Sec. 8. Increasing Federal prosecution of gun violence
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Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish in jurisdictions specified in subsection
(c)a program that meets the requirements of subsection (b), to be known as the Nationwide Project Exile Expansion. Each program established under subsection
(a)shall, for the jurisdiction concerned— provide for coordination with State and local law enforcement officials in the identification of violations of a covered firearms provision; provide for the establishment of agreements with State and local law enforcement officials for the referral for investigation or prosecution by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the United States Attorney of instances in which the State or local law enforcement officials determine that there is probable cause to believe that a person arrested by the officials has violated a covered firearms provision; provide for the establishment of multijurisdictional task forces, coordinated by the Executive Office for United States Attorneys to investigate and prosecute illegal straw purchasing rings that purchase firearms in 1 jurisdiction and transfer them to another; require that the United States Attorney designate not less than 1 Assistant United States Attorney to prosecute violations of a covered firearms provision; and ensure that each person referred to the United States Attorney under paragraph
(2)be charged with a violation of the most serious covered firearms provision, consistent with the act committed. Subject to paragraph (2), the jurisdictions specified in this subsection are— the 10 jurisdictions with a population equal to or greater than 100,000 persons that had the highest total number of homicides according to the uniform crime report of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the most recent year available; the 5 jurisdictions with such a population, other than the jurisdictions covered by paragraph (1), with the highest per capita rate of homicide according to the uniform crime report of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the most recent year available; and the 3 Tribal jurisdictions that have the highest homicide crime rates, as determined by the Attorney General. The 15 jurisdictions described in subparagraphs
(A)and
(B)shall not include any jurisdiction other than those within the 50 States. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report containing the following information: The number of individuals indicted for a violation of a covered firearms provision during the preceding year as a result of the program. The increase or decrease in the number of individuals indicted for a violation of a covered firearms provision during the preceding year as a result of the program when compared with the year before such preceding year. The number of individuals held without bond in anticipation of prosecution as a result of the program during the preceding year. To the extent the information is available, the average length of prison sentence of the individuals convicted of a violation of a covered firearms provision as a result of the program. The number of multijurisdictional task forces established and the number of individuals arrested, indicted, convicted or acquitted of charges for a violation of a covered firearms provision. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the program under this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027, which shall be used for salaries and expenses of Assistant United States Attorneys and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents. The Assistant United States Attorneys hired using amounts authorized to be appropriated under paragraph
(1)shall prosecute violations of covered firearms provisions in accordance with any agreement entered into under subsection (b)(2). The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents hired using amounts authorized to be appropriated under paragraph
(1)shall, to the maximum extent practicable, concentrate their investigations on violations of covered firearms provisions in accordance with any agreement entered into under subsection (b)(2), with an emphasis on heightened enforcement and prosecution of straw purchasers under section 932 or 933 of title 18, United States Code.