I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1531 

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 

MARCH 5, 2019 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. NORTON, 

Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. KHANNA, 

Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. COOPER, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 

Mr. LAMB, and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) 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 2019’’. 


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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)(3) is known (or appro8 priately suspected) to be or have been engaged in conduct 

9 constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to 

10 terrorism, or providing material support thereof, and the 

11 Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the appli12 cant may use a firearm in connection with terrorism.’’; 

13 and 

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

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(36) The term ‘terrorism’ means ‘international ter17 rorism’ as defined in section 2331(1), and ‘domestic ter18 rorism’ as defined in section 2331(5). 

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

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

21 or 2339B. 

22 ‘‘(38) The term ‘responsible person’ means an indi23 vidual who has the power, directly or indirectly, to direct 

24 or cause the direction of the management and policies of 

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


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1 (b) EFFECT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRE2 TIONARY DENIAL THROUGH THE NATIONAL INSTANT

3 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM (NICS) ON

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

5 amended— 

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

7 State law, or that the Attorney General has deter8 mined to deny the transfer of a firearm pursuant to 

9 section 922A’’ before the semicolon; 

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

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

12 has not determined to deny the transfer of a firearm 

13 pursuant to section 922A’’; 

14 (3) in paragraph (3)(A)(i)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub16 clause (I); and 

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

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

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

20 (4) in paragraph (3)(A)— 

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

22 (ii); and 

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

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the State issuing the permit 

2 agrees to deny the permit application if 

3 such other person is the subject of a deter4 mination by the Attorney General pursuant 

5 to section 922B;’’; 

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

7 State law,’’ the following: ‘‘or if the Attorney Gen8 eral has not determined to deny the transfer of a 

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

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

11 State law,’’ the following: ‘‘or if the Attorney Gen12 eral has determined to deny the transfer of a fire13 arm pursuant to section 922A,’’. 

14 (c) UNLAWFUL SALE OR DISPOSITION OF FIREARM

15 BASED ON ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DE16 NIAL.—Section 922(d) of such title is amended— 

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

18 (8); 

19 (2) by striking the period at the end of para20 graph (9) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

21 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol22 lowing: 

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

24 by the Attorney General pursuant to section 922A, 

25 922B, 923(d)(1)(H), or 923(e) of this title.’’. 


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1 (d) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

2 AS PROHIBITOR.—Section 922(g) of such title is amend3 ed— 

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

5 (8); 

6 (2) by striking the comma at the end of para7 graph (9) and inserting; ‘‘; or’’; and 

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(10) who has received actual notice of the At11 torney General’s determination made pursuant to 

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

13 title,’’. 

14 (e) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

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

16 such title is amended— 

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

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

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

20 at the end; 

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

22 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(H) The Attorney General may deny a li25 cense application if the Attorney General deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531

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1 mines that the applicant (including any respon2 sible person) is known (or appropriately sus3 pected) to be or have been engaged in conduct 

4 constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or re5 lated to terrorism, or providing material sup6 port thereof, and the Attorney General has a 

7 reasonable belief that the applicant may use a 

8 firearm in connection with terrorism.’’. 

9 (f) DISCRETIONARY REVOCATION OF FEDERAL FIRE10 ARMS LICENSES.—Section 923(e) of such title is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) in the first sentence— 

13 (A) by inserting after ‘‘revoke’’ the fol14 lowing: ‘‘—(1)’’; and 

15 (B) by striking the period and inserting a 

16 semicolon; 

17 (2) in the second sentence— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General 

19 may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, 

20 revoke’’ and insert ‘‘(2)’’; and 

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

22 or’’; and 

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

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

25 Attorney General determines that the holder of the 


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1 license (including any responsible person) is known 

2 (or appropriately suspected) to be or have been en3 gaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in 

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

5 support thereof, and the Attorney General has a rea6 sonable belief that the applicant may use a firearm 

7 in connection with terrorism.’’. 

8 (g) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD

9 INFORMATION IN FIREARMS LICENSE DENIAL AND REV10 OCATION SUIT.—Section 923(f) of such title is amended— 

11 (1) in the first sentence of paragraph (1), by 

12 inserting ‘‘, except that if the denial or revocation is 

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

14 information on which the Attorney General relied for 

15 this determination may be withheld from the peti16 tioner if the Attorney General determines that dis17 closure of the information would likely compromise 

18 national security’’ before the period; and 

19 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting after the 

20 third sentence the following: ‘‘With respect to any 

21 information withheld from the aggrieved party under 

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

23 the court may rely on, summaries or redacted 

24 versions of documents containing information the 


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1 disclosure of which the Attorney General has deter2 mined would likely compromise national security.’’. 

3 (h) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD

4 INFORMATION IN RELIEF FROM DISABILITIES LAW5 SUITS.—Section 925(c) of such title is amended by insert6 ing after the third sentence the following: ‘‘If receipt of 

7 a firearm by the person would violate section 922(g)(10), 

8 any information which the Attorney General relied on for 

9 this determination may be withheld from the applicant if 

10 the Attorney General determines that disclosure of the in11 formation would likely compromise national security. In 

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

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

14 of documents containing information the disclosure of 

15 which the Attorney General has determined would likely 

16 compromise national security.’’. 

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

18 amended— 

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

20 (2); 

21 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, or’’ and in22 serting ‘‘; or’’; and 

23 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol24 lowing: 


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

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

3 (as defined in section 921(a)(37)); or’’. 

4 (j) REMEDY FOR ERRONEOUS DENIAL OF FIREARM

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

6 title is amended— 

7 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘Rem8 edy for erroneous denial of firearm’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘Remedies’’; 

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

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

12 inserting the following: 

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

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

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

16 (3) by adding after and below the end the fol17 lowing: 

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

19 denied the transfer of a firearm to a prospective transferee 

20 pursuant to section 922A or has made a determination 

21 regarding a firearm permit applicant pursuant to section 

22 922B, an action challenging the determination may be 

23 brought against the United States. The petition must be 

24 filed not later than 60 days after the petitioner has re25 ceived actual notice of the Attorney General’s determinaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531

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1 tion made pursuant to section 922A or 922B. The court 

2 shall sustain the Attorney General’s determination on a 

3 showing by the United States by a preponderance of evi4 dence that the Attorney General’s determination satisfied 

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

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

7 may rely on, summaries or redacted versions of documents 

8 containing information the disclosure of which the Attor9 ney General has determined would likely compromise na10 tional security. On request of the petitioner or the court’s 

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

12 documents ex parte and in camera. The court shall deter13 mine whether the summaries or redacted versions, as the 

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

15 underlying documents. The court shall not consider the 

16 full, undisclosed documents in deciding whether the Attor17 ney General’s determination satisfies the requirements of 

18 section 922A or 922B.’’. 

19 (k) PROVISION OF GROUNDS UNDERLYING INELIGI20 BILITY DETERMINATION BY THE NATIONAL INSTANT

21 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM.—Section 103 

22 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Public 

23 Law 103–159) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (f)— 


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1 (A) by inserting after ‘‘is ineligible to re2 ceive a firearm,’’ the following: ‘‘or the Attorney 

3 General has made a determination regarding an 

4 applicant for a firearm permit pursuant to sec5 tion 922B of title 18, United States Code’’; and 

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

7 provide such reasons to the individual,’’ the fol8 lowing: ‘‘except for any information the disclo9 sure of which the Attorney General has deter10 mined would likely compromise national secu11 rity’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (g)— 

13 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting after 

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

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

16 ‘‘or if the Attorney General has made a deter17 mination pursuant to section 922A or 922B of 

18 such title,’’; 

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

20 the disclosure of which the Attorney General 

21 has determined would likely compromise na22 tional security’’ before the period; and 

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

24 ‘‘Any petition for review of information with25 held by the Attorney General under this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531

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1 section shall be made in accordance with section 

2 925A of title 18, United States Code.’’. 

3 (l) UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION OF EXPLOSIVES

4 BASED ON ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DE5 NIAL.—Section 842(d) of such title is amended— 

6 (1) by striking the period at the end of para7 graph (9) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

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

10 General’s determination made pursuant to section 

11 843(b)(8) or (d)(2) of this title.’’. 

12 (m) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

13 AS PROHIBITOR.—Section 842(i) of such title is amend14 ed— 

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

16 (7); and 

17 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(8) who has received actual notice of the At20 torney General’s determination made pursuant to 

21 section 843(b)(8) or (d)(2),’’. 

22 (n) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

23 OF FEDERAL EXPLOSIVES LICENSES AND PERMITS.— 

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


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Upon’’ and inserting the fol2 lowing: ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (8), on’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol5 lowing: 

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

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

8 Attorney General determines that the applicant or a 

9 responsible person or employee possessor thereof is 

10 known (or appropriately suspected) to be or have 

11 been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation 

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

13 material support thereof, and the Attorney General 

14 has a reasonable belief that the person may use ex15 plosives in connection with terrorism.’’. 

16 (o) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY REVOCA17 TION OF FEDERAL EXPLOSIVES LICENSES AND PER18 MITS.—Section 843(d) of such title is amended— 

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

20 ‘‘if’’; and 

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

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

23 Attorney General determines that the licensee or 

24 holder (or any responsible person or employee pos25 sessor thereof) is known (or appropriately suspected) 


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1 to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, 

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

3 or providing material support thereof, and that the 

4 Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the 

5 person may use explosives in connection with ter6 rorism.’’. 

7 (p) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD

8 INFORMATION IN EXPLOSIVES LICENSE AND PERMIT DE9 NIAL AND REVOCATION SUITS.—Section 843(e) of such 

10 title is amended— 

11 (1) in the first sentence of paragraph (1), by 

12 inserting ‘‘except that if the denial or revocation is 

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

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

15 General relied on for the determination may be with16 held from the petitioner if the Attorney General de17 termines that disclosure of the information would 

18 likely compromise national security’’ before the pe19 riod; and 

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

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

22 of a denial or revocation based on a determination 

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

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

25 or redacted versions of documents containing inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531

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1 mation the disclosure of which the Attorney General 

2 has determined would likely compromise national se3 curity.’’. 

4 (q) ABILITY TO WITHHOLD INFORMATION IN COM5 MUNICATIONS TO EMPLOYERS.—Section 843(h)(2) of 

6 such title is amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or sec8 tion 843(b)(1) (on grounds of terrorism) of this 

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

10 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

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

12 after ‘‘section 842(i)’’; and 

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

14 that any information that the Attorney General 

15 relied on for a determination pursuant to sec16 tion 843(b)(8) may be withheld if the Attorney 

17 General concludes that disclosure of the infor18 mation would likely compromise national secu19 rity’’ before the semicolon. 

20 (r) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO IMMIGRATION AND

21 NATIONALITY ACT.—Section 101(a)(43)(E)(ii) of the Im22 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

23 1101(a)(43)(E)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘or (5)’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘(5), or (10)’’. 

Æ 


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