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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced legislation today that would make it harder for suspected terrorists to purchase firearms and easier for law enforcement agencies to go after suspected terrorists, while safeguarding law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment and due process rights. Rubio’s bill, the Terror Intelligence Improvement Act, strengthens and improves proposals introduced in the U.S. Senate following the June 12th terrorist attack at Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida.
 
“After the Orlando terrorist attack, I met with Fred and Maria Wright, who shared with me the story of their son Jerry and the unimaginable pain they carry after losing him that night,” said Rubio. “The Wrights made a simple request: that we improve our laws so it is more difficult for evil people to get ahold of guns. I told them I would continue working toward consensus on common-sense measures that would help ensure criminals, terrorists and others seeking to take innocent lives are not able to acquire firearms.”
 
“Today, I’m taking another step toward fulfilling my promise to the Wright family, by introducing legislation that builds on some of the best ideas that have been proposed, and improves them in ways that I hope will make a bipartisan solution more likely,” Rubio continued. “This bill would achieve everyone’s goal of making it harder for suspected terrorists to buy guns, and do so without violating the due process and Second Amendment rights of innocent, law-abiding Americans.”
 
Rubio’s Terror Intelligence Improvement Act would: 

• Consolidate all federal terrorism investigation intelligence under the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), strengthening the FBI’s capabilities and helping ensure dangerous individuals do not fall through the cracks. 

• Require the FBI Director and the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) be immediately notified of any request to transfer a firearm to an individual who was the subject of a federal terrorism investigation within the last 10 years. 

• When an individual who was the subject of a federal terrorism investigation within the last 10 years tries to obtain a firearm, allow the U.S. Attorney General to delay the purchase or transfer for up to three business days and file an emergency petition in court to stop it. If the court finds probable cause that the individual is connected to terrorism, the Attorney General may arrest the individual. 

• Protect the due process rights of law-abiding Americans by ensuring emergency petitions filed by the Attorney General are only granted if the transferee receives notice of the hearing and has the opportunity to participate with legal counsel. If the court denies the Attorney General’s petition, the federal government is responsible for all reasonable costs and attorney fees. 
• Require the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (IC IG) to conduct an audit of the federal government’s terrorism screening and watch list procedures, and identify any problems in the processes of adding or removing individuals from the system. Based on the audit, the IC IG must then submit a classified report to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees with recommendations for improving the system.