Sec. 303. Duties of the Commission
626 words·~3 min read·
/bill/113/hr/1565/ih/section-303·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It shall be the duty of the Commission to conduct a comprehensive factual study of incidents of mass violence, including incidents of mass violence not involving firearms, in the context of the many acts of senseless mass violence that occur in the United States each year, in order to determine the root causes of such mass violence. In determining the root causes of these recurring and tragic acts of mass violence, the Commission shall study any matter that the Commission determines relevant to meeting the requirements of paragraph (1), including at a minimum— the role of schools, including the level of involvement and awareness of teachers and school administrators in the lives of their students and the availability of mental health and other resources and strategies to help detect and counter tendencies of students towards mass violence; the effectiveness of and resources available for school security strategies to prevent incidents of mass violence; the role of families and the availability of mental health and other resources and strategies to help families detect and counter tendencies toward mass violence; the effectiveness and use of, and resources available to, the mental health system in understanding, detecting, and countering tendencies toward mass violence, as well as the effects of treatments and therapies; whether medical doctors and other mental health professionals have the ability, without negative legal or professional consequences, to notify law enforcement officials when a patient is a danger to himself or others; the nature and impact of the alienation of the perpetrators of such incidents of mass violence from their schools, families, peer groups, and places of work; the role that domestic violence plays in causing incidents of mass violence; the effect of depictions of mass violence in the media, and any impact of such depictions on incidents of mass violence; the availability and nature of firearms, including the means of acquiring such firearms, and all positive and negative impacts of such availability and nature on incidents of mass violence or in preventing mass violence; the role of current prosecution rates in contributing to the availability of weapons that are used in mass violence; the availability of information regarding the construction of weapons, including explosive devices, and any impact of such information on such incidents of mass violence; the views of law enforcement officials, religious leaders, mental health experts, and other relevant officials on the root causes and prevention of mass violence; incidents in which firearms were used to stop mass violence; and any other area that the Commission determines contributes to the causes of mass violence.
In determining the root causes of these recurring and tragic incidents of mass violence, the Commission shall, in accordance with section 304(a), take the testimony of victims and survivors to learn and memorialize their views and experiences regarding such incidents of mass violence. Based on the findings of the study required under subsection (a), the Commission shall make recommendations to the President and Congress to address the causes of these recurring and tragic incidents of mass violence and to reduce such incidents of mass violence.
Not later than 3 months after the date on which the Commission first meets, the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress an interim report describing any initial recommendations of the Commission. Not later than 6 months after the date on which the Commission first meets, the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress a comprehensive report of the findings and conclusions of the Commission, together with the recommendations of the Commission. The report under paragraph
(2)shall include a summary of— the reports submitted to the Commission by any entity under contract for research under section 304(e); and any other material relied on by the Commission in the preparation of the report.