the United States; or 2 ‘‘(II) has resided in the United States 3 for a continuous period of not less than 4 180 days before the date on which the pe- 5 tition is submitted under this paragraph;’’; 6 (B) in each of subparagraphs (B) and (C), 7 by inserting ‘‘the alien is’’ before ‘‘an official’’; 8 and 9 (C) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘the 10 alien is’’ before ‘‘a foreign’’; and 11 (2) in paragraph (3)— 12 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 13 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 14 by striking ‘‘subsection’’ and inserting 15 ‘‘subsections (d)(5) and’’; and 16 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘(C)’’ 17 and inserting ‘‘(B)’’; 18 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 19 (i) by striking ‘‘under subparagraph 20 (B) shall—’’ and all that follows through 21 ‘‘(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 22 (ii) by striking ‘‘, absent the applica- 23 tion of subsection (g)(5)(B),’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2971.IH H2971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2971 IH (iii) by inserting ‘‘(d) or’’ before 1 ‘‘(g)’’; 2 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘sub- 3 section’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (d)(5)(B) 4 and’’; and 5 (D) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(D) VALIDITY OF WAIVER.—A waiver 7 issued under this paragraph shall be valid for 8 a term set by the Attorney General, which shall 9 be not longer than 1 year from the date the pe- 10 tition for the waiver is approved.’’. 11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 12 subsection (a) shall take effect 180 days after the date 13 of the enactment of this Act. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2971.IH H2971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS