I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2159 

To increase public safety by permitting the Attorney General to deny the 

transfer of a firearm or the issuance of firearms or explosives licenses 

to a known or suspected dangerous terrorist. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2009 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. CASTLE, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. KIRK, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, and Mr. SMITH

of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To increase public safety by permitting the Attorney General 

to deny the transfer of a firearm or the issuance of 

firearms or explosives licenses to a known or suspected 

dangerous terrorist. 

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 ‘‘Denying Firearms and 

5 Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE AUTHOR2 ITY TO DENY THE SALE, DELIVERY, OR 

3 TRANSFER OF A FIREARM OR THE ISSUANCE 

4 OF A FIREARMS OR EXPLOSIVES LICENSE OR 

5 PERMIT TO DANGEROUS TERRORISTS. 

6 (a) STANDARD FOR EXERCISING ATTORNEY GEN7 ERAL DISCRETION REGARDING TRANSFERRING FIRE8 ARMS OR ISSUING FIREARMS PERMITS TO DANGEROUS

9 TERRORISTS.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United States 

10 Code, is amended— 

11 (1) by inserting the following new section after 

12 section 922: 

13 ‘‘§ 922A. Attorney General’s discretion to deny trans14 fer of a firearm 

15 ‘‘The Attorney General may deny the transfer of a 

16 firearm pursuant to section 922(t)(1)(B)(ii) if the Attor17 ney General determines that the transferee is known (or 

18 appropriately suspected) to be or have been engaged in 

19 conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or re20 lated to terrorism, or providing material support thereof, 

21 and the Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the 

22 prospective transferee may use a firearm in connection 

23 with terrorism.’’; 

24 (2) by inserting the following new section after 

25 section 922A: 


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1 ‘‘§ 922B. Attorney General’s discretion regarding ap2 plicants for firearm permits which would 

3 qualify for the exemption provided under 

4 section 922(t)(3) 

5 ‘‘The Attorney General may determine that an appli6 cant for a firearm permit which would qualify for an ex7 emption under section 922(t) is known (or appropriately 

8 suspected) to be or have been engaged in conduct consti9 tuting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to ter10 rorism, or providing material support thereof, and the At11 torney General has a reasonable belief that the applicant 

12 may use a firearm in connection with terrorism.’’; and 

13 (3) in section 921(a), by adding at the end the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(36) The term ‘terrorism’ means ‘international ter16 rorism’ as defined in section 2331(1), and ‘domestic ter17 rorism’ as defined in section 2331(5). 

18 ‘‘(37) The term ‘material support’ means ‘material 

19 support or resources’ within the meaning of section 2339A 

20 or 2339B. 

21 ‘‘(38) The term ‘responsible person’ means an indi22 vidual who has the power, directly or indirectly, to direct 

23 or cause the direction of the management and policies of 

24 the applicant or licensee pertaining to firearms.’’. 

25 (b) EFFECT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRE26 TIONARY DENIAL THROUGH THE NATIONAL INSTANT


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1 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM (NICS) ON

2 FIREARMS PERMITS.—Section 922(t) of such title is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by inserting ‘‘or 

5 State law, or that the Attorney General has deter6 mined to deny the transfer of a firearm pursuant to 

7 section 922A’’ before the semicolon; 

8 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting after ‘‘or 

9 State law’’ the following: ‘‘or if the Attorney General 

10 has not determined to deny the transfer of a firearm 

11 pursuant to section 922A’’; 

12 (3) in paragraph (3)(A)(i)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub14 clause (I); and 

15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(III) was issued after a check of the system 

17 established pursuant to paragraph (1);’’; 

18 (4) in paragraph (3)(A)— 

19 (A) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause 

20 (ii); and 

21 (B) by adding after and below the end the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(iii) the State issuing the permit 

24 agrees to deny the permit application if 

25 such other person is the subject of a deterVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:38 Apr 30, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2159.IH H2159

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1 mination by the Attorney General pursuant 

2 to section 922B;’’; 

3 (5) in paragraph (4), by inserting after ‘‘or 

4 State law,’’ the following: ‘‘or if the Attorney Gen5 eral has not determined to deny the transfer of a 

6 firearm pursuant to section 922A,’’; and 

7 (6) in paragraph (5), by inserting after ‘‘or 

8 State law,’’ the following: ‘‘or if the Attorney Gen9 eral has determined to deny the transfer of a fire10 arm pursuant to section 922A,’’. 

11 (c) UNLAWFUL SALE OR DISPOSITION OF FIREARM

12 BASED ON ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DE13 NIAL.—Section 922(d) of such title is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

15 (8); 

16 (2) by striking the period at the end of para17 graph (9) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

18 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(10) has been the subject of a determination 

21 by the Attorney General pursuant to section 922A, 

22 922B, 923(d)(1)(H), or 923(e) of this title.’’. 

23 (d) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

24 AS PROHIBITOR.—Section 922(g) of such title is amend25 ed— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

2 (8); 

3 (2) by striking the comma at the end of para4 graph (9) and inserting; ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(10) who has received actual notice of the At8 torney General’s determination made pursuant to 

9 section 922A, 922B, 923(d)(1)(H), or 923(e) of this 

10 title.’’. 

11 (e) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

12 OF FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSES.—Section 923(d)(1) of 

13 such title is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘Any’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as 

15 provided in subparagraph (H), any’’; 

16 (2) in subparagraph (F)(iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

17 at the end; 

18 (3) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period 

19 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(H) The Attorney General may deny a li22 cense application if the Attorney General deter23 mines that the applicant (including any respon24 sible person) is known (or appropriately sus25 pected) to be or have been engaged in conduct 


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1 constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or re2 lated to terrorism, or providing material sup3 port thereof, and the Attorney General has a 

4 reasonable belief that the applicant may use a 

5 firearm in connection with terrorism.’’. 

6 (f) DISCRETIONARY REVOCATION OF FEDERAL FIRE7 ARMS LICENSES.—Section 923(e) of such title is amend8 ed— 

9 (1) in the 1st sentence— 

10 (A) by inserting after ‘‘revoke’’ the fol11 lowing: ‘‘—(1)’’; and 

12 (B) by striking the period and inserting a 

13 semicolon; 

14 (2) in the 2nd sentence— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General 

16 may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, 

17 revoke’’ and insert ‘‘(2)’’; and 

18 (B) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 

19 or’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) any license issued under this section if the 

22 Attorney General determines that the holder of the 

23 license (including any responsible person) is known 

24 (or appropriately suspected) to be or have been en25 gaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in 


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1 aid of, or related to terrorism, or providing material 

2 support thereof, and the Attorney General has a rea3 sonable belief that the applicant may use a firearm 

4 in connection with terrorism.’’. 

5 (g) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD

6 INFORMATION IN FIREARMS LICENSE DENIAL AND REV7 OCATION SUIT.—Section 923(f) of such title is amended— 

8 (1) in the 1st sentence of paragraph (1), by in9 serting ‘‘, except that if the denial or revocation is 

10 pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(H) or (e)(3), then any 

11 information on which the Attorney General relied for 

12 this determination may be withheld from the peti13 tioner if the Attorney General determines that dis14 closure of the information would likely compromise 

15 national security’’ before the period; and 

16 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting after the 3rd 

17 sentence the following: ‘‘With respect to any infor18 mation withheld from the aggrieved party under 

19 paragraph (1), the United States may submit, and 

20 the court may rely on, summaries or redacted 

21 versions of documents containing information the 

22 disclosure of which the Attorney General has deter23 mined would likely compromise national security.’’. 

24 (h) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD

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1 SUITS.—Section 925(c) of such title is amended by insert2 ing after the 3rd sentence the following: ‘‘If receipt of a 

3 firearms by the person would violate section 922(g)(10), 

4 any information which the Attorney General relied on for 

5 this determination may be withheld from the applicant if 

6 the Attorney General determines that disclosure of the in7 formation would likely compromise national security. In 

8 responding to the petition, the United States may submit, 

9 and the court may rely on, summaries or redacted versions 

10 of documents containing information the disclosure of 

11 which the Attorney General has determined would likely 

12 compromise national security.’’. 

13 (i) PENALTIES.—Section 924(k) of such title is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

16 (2); 

17 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, or’’ and in18 serting ‘‘; or’’; and 

19 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(4) constitutes an act of terrorism (as defined 

22 in section 921(a)(36)), or material support thereof 

23 (as defined in section 921(a)(37)), or’’. 


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1 (j) REMEDY FOR ERRONEOUS DENIAL OF FIREARM

2 OR FIREARM PERMIT EXEMPTION.—Section 925A of such 

3 title is amended— 

4 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘Rem5 edy for erroneous denial of firearm’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘Remedies’’; 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘Any person denied a firearm 

8 pursuant to subsection (s) or (t) of section 922’’ and 

9 inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), any person 

11 denied a firearm pursuant to section 922(t) or pursuant 

12 to a determination made under section 922B,’’; and 

13 (3) by adding after and below the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(b) In any case in which the Attorney General has 

16 denied the transfer of a firearm to a prospective transferee 

17 pursuant to section 922A or has made a determination 

18 regarding a firearm permit applicant pursuant to section 

19 922B, an action challenging the determination may be 

20 brought against the United States. The petition must be 

21 filed not later than 60 days after the petitioner has re22 ceived actual notice of the Attorney General’s determina23 tion made pursuant to section 922A or 922B. The court 

24 shall sustain the Attorney General’s determination on a 

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1 dence that the Attorney General’s determination satisfied 

2 the requirements of section 922A or 922B. To make this 

3 showing, the United States may submit, and the court 

4 may rely on, summaries or redacted versions of documents 

5 containing information the disclosure of which the Attor6 ney General has determined would likely compromise na7 tional security. On request of the petitioner or the court’s 

8 own motion, the court may review the full, undisclosed 

9 documents ex parte and in camera. The court shall deter10 mine whether the summaries or redacted versions, as the 

11 case may be, are fair and accurate representations of the 

12 underlying documents. The court shall not consider the 

13 full, undisclosed documents in deciding whether the Attor14 ney General’s determination satisfies the requirements of 

15 section 922A or 922B.’’. 

16 (k) PROVISION OF GROUNDS UNDERLYING INELIGI17 BILITY DETERMINATION BY THE NATIONAL INSTANT

18 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM.—Section 103 

19 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Public 

20 Law 103–159) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (f)— 

22 (A) by inserting after ‘‘is ineligible to re23 ceive a firearm,’’ the following: ‘‘or the Attorney 

24 General has made a determination regarding an 


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1 applicant for a firearm permit pursuant to sec2 tion 922B of title 18, United States Code’’; and 

3 (B) by inserting after ‘‘the system shall 

4 provide such reasons to the individual,’’ the fol5 lowing: ‘‘except for any information the disclo6 sure of which the Attorney General has deter7 mined would likely compromise national secu8 rity’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (g)— 

10 (A) in the 1st sentence, by inserting after 

11 ‘‘subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, 

12 United States Code or State law’’ the following: 

13 ‘‘or if the Attorney General has made a deter14 mination pursuant to section 922A or 922B of 

15 such title,’’; 

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘, except any information 

17 the disclosure of which the Attorney General 

18 has determined would likely compromise na19 tional security’’ before the period; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘Any petition for review of information with22 held by the Attorney General under this sub23 section shall be made in accordance with section 

24 925A of title 18, United States Code.’’. 


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1 (l) UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION OF EXPLOSIVES

2 BASED ON ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DE3 NIAL.—Section 842(d) of such title is amended— 

4 (1) by striking the period at the end of para5 graph (9) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(10) has received actual notice of the Attorney 

8 General’s determination made pursuant to section 

9 843(b)(8) or (d)(2) of this title.’’. 

10 (m) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

11 AS PROHIBITOR.—Section 842(i) of such title is amend12 ed— 

13 (1) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph (7); 

14 and 

15 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(8) who has received actual notice of the At18 torney General’s determination made pursuant to 

19 section 843(b)(8) or (d)(2),’’. 

20 (n) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

21 OF FEDERAL EXPLOSIVES LICENSES AND PERMITS.— 

22 Section 843(b) of such title is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘Upon’’ and inserting the fol24 lowing: ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (8), on’’; 

25 and 


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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(8) The Attorney General may deny the 

4 issuance of a permit or license to an applicant if the 

5 Attorney General determines that the applicant or a 

6 responsible person or employee possessor thereof is 

7 known (or appropriately suspected) to be or have 

8 been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation 

9 of, in aid of, or related to terrorism, or providing 

10 material support thereof, and the Attorney General 

11 has a reasonable belief that the person may use ex12 plosives in connection with terrorism.’’. 

13 (o) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY REVOCA14 TION OF FEDERAL EXPLOSIVES LICENSES AND PER15 MITS.—Section 843(d) of such title is amended— 

16 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ in the first sentence after 

17 ‘‘if’’; and 

18 (2) by striking the period at the end of the first 

19 sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘; or (2) the 

20 Attorney General determines that the licensee or 

21 holder (or any responsible person or employee pos22 sessor thereof) is known (or appropriately suspected) 

23 to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, 

24 in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism, 

25 or providing material support thereof, and that the 


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1 Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the 

2 person may use explosives in connection with ter3 rorism.’’. 

4 (p) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD

5 INFORMATION IN EXPLOSIVES LICENSE AND PERMIT DE6 NIAL AND REVOCATION SUITS.—Section 843(e) of such 

7 title is amended— 

8 (1) in the 1st sentence of paragraph (1), by in9 serting ‘‘except that if the denial or revocation is 

10 based on a determination under subsection (b)(8) or 

11 (d)(2), then any information which the Attorney 

12 General relied on for the determination may be with13 held from the petitioner if the Attorney General de14 termines that disclosure of the information would 

15 likely compromise national security’’ before the pe16 riod; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 

18 following: ‘‘In responding to any petition for review 

19 of a denial or revocation based on a determination 

20 under section 843(b)(8) or (d)(2), the United States 

21 may submit, and the court may rely on, summaries 

22 or redacted versions of documents containing infor23 mation the disclosure of which the Attorney General 

24 has determined would likely compromise national se25 curity.’’. 


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1 (q) ABILITY TO WITHHOLD INFORMATION IN COM2 MUNICATIONS TO EMPLOYERS.—Section 843(h)(2) of 

3 such title is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or sec5 tion 843(b)(1) (on grounds of terrorism) of this 

6 title,’’ after ‘‘section 842(i),’’; and 

7 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

8 (A) by inserting ‘‘or section 843(b)(8)’’ 

9 after ‘‘section 842(i)’’; and 

10 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, except 

11 that any information that the Attorney General 

12 relied on for a determination pursuant to sec13 tion 843(b)(8) may be withheld if the Attorney 

14 General concludes that disclosure of the infor15 mation would likely compromise national secu16 rity’’ before the semicolon. 

17 (r) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO IMMIGRATION AND

18 NATIONALITY ACT.—Section 101(a)(43)(E)(ii) of the Im19 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

20 1101(a)(43)(E)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘ or (5)’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘(5), or (10)’’. 

Æ 


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