II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 867 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

provide for grants for State firearms dealer licensing programs, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2023 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

PADILLA, Mr. CASEY, Mr. REED, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Mr. 

FETTERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to provide for grants for State firearms 

dealer licensing programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘State Firearms Dealer 

5 Licensing Enhancement Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 867 IS

1 SEC. 2. STATE FIREARMS DEALER LICENSING GRANT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Title I of the 

4 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

5 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘PART PP—STATE FIREARMS DEALER LICENSING 

8 GRANT PROGRAM 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3061. GRANT PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts 

11 appropriated to carry out this part, and not later than 

12 180 days after such amounts are appropriated, the Attor13 ney General may award annual grants, on a competitive 

14 basis, to eligible applicants for the development, imple15 mentation, improvement, or evaluation of firearms dealer 

16 licensing programs. 

17 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An eligible applicant desiring a 

18 grant under this part shall submit to the Attorney General 

19 an application at such time, in such manner, and con20 taining such information as the Attorney General may re21 quire, including— 

22 ‘‘(1) a description of the law that the applicant 

23 has enacted to require a license for any firearms 

24 dealer, including a description of any exemptions to 

25 such law; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 867 IS

1 ‘‘(2) a description of how the applicant will use 

2 the grant to develop, implement, improve, or evalu3 ate the firearms dealer licensing program of the ap4 plicant; and 

5 ‘‘(3) a description of the inspection bodies and 

6 procedures of the applicant used to inspect firearms 

7 dealers. 

8 ‘‘(c) SUBAWARDS.—A State that receives a grant 

9 under this part may make a subaward to a unit of local 

10 government authorized to oversee and enforce the develop11 ment, implementation, improvement, or evaluation of the 

12 firearms dealer licensing program for which the grant 

13 under this part will be used. 

14 ‘‘(d) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS.—An 

16 eligible applicant that receives a grant under this 

17 part shall provide an annual report to the Attorney 

18 General with the following information: 

19 ‘‘(A) The number of inspections conducted 

20 in the jurisdiction of the eligible applicant of 

21 persons licensed as a firearms dealer by the eli22 gible applicant during the previous year. 

23 ‘‘(B) The number of violations by persons 

24 licensed as a firearms dealer by the eligible apVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S867.IS S867

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 867 IS

1 plicant that were cited during the previous year, 

2 disaggregated by violation type. 

3 ‘‘(C) The total number of persons licensed 

4 as a firearms dealer by the eligible applicant as 

5 of the end of the previous year. 

6 ‘‘(D) The number of licenses to engage in 

7 business as a firearms dealer in the jurisdiction 

8 of the eligible applicant that, during the pre9 vious year, were— 

10 ‘‘(i) issued; 

11 ‘‘(ii) renewed; 

12 ‘‘(iii) suspended; or 

13 ‘‘(iv) revoked. 

14 ‘‘(2) TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 13 months 

15 after the first grants are awarded under this part, 

16 and every year thereafter, the Attorney General shall 

17 submit to Congress and make available publicly 

18 through print and electronic means a report, which 

19 shall include the following information: 

20 ‘‘(A) A list of eligible applicants who re21 ceived funds under a grant under this part dur22 ing the previous fiscal year, including the funds 

23 awarded, cumulatively and disaggregated by 

24 grantee. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 867 IS

1 ‘‘(B) The information gathered pursuant 

2 to paragraph (1), disaggregated by grantee. 

3 ‘‘(C) A list of eligible applicants who were 

4 denied grants under this part, and the basis for 

5 such denials. 

6 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant 

7 under this part may not be in an amount that is more 

8 than $2,500,000 per fiscal year. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3062. DEFINITIONS. 

10 ‘‘In this part: 

11 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘eligible 

12 applicant’ means a State or Indian tribal govern13 ment that has in effect a law that, at a minimum, 

14 requires the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) To engage in business as a firearms 

16 dealer in the area subject to the jurisdiction of 

17 the State or Indian tribal government, a person 

18 shall be a licensed dealer and be licensed as a 

19 firearms dealer under such law. 

20 ‘‘(B) A person shall only be licensed as a 

21 firearms dealer under such law upon successful 

22 completion of the application process set by 

23 such law. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 867 IS

1 ‘‘(C) A license to engage in business as a 

2 firearms dealer shall be valid for not more than 

3 3 years. 

4 ‘‘(D) A person licensed as a firearms deal5 er shall submit to inspections under the law of 

6 the State or Indian tribal government. 

7 ‘‘(E) Noncompliance of a person licensed 

8 as a firearms dealer with a requirement for fire9 arms dealers under the law of the State or In10 dian tribal government may result in— 

11 ‘‘(i) the suspension or revocation of 

12 the license; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the imposition of civil penalties 

14 or criminal charges. 

15 ‘‘(2) LICENSED DEALER.—The term ‘licensed 

16 dealer’ has the meaning given that term in section 

17 921(a) of title 18, United States Code.’’. 

18 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

19 1001(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

20 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(a)) is amended by 

21 adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(29) There are authorized to be appropriated 

23 such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year 

24 to carry out part PP.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS