[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4966 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4966

   To require the Attorney General to report certain revocation and 
 remedial action data with respect to Federal firearm licenses and to 
   require the Comptroller General of the United States to study the 
     effectiveness of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 
         Explosives in investigating and revoking the licenses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2023

 Ms. Brownley introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Attorney General to report certain revocation and 
 remedial action data with respect to Federal firearm licenses and to 
   require the Comptroller General of the United States to study the 
     effectiveness of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 
         Explosives in investigating and revoking the licenses.

    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 ``Protecting Americans from Reckless 
Gun Dealers Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code is 
amended by inserting after section 925D the following:
``Sec. 925E. Annual report to Congress on license inspections.
    ``(a) In General.--Within 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this section, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a written report on 
the actions undertaken by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and 
Explosives in the year covered by the report to issue and revoke 
licenses and inspect licensees under section 923, that includes the 
following:
            ``(1) The number of inspections completed each month.
            ``(2) The number of inspections that identified at least 1 
        serious violation.
            ``(3) The number of licenses that were revoked, the number 
        of licenses that were not renewed in lieu of revocation, and 
        the number of licenses surrendered after an inspection.
            ``(4) For each licensee whose license was revoked on the 
        basis of an inspection, the name and location of the licensee, 
        the date of revocation, and any serious violation identified by 
        the inspection.
            ``(5) For each licensee whose license was not renewed in 
        lieu of revocation after an inspection, the name and location 
        of the licensee, the date the license expired, and any serious 
        violation identified by the inspection.
            ``(6) For each licensee who surrendered such a license 
        after an inspection, including a licensee who discontinued 
        business operations, the name and location of the licensee, the 
        date of surrender, and any serious violation identified by the 
        inspection.
            ``(7) The number of inspections that identified at least 1 
        serious violation but with respect to which the Attorney 
        General did not revoke the applicable license, broken down by--
                    ``(A) the Attorney General's decision not to pursue 
                revocation, further broken down by the Attorney 
                General's reason for the decision;
                    ``(B) the reversal of an initial decision of the 
                Attorney General to revoke the license after a hearing 
                held pursuant to section 923(f)(2); and
                    ``(C) the order of a court to reverse a revocation 
                after a petition was filed for review of a final agency 
                determination.
            ``(8) The reasons of the Attorney General not to pursue 
        revocation, broken down geographically based on the location of 
        the field office of the Bureau with responsibility for the area 
        where the licensee involved is located.
            ``(9) The number of reports of violations and warning 
        letters issued and warning conferences held by the Bureau, 
        broken down geographically based on the location of the field 
        office of the Bureau involved.
    ``(b) Publication on Website.--On each date a report required by 
subsection (a) is submitted, the Attorney General shall cause to be 
published on the website of the Bureau the information contained in the 
report.
    ``(c) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--In this section, the 
term `appropriate congressional committees' means--
            ``(1) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            ``(2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
    ``(d) Serious Violation.--In this section, the term `serious 
violation' means one of the following:
            ``(1) Refusing to allow an inspection pursuant to section 
        923(g).
            ``(2) Transferring a firearm in violation of section 
        922(d).
            ``(3) Failing to wait 3 business days before transferring a 
        firearm pursuant to section 922(t)(1).
            ``(4) Failing to comply with any other requirement of 
        section 922(t)(1) before transferring a firearm.
            ``(5) Falsifying a record required to be maintained 
        pursuant to section 923(g).
            ``(6) Failing to respond to a trace request pursuant to 
        section 923(g)(7).
            ``(7) Transferring a firearm to another person with the 
        knowledge that the person is making a straw purchase of the 
        firearm in violation of section 932.
            ``(8) Failing to submit a report of multiple sales or other 
        dispositions to an unlicensed person pursuant to section 
        923(g)(3).
            ``(9) Failing to report a theft or loss of a firearm 
        pursuant to section 923(g)(6).
            ``(10) Failing to maintain an accurate record of the 
        receipt, sale, or other disposition of a firearm pursuant to 
        section 923(g)(2).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for such chapter is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 925D the 
following:

``925E. Annual report to Congress on license inspections.''.

SEC. 3. GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE BUREAU OF 
              ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS, AND EXPLOSIVES TO INVESTIGATE 
              FEDERAL FIREARM LICENSES.

    (a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
conduct a study on the operations and procedures used to issue and 
revoke licenses under section 923 of title 18, United States Code, and 
to investigate and inspect holders of such licenses, that focuses on--
            (1) whether systemic failures in the issuance and 
        revocation of the licenses have resulted in ineffective 
        enforcement of chapter 44 of such title;
            (2) the extent to which the Attorney General has exercised 
        discretion not to pursue revocation of a license based on the 
        putative existence of extraordinary circumstances, 
        notwithstanding a finding by the Attorney General that a 
        licensee willfully committed a violation that renders the 
        license eligible for revocation;
            (3) geographic variability in the enforcement of such 
        chapter;
            (4) the outcomes related to the revocation of licenses, 
        including--
                    (A) the number of licensees who received a notice 
                of license revocation but whose licenses were not 
                revoked; and
                    (B) the average and median periods of time from 
                inspection to revocation of a license, broken down by--
                            (i) revocations without hearing or appeal 
                        by the licensee;
                            (ii) revocations after an administrative 
                        determination without judicial review pursued 
                        by the licensee; and
                            (iii) revocations after such a judicial 
                        review; and
            (5) the policies and practices for providing oversight of 
        the activities of the licensees during the pendency of 
        revocation proceedings, including while a licensee seeks 
        judicial review.
    (b) Report to Congress.--Within 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit a written report to Congress on the results of the study 
required by subsection (a).
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