[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4193 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4193

     To ensure greater accountability by licensed firearms dealers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 11, 2002

Mr. Langevin (for himself, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Blagojevich, Ms. Brown 
of Florida, Mr. Clay, Mr. Capuano, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Frank, Mr. Lewis of 
  Georgia, Ms. Lofgren, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. McGovern, Mr. 
Meehan, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Serrano, 
 Mr. Shays, Mr. Stark, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Wexler, and Ms. 
   Woolsey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To ensure greater accountability by licensed firearms dealers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Crackdown on Deadbeat Dealers Act of 
2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) a small number of licensed firearms dealers account for 
        a large proportion of the firearms traced from crimes;
            (2) in 1998, 1.2 percent of licensed firearms dealers--
        1,020 of the approximately 83,200 licensed retail firearms 
        dealers and pawnbrokers-- accounted for over 57 percent of the 
        crime guns traced to licensed firearms dealers; and
            (3) in 1998, just over 450 licensed firearms dealers had 
        traced to them 10 or more guns that were used in crimes within 
        3 years after they sold the guns.

SEC. 3. INCREASING THE NUMBER OF ALLOWED COMPLIANCE INSPECTIONS OF 
              FIREARMS DEALERS.

    Section 923(g)(1)(B)(ii)(I) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by striking ``once'' and inserting ``3 times''.

SEC. 4. INCREASING PENALTIES ON GUN KINGPINS.

    (a) Increasing the Penalty for Engaging in an Illegal Firearms 
Business.--Section 924(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code is amended 
to read as follows:
    ``(2) Whoever--
            ``(A) knowingly violates subsection (a)(6), (d), (g), (h), 
        (i), (j), or (o) of section 922; or
            ``(B) willfully violates section 922(a)(1),
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or 
both.''.
    (b) Sentencing Guidelines Increase for Certain Violations and 
Offenses.--Pursuant to its authority under section 994(p) of title 28, 
United States Code, the United States Sentencing Commission shall 
review and amend the Federal sentencing guidelines to provide an 
appropriate enhancement for a violation of section 922(a)(1) of title 
18, United States Code. The Commission shall promulgate the amendments 
provided for under this subsection as soon as is practicable in 
accordance with the procedure set forth in section 21(a) of the 
Sentencing Act of 1987, as though the authority under that Act had not 
expired.

SEC. 5. SERIOUS RECORDKEEPING OFFENSES THAT AID GUN TRAFFICKING.

    Section 924(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
striking the period and inserting ``; but if the violation is in 
relation to an offense under subsection (a)(6) or (d) of section 922, 
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or 
both.''.

SEC. 6. SUSPENSION OF FIREARMS DEALER'S LICENSE AND CIVIL PENALTIES FOR 
              VIOLATIONS OF THE GUN CONTROL ACT.

    Subsections (e) and (f) of section 923 of title 18, United States 
Code, are amended to read as follows:
    ``(e) The Secretary may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, 
suspend or revoke any license issued under this section, or may subject 
the licensee to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 per violation, 
if the holder of the license has willfully violated any provision of 
this chapter or any rule or regulation prescribed by the Secretary 
under this chapter or fails to have secure gun storage or safety 
devices available at any place in which firearms are sold under the 
license to persons who are not licensees (except that in any case in 
which a secure gun storage or safety device is temporarily unavailable 
because of theft, casualty loss, consumer sales, backorders from a 
manufacturer, or any other similar reason beyond the control of the 
licensee, the dealer shall not be considered to be in violation of the 
requirement to make available such a device). The Secretary may, after 
notice and opportunity for hearing, suspend or revoke the license of, 
or assess a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 on, a dealer who 
willfully transfers armor piercing ammunition. The Secretary may at any 
time compromise, mitigate, or remit the liability with respect to any 
willful violation of this chapter or any rule or regulation prescribed 
by the Secretary under this chapter. The Secretary's actions under this 
subsection may be reviewed only as provided in subsection (f).
    ``(f)(1) Any person whose application for a license is denied and 
any holder of a license which is suspended or revoked or who is 
assessed a civil penalty shall receive a written notice from the 
Secretary stating specifically the grounds upon which the application 
was denied or upon which the license was suspended or revoked or the 
civil penalty assessed. Any notice of a suspension or revocation of a 
license shall be given to the holder of the license before the 
effective date of the suspension or revocation.
    ``(2) If the Secretary denies an application for a license, or 
suspends or revokes a license, or assesses a civil penalty, he shall, 
upon request by the aggrieved party, promptly hold a hearing to review 
the denial, suspension, revocation, or assessment. In the case of a 
suspension or revocation of a license, the Secretary shall, on the 
request of the holder of the license, stay the effective date of the 
suspension or revocation. A hearing under this paragraph shall be held 
at a location convenient to the aggrieved party.
    ``(3) If after a hearing held under paragraph (2) the Secretary 
decides not to reverse the decision to deny an application or suspend 
or revoke a license or assess a civil penalty, the Secretary shall give 
notice of the decision to the aggrieved party. The aggrieved party may 
at any time within 60 days after the date notice is given under this 
paragraph file a petition with the United States district court for the 
district in which party resides or in which the party's principal place 
of business is located for a de novo judicial review of the denial, 
suspension, revocation, or assessment. In a proceeding conducted under 
this subsection, the court may consider any evidence submitted by the 
parties to the proceeding whether or not such evidence was considered 
at the hearing held under paragraph (2). If the court decides that the 
Secretary was not authorized to deny the application or to suspend or 
revoke the license or to assess the civil penalty, the court shall 
order the Secretary to take such action as may be necessary to comply 
with the judgment of the court.''.

SEC. 7. TERMINATION OF FIREARMS DEALER'S LICENSE UPON FELONY 
              CONVICTION.

    Section 925(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``until any conviction pursuant to the indictment becomes 
final'' and inserting ``until the date of any conviction pursuant to 
the indictment''.
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