VotedBy VotedBy ⌕
Election Day · Tue, Nov 3See how your members of Congress voted →

S. 469 · 108th Congress

TRACE Act

Key: what the circles and colors mean

Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:

IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law (gold)Resolution agreed to (full, dark)Failed or vetoed (gray)

Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.

Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.

Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 108th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

HKD KohlSponsor
9 cosponsors · 8 D, 1 R
JCD Corzine MDR DeWine DFD Feinstein CLD Levin BMD Mikulski JRD Reed CSD Schumer RDD Durbin FLD Lautenberg

7 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

Technological Resource to Assist Criminal Enforcement (TRACE) Act - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to require a licensed manufacturer or importer of firearms to: (1) test fire manufactured or imported firearms as specified by the Attorney General; (2) prepare ballistics images of the fired bullet and cartridge casings; (3) make the records…

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Feb 27, 2003
Technological Resource to Assist Criminal Enforcement (TRACE) Act - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to require a licensed manufacturer or importer of firearms to: (1) test fire manufactured or imported firearms as specified by the Attorney General; (2) prepare ballistics images of the fired bullet and cartridge casings; (3) make the records available to the Attorney General for entry into an electronic database; and (4) store the fired bullet and cartridge casings.

Directs the Attorney General to assist firearm manufacturers and importers in complying with these requirements by: (1) acquiring, installing, and upgrading ballistics equipment and bullet and cartridge casing recovery equipment; (2) hiring or designating sufficient personnel to develop and maintain a ballistics database; (3) providing education about the role of ballistics; and (4) providing for the coordination among law enforcement, regulatory agencies, and the firearm industry to curb firearm-related crime and illegal firearm trafficking.

Requires the Attorney General to: (1) establish an electronic database through which State and local law enforcement agencies can promptly access ballistics records that shall not include any identifying information regarding dealers, collectors, or purchasers of firearms; (2) require training for all ballistics examiners; (3) conduct mandatory ballistics testing of all firearms obtained or in the possession of the Department of Justice; and (4) report to Congress on the implementation of this Act.

Prohibits the use of ballistics information of individual guns for prosecutorial purposes unless officials have a reasonable belief that a crime has been committed and that ballistics information would assist in the investigation.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: TRACE Act

Also known as: Technological Resource to Assist Criminal Enforcement Act

Latest action (Feb 27, 2003): Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2926-2927)

Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Feb 27, 2003

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.