II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3812 

To provide firearm licensees an opportunity to correct statutory and 

regulatory violations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2024 

Ms. ERNST (for herself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. BUDD, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. DAINES, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. 

MULLIN, Mr. RICKETTS, Mr. RISCH, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, 

Mr. TILLIS, Mr. VANCE, and Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide firearm licensees an opportunity to correct 

statutory and regulatory violations, 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 ‘‘Fighting Irrational 

5 Regulatory Enforcement to Avert Retailers’ Misfortune 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘FIREARM Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FIREARM LICENSING REVOCATIONS AND DENIALS. 

2 (a) SELF-REPORTED VIOLATIONS; OPPORTUNITY TO

3 CORRECT VIOLATIONS.—Section 923(e) of title 18, 

4 United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(e)’’; and 

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

7 ‘‘(2)(A) The Attorney General may not bring an en8 forcement action to revoke, or deny a renewal of, a license 

9 for a violation of any provision of this chapter or any im10 plementing regulation thereof on the basis of a self-re11 ported violation. 

12 ‘‘(B) In the case of a self-reported violation, the At13 torney General shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) assist the licensee to correct the self-re15 ported violation; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) provide the licensee with instructions and 

17 compliance training designed to assist the licensee in 

18 avoiding repetition of the self-reported violation in 

19 the future. 

20 ‘‘(3)(A) Before initiating an enforcement action 

21 under this subsection, the Attorney General shall provide 

22 the licensee with actual notice of the violation giving rise 

23 to the enforcement action, which shall include, at a min24 imum— 

25 ‘‘(i) a detailed explanation of the substance of 

26 the violation; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) all evidence or documentation in the pos2 session of the Attorney General regarding the en3 forcement action; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) a statement that the Attorney General 

5 will not initiate the enforcement action if the li6 censee corrects the violation by the date that is 30 

7 business days after the date on which the licensee 

8 receives the notice. 

9 ‘‘(B) The Attorney General may bring an enforce10 ment action under this subsection against a licensee de11 scribed in subparagraph (A) if— 

12 ‘‘(i) 30 business days have elapsed since the 

13 date on which the licensee received the notice of the 

14 violation required under that subparagraph; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the licensee has not corrected the violation. 

16 ‘‘(4) The Attorney General may not bring an enforce17 ment action on the basis of any violation of any provision 

18 of this chapter or any implementing regulation thereof 

19 that has been corrected pursuant to paragraph (2) or 

20 (3).’’. 

21 (b) DIRECT JUDICIAL REVIEW OF LICENSE REVOCA22 TIONS.—Section 923(f) of title 18, United States Code, 

23 is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘If’’ and in25 serting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (3), if’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 

2 paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and 

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(3)(A) During the 10-business-day period beginning 

6 on the date on which a license holder receives a written 

7 notice of revocation of the license under paragraph (1), 

8 the license holder, in lieu of requesting a hearing under 

9 paragraph (2), may file a petition with the United States 

10 district court for the district in which the license holder 

11 resides or has his or her principle place of business for 

12 a judicial review of the revocation. 

13 ‘‘(B) If a license holder files a petition with a United 

14 States district court under subparagraph (A), the Attor15 ney General shall stay the effective date of the revocation 

16 until the court issues a judgment. 

17 ‘‘(C) In a proceeding conducted under this para18 graph, the court may consider any evidence submitted by 

19 the parties to the proceeding. 

20 ‘‘(D) If the court decides that the Attorney General 

21 was not authorized to revoke the license, the court shall 

22 order the Attorney General to take such action as may 

23 be necessary to comply with the judgment of the court.’’. 


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1 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 

2 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(38) The term ‘self-reported violation’ means a vio5 lation by a licensee of any provision of this chapter or any 

6 implementing regulation thereof that the licensee reports 

7 to the Attorney General before the Attorney General dis8 covers the violation during an inspection of the licensee 

9 under this chapter. 

10 ‘‘(39) The term ‘willfully’ has the meaning given the 

11 term in section 5336(h) of title 31, except that— 

12 ‘‘(A) the term only includes conduct resulting 

13 from or achieved through deliberate planning or spe14 cific intent; 

15 ‘‘(B) willfulness shall not be inferred from pre16 vious conduct; and 

17 ‘‘(C) minor, clerical, or curable conduct is pre18 sumptively not willful.’’. 

Æ 


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