Safer Communities Act of 2015
Latest action · Jul 9, 2015 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJul 9, 2015
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Safer Communities Act of 2015
This bill provides grants to expand mental health crisis assistance programs, to support comprehensive school mental health programs, and to enhance mental health and substance abuse needs of prison inmates.
The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to expand research on violence associated with mental illness and substance abuse disorders.
It requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand the National Violent Death Reporting System to all 50 states and to research the causes, mechanisms, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of injuries from gun violence.
The bill states that no provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act prohibits physicians from asking patients about guns in their homes, speaking to a patient about gun safety, or reporting a patient's threat of violence.
It amends the Gun Control Act of 1968 to specify that the term "committed to a mental institution" applies to involuntary inpatient or outpatient treatment.
The bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to permit the Department of Justice (DOJ) to award grants to states to remove firearms from individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others.
DOJ must promptly notify law enforcement agencies when a prohibited person attempts to purchase a firearm.
The bill replaces statutory references to persons "adjudicated as a mental defective" with persons "adjudicated as ineligible due to disqualifying mental status."
It amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to:
- establish procedures to restore firearm ownership rights after a mental health adjudication or commitment,
- require an annual report on record submissions due to domestic violence misdemeanor convictions,
- authorize state grants to improve the automation and transmittal of mental health and criminal history records, and
- require quarterly updates to federal agency record submissions.
The bill reauthorizes the National Criminal History Records Improvement Program for FY2016-FY2019.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Judiciary Committee | Referred Jul 9, 2015 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 9, 2015Introduced in Senate
- Jul 9, 2015Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Related bills 7
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 731 | Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Act of 2015 | Related bill | Mar 16, 2015 |
| HR 1211 | Mental Health in Schools Act of 2015 | Related bill | Mar 6, 2015 |
| HR 1217 | Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2015 | Related bill | Mar 31, 2015 |
| S 1588 | Mental Health in Schools Act of 2015 | Related bill | Jun 16, 2015 |
| S 2192 | NICS Reporting Improvement Act | Related bill | Oct 21, 2015 |
| HR 2994 | Safer Communities Act of 2015 | Related bill | Jul 29, 2015 |
| HR 3926 | Gun Violence Research Act | Related bill | Nov 6, 2015 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to protect individuals by strengthening the Nation's mental health infrastructure, improving the understanding of violence, strengthening firearm prohibitions and protections for at-risk individuals, and improving and expanding the reporting of mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Safer Communities Act of 2015
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Administrative remedies
- Assault and harassment offenses
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Child health
- Correctional facilities and imprisonment
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Crime victims
- Criminal justice information and records
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Domestic violence and child abuse
- Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
- Education programs funding
- Elementary and secondary education
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Evidence and witnesses
- Firearms and explosives
- Government information and archives
- Health care coverage and access
- Health information and medical records
- Health personnel
- Health programs administration and funding
- Health promotion and preventive care
- Intergovernmental relations
- Juvenile crime and gang violence
- Law enforcement administration and funding
- Law enforcement officers
- Medical ethics
- Medical research
- Medical tests and diagnostic methods
- Mental health
- Performance measurement
- Product safety and quality
- Research administration and funding
- Retail and wholesale trades
- Right of privacy
- Specialized courts
- State and local government operations
- Teaching, teachers, curricula
- Veterans' medical care
- Violent crime
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jul 9, 2015Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
