I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6154 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to require licenses to acquire or 

receive firearms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2023 

Mr. KIM of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to require licenses 

to acquire or receive firearms, 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 ‘‘Responsible Gun Own5 ership Licensing Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LICENSE FOR THE PURCHASE OF FIREARMS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 935. License for the acquisition or receipt of fire2 arms 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

4 (d), it shall be unlawful for any individual to purchase or 

5 receive a firearm unless the individual has a valid Federal 

6 firearm license. 

7 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL LICENSE TO

8 PURCHASE OR RECEIVE FIREARMS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

10 establish a Federal system for issuing a Federal fire11 arm license to eligible individuals for firearms trans12 ferred to such individual. 

13 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The system established 

14 under paragraph (1) shall require that— 

15 ‘‘(A) an individual shall be eligible to re16 ceive such a license if the individual— 

17 ‘‘(i) has completed training in fire18 arms safety, including— 

19 ‘‘(I) a written test, to dem20 onstrate knowledge of applicable fire21 arms laws; and 

22 ‘‘(II) hands-on testing, including 

23 firing testing, to demonstrate safe use 

24 and sufficient accuracy of a firearm; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) as part of the process for apply2 ing for such a license— 

3 ‘‘(I) has submitted to a back4 ground investigation and criminal his5 tory check of the individual; 

6 ‘‘(II) has submitted proof of 

7 identity; 

8 ‘‘(III) has submitted the finger9 prints of the individual; and 

10 ‘‘(IV) has submitted identifying 

11 information on the firearm that the 

12 person intends to obtain, including the 

13 make, model, and serial number, and 

14 the identity of the firearm seller or 

15 transferor; 

16 ‘‘(B) a license issued under the system is 

17 available at a designated local office, which 

18 shall be located in both urban and rural areas; 

19 ‘‘(C) the Attorney General shall issue or 

20 deny a license under this section not later than 

21 30 days after the date on which the application 

22 for such license is received; 

23 ‘‘(D) each license issued under this section 

24 shall be valid for the purchase of a single fire25 arm, which shall be purchased not later than 30 


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1 days after the date on which the license is 

2 issued; 

3 ‘‘(E) a license issued under the system 

4 shall expire on the date that is 5 years after the 

5 date on which the license was issued; and 

6 ‘‘(F) the Attorney General shall provide 

7 notice of an application for a license under this 

8 section to the relevant State and local officials. 

9 ‘‘(3) BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before issuing a li11 cense under this section, the Attorney General 

12 shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) conduct a background investiga14 tion on the applicant; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) deny any license if receipt of a 

16 firearm would violate subsection (g) or (n) 

17 of section 922 or any provision of State 

18 law. 

19 ‘‘(B) POSES A DANGER OF BODILY IN20 JURY.— 

21 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION FROM STATE AND

22 LOCAL OFFICIALS.—After receiving the no23 tice described in paragraph (2)(F), rel24 evant State and local officials may submit 

25 to the Attorney General information demVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:40 Nov 08, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6154.IH H6154

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1 onstrating that the individual poses a sig2 nificant danger of bodily injury to self or 

3 others by possessing, purchasing, or receiv4 ing a firearm. 

5 ‘‘(ii) DENIAL.— 

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney 

7 General may deny a license under this 

8 section if the Attorney General deter9 mines that the applicant poses a sig10 nificant danger of bodily injury to self 

11 or others by possessing, purchasing, 

12 or receiving a firearm, after exam13 ining factors the Attorney General 

14 considers are relevant to the deter15 mination, including— 

16 ‘‘(aa) history of threats or 

17 acts of violence toward self or 

18 others; 

19 ‘‘(bb) history of use, at20 tempted use, or threatened use of 

21 physical force by the applicant 

22 against another person; 

23 ‘‘(cc) whether the applicant 

24 is the subject of or has violated a 

25 domestic violence or stalking reVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:40 Nov 08, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6154.IH H6154

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1 straining order or protection 

2 order; 

3 ‘‘(dd) any prior arrest, pend4 ing charge, or conviction for a 

5 violent or serious crime or dis6 orderly persons offense, stalking 

7 offense, or domestic violence of8 fense; 

9 ‘‘(ee) any prior arrest, pend10 ing charge, or conviction for an 

11 offense involving cruelty to ani12 mals; 

13 ‘‘(ff) history of drug or alco14 hol abuse or involvement in drug 

15 trafficking; 

16 ‘‘(gg) any recent acquisition 

17 of firearms, ammunition, or other 

18 deadly weapons; and 

19 ‘‘(hh) involvement in fire20 arms trafficking or unlawful fire21 arms transfers; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) history of unsafe stor23 age or handling of firearms. 

24 ‘‘(II) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—An ap25 plicant denied a license under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:40 Nov 08, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6154.IH H6154

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1 clause (I) may file an action in the 

2 appropriate district court of the 

3 United States for seeking review of 

4 the denial. 

5 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

6 in this paragraph may be construed to modify 

7 any other requirement for a background inves8 tigation relating to the acquisition or receipt of 

9 a firearm in effect on the day before the date 

10 of enactment of this section. 

11 ‘‘(4) REVOCATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

13 shall revoke a license issued under this section 

14 if the Attorney General determines that— 

15 ‘‘(i) the licensee poses a significant 

16 danger of bodily injury to self or others by 

17 possessing, purchasing, or receiving a fire18 arm; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) after a regular background inves20 tigation conducted by the Attorney Gen21 eral, the possession of a firearm would vio22 late subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 or 

23 any provision of State law. 

24 ‘‘(B) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR A

25 HEARING.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) NOTICE.—Upon determining that 

2 the licensee should have their license re3 voked under subparagraph (A), the Attor4 ney General shall provide notice to the li5 censee and to relevant State and local offi6 cials of the determination. 

7 ‘‘(ii) HEARING.—For revocations 

8 under subparagraph (A)(i), the Attorney 

9 General shall provide a licensee an oppor10 tunity for a hearing in the appropriate dis11 trict court of the United States not later 

12 than 30 days after the date on which a li13 cense is revoked under this paragraph to 

14 appeal the revocation. 

15 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURES.—The Attorney Gen16 eral shall establish procedures to ensure that 

17 any firearm is removed from any individual 

18 when the individual’s license is revoked under 

19 this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(D) RETURN OF FIREARMS.—A firearm 

21 removed under the procedures established under 

22 subparagraph (C) may be returned to the indi23 vidual only if the individual’s license is rein24 stated. 


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1 ‘‘(5) RENEWAL.—The Attorney General shall 

2 establish procedures for the renewal of a license that 

3 requires that the applicant satisfies the requirements 

4 described in paragraph (2). 

5 ‘‘(6) ENROLLMENT IN RAP BACK.—The Attor6 ney General shall enroll each individual who is 

7 issued a license under this section in the Rap Back 

8 service. 

9 ‘‘(c) RECORDKEEPING .—It shall be unlawful for any 

10 individual to sell or otherwise dispose of a firearm to a 

11 person unless the individual reports the transaction to the 

12 Attorney General not later than 3 business days after the 

13 date on which the firearm is sold or transferred, which 

14 shall include identifying information on the firearm seller 

15 and on the firearm transferee, including the make, model, 

16 and serial number. 

17 ‘‘(d) STATE LICENSES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall not 

19 apply to an individual in a State if the Attorney 

20 General determines that the State has a process for 

21 issuing a State firearm license to eligible individuals 

22 in the State with substantially similar requirements 

23 to those described in subsection (b). 


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1 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro2 mulgate regulations that the Attorney General determines 

3 are necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

5 for such chapter is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

‘‘935. License for the acquisition or receipt of firearms.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. POINT-OF-SALE BACKGROUND CHECK. 

8 Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(aa) POINT-OF-SALE BACKGROUND CHECKS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

12 person who is not a licensed importer, licensed man13 ufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer a firearm to 

14 any other person who is not so licensed, unless a li15 censed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed 

16 dealer has first taken possession of the firearm for 

17 the purpose of complying with subsection (t). 

18 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE.—Upon taking possession of 

19 a firearm under paragraph (1), a licensee shall com20 ply with all requirements of this chapter as if the li21 censee were transferring the firearm from the inven22 tory of the licensee to the unlicensed transferee. 

23 ‘‘(3) RETURN.—If a transfer of a firearm de24 scribed in paragraph (1) will not be completed for 

25 any reason after a licensee takes possession of the 


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1 firearm (including because the transfer of the fire2 arm to, or receipt of the firearm by, the transferee 

3 would violate this chapter), the return of the firearm 

4 to the transferor by the licensee shall not constitute 

5 the transfer of a firearm for purposes of this chap6 ter.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER TO CERTAIN UNLI8 CENSED PERSONS. 

9 Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, as 

10 amended by section 3 of this Act, is amended by adding 

11 at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(bb) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER TO CERTAIN UN13 LICENSED PERSONS.—It shall be unlawful for any person 

14 to— 

15 ‘‘(1) sell or otherwise dispose of a firearm to 

16 any person if such person does not have a license 

17 issued under section 935 or a substantially similar 

18 State law, as determined by the Attorney General, 

19 during the previous 30 days; or 

20 ‘‘(2) fail to report to the relevant law enforce21 ment agencies the sale or disposal described in para22 graph (1).’’. 

Æ 


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