Grassley, Cruz Work to Safeguard Second Amendment Rights, Protect Communities from Gun Violence

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are introducing legislation to safeguard Americans’ Second Amendment rights and prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands. The Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act would take concrete steps to improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), prosecute gun crime and crack down on cartel-fueled gun trafficking. 

“The Second Amendment is a fundamental right established by our Founders. This bill would protect Americans’ right to bear arms, while prioritizing public safety, strengthening our national background check system and fighting gun trafficking across our southern border,” Grassley said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this commonsense measure.”

“I’m proud to work with Senator Grassley to increase support for school safety funding, improve NICS reporting and do more to prosecute criminals who illegally purchase firearms. These measures are common sense, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to pass this legislation, which has received bipartisan support before and should again,” Cruz said.

Specifically, the Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act would:

• Improve recordkeeping by ensuring states submit relevant mental health records to NICS.
• Preserve the Second Amendment by strengthening protections for veterans, active military members and American citizens.
• Enhance accountability by directing federal agencies to issue annual reports on the records they submit to NICS and requiring the Justice Department to explain to Congress why it has, or has not, prosecuted certain gun cases.
• Prioritize public safety by requiring federal and state officials to coordinate on gun law enforcement, designating federal attorneys to prosecute gun crimes and increasing the maximum sentence for straw purchasing and lying and buying schemes.
• Combat cross-border gun smuggling by creating law enforcement run, firearms trafficking task forces across the southern border, at no additional cost to the taxpayer. 

The full bill text is available HERE.

A section-by-section summary of the bill is available HERE.

Background: 

The bill was first introduced as the “Grassley-Cruz” amendment in 2013, when it passed the Senate by a vote of 52-48. However, it couldn’t overcome a Democrat filibuster, and Republicans were in the minority. 

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