I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3234 

To ensure greater accountability by licensed firearms dealers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2019 

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. KHANNA, 

Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MOORE, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. 

LYNCH, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure greater accountability by licensed firearms dealers. 

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 ‘‘Keeping Gun Dealers 

5 Honest Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INCREASING THE NUMBER OF ALLOWED COMPLI7 ANCE INSPECTIONS OF FIREARMS DEALERS. 

8 Section 923(g)(1)(B)(ii)(I) of title 18, United States 

9 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘once’’ and inserting ‘‘3 

10 times’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. INCREASING PENALTIES ON FIREARMS LICENSEES. 

2 Section 924(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is 

3 amended in the matter following subparagraph (B) by 

4 striking ‘‘one year’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years’’. 

5 SEC. 4. SERIOUS RECORDKEEPING OFFENSES THAT AID 

6 GUN TRAFFICKING. 

7 Section 924(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is 

8 amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 

9 ‘‘. If the conduct described in subparagraph (A) or (B) 

10 is in relation to an offense under subsection (a)(6) or (d) 

11 of section 922, the licensed dealer, licensed importer, li12 censed manufacturer, or licensed collector shall be fined 

13 under this title, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, 

14 or both.’’. 

15 SEC. 5. SUSPENSION OF FIREARMS DEALER’S LICENSE AND 

16 CIVIL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE 

17 GUN CONTROL ACT. 

18 Section 923 of title 18, United States Code, is 

19 amended by striking subsections (e) and (f) and inserting 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(e)(1)(A) The Attorney General may, after notice 

22 and opportunity for hearing, suspend or revoke any license 

23 issued under this section, or may subject the licensee to 

24 a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 per violation, if 

25 the holder of the license— 


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1 ‘‘(i) has violated any provision of this chapter 

2 or any rule or regulation prescribed by the Attorney 

3 General under this chapter; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) except as provided in subparagraph (B), 

5 fails to have secure gun storage or safety devices 

6 available at any place in which firearms are sold 

7 under the license to persons who are not licensees. 

8 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A)(ii) shall not apply in any case 

9 in which a secure gun storage or safety device is tempo10 rarily unavailable because of theft, casualty loss, consumer 

11 sales, backorders from a manufacturer, or any other simi12 lar reason beyond the control of the licensee. 

13 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General may, after notice and op14 portunity for hearing, suspend or revoke the license of, 

15 or assess a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 on, a 

16 dealer who transfers armor piercing ammunition. 

17 ‘‘(3) The Attorney General may at any time com18 promise, mitigate, or remit the liability with respect to any 

19 violation of this chapter or any rule or regulation pre20 scribed by the Attorney General under this chapter. 

21 ‘‘(4) The Attorney General’s actions under this sub22 section may be reviewed only as provided in subsection (f). 

23 ‘‘(f)(1) Any person whose application for a license is 

24 denied and any holder of a license which is suspended or 

25 revoked or who is assessed a civil penalty shall receive a 


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1 written notice from the Attorney General stating specifi2 cally the grounds upon which the application was denied 

3 or upon which the license was suspended or revoked or 

4 the civil penalty assessed. Any notice of a suspension or 

5 revocation of a license shall be given to the holder of the 

6 license before the effective date of the suspension or rev7 ocation. 

8 ‘‘(2) If the Attorney General denies an application 

9 for a license, or suspends or revokes a license, or assesses 

10 a civil penalty, the Attorney General shall, upon request 

11 by the aggrieved party, promptly hold a hearing to review 

12 the denial, suspension, revocation, or assessment. In the 

13 case of a suspension or revocation of a license, the Attor14 ney General shall, on the request of the holder of the li15 cense, stay the effective date of the suspension or revoca16 tion. A hearing under this paragraph shall be held at a 

17 location convenient to the aggrieved party. 

18 ‘‘(3)(A) If after a hearing held under paragraph (2) 

19 the Attorney General decides not to reverse the decision 

20 to deny an application or suspend or revoke a license or 

21 assess a civil penalty, the Attorney General shall give no22 tice of the decision to the aggrieved party. 

23 ‘‘(B) The aggrieved party may at any time within 60 

24 days after the date notice is given under subparagraph 

25 (A) file a petition with the United States district court 


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1 for the district in which the party resides or in which the 

2 party’s principal place of business is located for a de novo 

3 judicial review of the denial, suspension, revocation, or as4 sessment. 

5 ‘‘(C) In a proceeding conducted under this para6 graph, the court may consider any evidence submitted by 

7 the parties to the proceeding without regard to whether 

8 such evidence was considered at the hearing held under 

9 paragraph (2). 

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

11 was not authorized to deny the application or to suspend 

12 or revoke the license or to assess the civil penalty, the 

13 court shall order the Attorney General to take such action 

14 as may be necessary to comply with the judgment of the 

15 court.’’. 

16 SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF FIREARMS DEALER’S LICENSE 

17 UPON FELONY CONVICTION. 

18 Section 925(b) of title 18, United States Code, is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘until any conviction pursuant to the 

20 indictment becomes final’’ and inserting ‘‘until the date 

21 of any conviction pursuant to the indictment’’. 

22 SEC. 7. AUTHORITY TO HIRE ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL. 

23 The Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

24 Firearms and Explosives may hire at least 80 additional 

25 employees for the purpose of carrying out additional inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3234.IH H3234

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1 spections as provided for in the amendments made by this 

2 Act. 

3 SEC. 8. AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE LICENSED DEALER TO 

4 CONDUCT A PHYSICAL INVENTORY AND PRO5 VIDE INVENTORY RECORD IF DEALER HAS 

6 UNLAWFULLY TRANSFERRED A FIREARM OR 

7 10 OR MORE CRIME GUNS ARE TRACED TO 

8 THE DEALER. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 923(g)(1) of title 18, 

10 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(E) The Attorney General may require a licensed 

13 importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to con14 duct a physical inventory of the firearms in the business 

15 inventory of the licensee, and provide the Attorney General 

16 with a detailed record of the physical inventory if— 

17 ‘‘(i) the licensee has been convicted of transfer18 ring a firearm unlawfully; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) the Attorney General finds that 10 or 

20 more firearms used in a crime under Federal, State, 

21 or local law have been traced back to the licensee.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

23 (1) Section 923(j) of such title is amended in 

24 the 6th sentence by inserting ‘‘, except as required 

25 under subsection (g)(1)(E)’’ before the period. 


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1 (2) The matter under the heading ‘‘SALARIES

2 AND EXPENSES’’ under the heading ‘‘BUREAU OF

3 ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES’’ 

4 under title II of division B of the Consolidated and 

5 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (Pub6 lic Law 113–6; 127 Stat. 247) is amended in the 

7 5th proviso by inserting ‘‘, except as required under 

8 subsection (g)(1)(E) of such section 923’’ before the 

9 colon. 

10 SEC. 9. ISSUANCE OF LICENSES. 

11 Section 923 of title 18, United States Code, is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (c)— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Upon’’; 

15 (B) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘, 

16 subject to paragraph (2),’’ after ‘‘Attorney Gen17 eral shall’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General may deny an application 

20 submitted under subsection (a) or (b) if the Attorney Gen21 eral determines— 

22 ‘‘(A) issuing the license would pose a danger to 

23 public safety; or 

24 ‘‘(B) that the applicant— 

25 ‘‘(i) is not likely to comply with the law; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is otherwise not suitable to be issued 

2 a license.’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (d)(1), in the matter pre4 ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, subject to 

5 subsection (c)(2),’’ after ‘‘shall’’. 

6 SEC. 10. LIABILITY STANDARDS. 

7 Section 923 of title 18, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (c), in the third sentence, by 

10 striking ‘‘willfully’’; and 

11 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘willfully’’ 

12 each place it appears. 

13 SEC. 11. REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY. 

14 Section 926(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 

15 amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by strik16 ing ‘‘only’’. 

17 SEC. 12. REPORT TO THE CONGRESS. 

18 The Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

19 Firearms and Explosives shall submit biennial reports to 

20 Congress on the implementation of this Act and the 

21 amendments made by this Act, which shall include— 

22 (1) a statement by the Director as to what ad23 ditional resources, if any, are necessary in order to 

24 implement this Act and the amendments made by 

25 this Act; and 


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1 (2) any recommendations of the Director for 

2 how better to ensure that— 

3 (A) firearms dealers are complying with all 

4 laws and regulations that apply with respect to 

5 dealing in firearms; and 

6 (B) noncompliant firearms dealers are sub7 ject to appropriate action in a timely manner. 

8 SEC. 13. SEVERABILITY. 

9 If any provision of this Act or of an amendment made 

10 by this Act, or the application of such a provision to any 

11 person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remain12 der of this Act or of such an amendment, or the applica13 tion of this Act or of such an amendment to other persons 

14 or circumstances, shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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