Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 107 Part 2.djvu/589

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PUBLIC LAW 103-159—NOV. 30, 1993 107 STAT. 1541 "(6) Neither a local government nor an employee of the Federal Government or of any State or local government, responsible for providing information to the national instant criminal background check system shall be liable in an action at law for damages— "(A) for failure to prevent the sale or transfer of a firearm to a person whose receipt or possession of the firearm is unlawful under this section; or "(B) for preventing such a sale or transfer to a person who may lawfully receive or possess a firearm.", (c) PENALTY. — Section 924(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by striking "paragraph (2) or (3) or; and (2) by adding at the end the following: " (5) Whoever knowingly violates subsection (s) or (t) of section 922 shall be fined not more than $1,000, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both.". SEC. 103. NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYS- TEM. (a) DETERMINATION OF TIMETABLES. — Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall— (1) determine the type of computer hardware and software that will be used to operate the national instant criminal background check system and the means by which State criminal records systems and the telephone or electronic device of licensees will communicate with the national system; (2) investigate the criminal records system of each State and determine for each State a timetable by which the State should be able to provide criminal records on an on-line capacity basis to the national system; and (3) notify each State of the determinations made pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2). (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM. —Not later than 60 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a national instant criminal background check system that any licensee may contact, by telephone or by other electronic means in addition to the telephone, for information, to be supplied immediately, on whether receipt of a firearm by a prospective transferee would violate section 922 of title 18, United States Code, or State law. (c) EXPEDITED ACTION BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. —The Attorney General shall expedite— (1) the upgrading and indexing of State criminal history records in the Federal criminal records system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (2) the development of hardware and software systems to link State criminal history check systems into the national instant criminal background check system established by the Attorney General pursuant to this section; and (3) the current revitalization initiatives by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for technologically advanced fingerprint and criminal records identification. (d) NOTIFICATION OF LICENSEES. —On establishment of the system under this section, the Attorney General shall notify each licensee and the chief law enforcement officer of each State of Computers. Records. Telecommunications. 18 USC 922 note.