[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4238 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4238

                      To prevent gun trafficking.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 17, 2022

Mrs. Gillibrand introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                      To prevent gun trafficking.

    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 ``Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-
Yard Gun Trafficking and Crime Prevention Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. FIREARMS TRAFFICKING.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 932. Trafficking in firearms
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `actual buyer' means the individual for whom 
        a firearm is being purchased, received, or acquired; and
            ``(2) the term `term of imprisonment exceeding 1 year' does 
        not include any offense classified by the applicable 
        jurisdiction as a misdemeanor and punishable by a term of 
        imprisonment of 2 years or less.
    ``(b) Offenses.--It shall be unlawful for any person, regardless of 
whether anything of value is exchanged--
            ``(1) to ship, transport, transfer, or otherwise dispose to 
        a person, 2 or more firearms in or affecting interstate or 
        foreign commerce, if the transferor knows or has reasonable 
        cause to believe that the use, carrying, or possession of a 
        firearm by the recipient would be in violation of, or would 
        result in a violation of, any Federal, State, or local law 
        punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding 1 year;
            ``(2) to receive from a person, 2 or more firearms in or 
        affecting interstate or foreign commerce, if the recipient 
        knows or has reasonable cause to believe that such receipt 
        would be in violation of, or would result in a violation of, 
        any Federal, State, or local law punishable by a term of 
        imprisonment exceeding 1 year;
            ``(3) to make a statement to a licensed importer, licensed 
        manufacturer, or licensed dealer relating to the purchase, 
        receipt, or acquisition from a licensed importer, licensed 
        manufacturer, or licensed dealer of 2 or more firearms that 
        have moved in or affected interstate or foreign commerce that--
                    ``(A) is material to--
                            ``(i) the identity of the actual buyer of 
                        the firearms; or
                            ``(ii) the intended trafficking of the 
                        firearms; and
                    ``(B) the person knows or has reasonable cause to 
                believe is false; or
            ``(4) to direct, promote, or facilitate conduct specified 
        in paragraph (1), (2), or (3).
    ``(c) Gift Exceptions.--Subsection (b) shall not apply to a firearm 
that is--
            ``(1) lawfully acquired by a person to be given as a gift 
        to another person not prohibited from possessing a firearm 
        under Federal or State law; or
            ``(2) lawfully received or otherwise acquired--
                    ``(A) by a court-appointed trustee, receiver, or 
                conservator for, or on behalf of, an estate or 
                creditor; or
                    ``(B) by a person to carry out a bequest, or an 
                acquisition by intestate succession under the laws of 
                the State of residence of the person.
    ``(d) Penalties.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), any person who 
        violates, or conspires to violate, subsection (b) shall be 
        fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 20 years, 
        or both.
            ``(2) Organizer enhancement.--If an individual violates 
        subsection (b) in concert with 5 or more other individuals, and 
        the individual planned the violation or recruited or directed 
        one of the other individuals to commit the violation--
                    ``(A) the maximum term of imprisonment shall be 25 
                years; and
                    ``(B) if a firearm involved in the violation is a 
                machinegun or destructive device, or is equipped with a 
                firearm silencer or muffler, the maximum term of 
                imprisonment shall be 35 years.
            ``(3) Licensees.--
                    ``(A) Criminal penalties for knowing facilitation 
                of trafficking through sale or delivery of firearms.--
                If a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, licensed 
                collector, or licensed dealer knowingly facilitates a 
                violation of subsection (b), the licensee shall be 
                fined $20,000 per trafficked firearm sold or delivered 
                by the licensee, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, 
                or both.
                    ``(B) Civil penalties for sale or delivery of 
                firearms with reckless disregard of trafficking.--In 
                the case of any licensed manufacturer, licensed 
                importer, licensed collector, or licensed dealer who 
                recklessly disregards that a person is acquiring 2 or 
                more firearms from the licensee in violation of or with 
                intent to violate subsection (b), the Attorney General 
                shall, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, 
                impose a civil penalty that is not less than $5,000 and 
                not more than $10,000 per trafficked firearm sold or 
                delivered by the licensee.
                    ``(C) License suspension or revocation.--If the 
                Attorney General determines, after notice and 
                opportunity for a hearing, that firearms were acquired 
                by or from a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, 
                licensed collector, or licensed dealer in violation of 
                subsection (b) and the licensee knew, had reasonable 
                cause to believe, or recklessly disregarded that the 
                firearms were acquired in violation of that subsection, 
                the Attorney General--
                            ``(i) may suspend or revoke the license 
                        issued to the licensee under this chapter for 
                        not more than 1 year; and
                            ``(ii) if the license issued to the 
                        licensee under this chapter has previously been 
                        suspended or revoked under clause (i), may 
                        revoke the license for not more than 5 
                        years.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``932. Trafficking in firearms.''.
    (c) Directive to Sentencing Commission.--
            (1) In general.--Pursuant to its authority under section 
        994(p) of title 28, United States Code, the United States 
        Sentencing Commission shall review and, if appropriate, amend 
        the Federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements 
        applicable to persons convicted of offenses under section 932 
        of title 18, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)).
            (2) Requirements.--In carrying out this subsection, the 
        Commission shall--
                    (A) review the penalty structure that the Federal 
                sentencing guidelines currently provide based on the 
                number of firearms involved in the offense; and
                    (B) determine whether any changes to that penalty 
                structure are appropriate in order to carry out the 
                intent of Congress that those penalties reflect--
                            (i) the gravity of the offense;
                            (ii) the number of trafficked firearms 
                        purchased by or from the defendant;
                            (iii) the extent of the defendant's 
                        knowledge about the overall scheme to traffic 
                        firearms;
                            (iv) the amount of money or value of 
                        nonmonetary compensation provided to the 
                        defendant for the defendant's participation; 
                        and
                            (v) the defendant's culpability, 
                        including--
                                    (I) as mitigating factors, whether 
                                the defendant--
                                            (aa) is a relative or 
                                        current or former intimate 
                                        partner of another individual 
                                        involved in a conspiracy to 
                                        traffic firearms;
                                            (bb) is a domestic violence 
                                        survivor; or
                                            (cc) has been otherwise 
                                        exploited by personal 
                                        affection, fear of reprisals, 
                                        or economic need to commit an 
                                        offense under section 932 of 
                                        title 18, United States Code 
                                        (as added by subsection (a)); 
                                        and
                                    (II) as aggravating factors, 
                                whether--
                                            (aa) the trafficked 
                                        firearms were used in 
                                        additional crimes;
                                            (bb) a person was injured 
                                        or killed with the trafficked 
                                        firearms; or
                                            (cc) the defendant was 
                                        previously convicted of a 
                                        firearms-related offense.
    (d) Directive to the Attorney General.--Not later than 2 years 
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:
            (1) For the prior 12-month period--
                    (A) the number of investigations initiated for 
                violations of section 932 of title 18, United States 
                Code (as added by subsection (a));
                    (B) the number of Federal firearm licensees or 
                other individuals or entities--
                            (i) that were criminally charged with a 
                        violation described in subparagraph (A); or
                            (ii) against whom a civil penalty case was 
                        initiated for a violation described in 
                        subparagraph (A); and
                    (C) the number of investigations described in 
                subparagraph (A) referred to the Attorney General from 
                the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and 
                Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or any 
                other Federal law enforcement agency that did not 
                result in criminal charges or the initiation of a civil 
                penalty case.
            (2) To the extent the information is available, the average 
        length of the sentences of imprisonment and average fines 
        imposed on individuals, entities, and Federal firearm licensees 
        convicted of violations of section 932 of title 18, United 
        States Code, (as added by subsection (a)) during the prior 12-
        month period.
            (3) A narrative describing the firearm trafficking schemes 
        prosecuted under section 932 of title 18, United States Code, 
        (as added by subsection (a)) during the prior 12-month period, 
        including--
                    (A) the sources of firearms;
                    (B) the roles of various defendants in the scheme;
                    (C) the number of firearms trafficked; and
                    (D) a description of any trafficking practices or 
                trends common among various firearm trafficking 
                schemes.

SEC. 3. REMOVING RELIEF FROM DISABILITIES EXCEPTION FOR LICENSEES 
              INDICTED FOR FIREARMS TRAFFICKING.

    Section 925(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``other than firearms trafficking under section 932,'' after 
``indicted for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 
one year,''.

SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF OBLIGATORY STAY OF EFFECTIVE DATE OF LICENSE 
              REVOCATION.

    Section 923(f)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
striking the period at the end of the second sentence and inserting the 
following: ``unless the revocation is based in whole or in part on a 
violation of section 932, in which case, the Attorney General may only 
stay the effective date of the revocation upon a showing by the holder 
that good cause exists to do so.''.
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